Sugar Ray Leonard: "Beating Hearns took every ounce of my heart, spirit and soul"

I've always had nothing but the utmost respect for Leonard back then when he somehow snatched victory from the jaws of certain defeat, truly incredible:yep i'll never forget that 13th round barrage & when people compare Mayweather to Sugar Ray Leonard:rofl:rofl:rofl

I recall reading in KO or boxing Illustrated way back then that leonard said quote: You got to suck it up from the gut!! from that deepest place that is beyond consciousness!! If ever there was a killer will 2 win then Leonard was just that, a winner with the killer instinct when the chips where down or as in Montreal when Duran battered him he still fought it out till the final ring a ding. A truly remarkable athlete & champion at that moment in time:yep

 

Montreal was a 2 point fight on my scorecard. :good

 

Leonard was pure determination - I'll never forget Gil Clancy's commentary in the Hagler fight when Leonard was gritting his teeth and rallying back with his machine gun flurries "LOOK AT THAT DETERMINATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOOK AT HIM GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TALK ABOUT A CHAMPION JIM??!!!!"

ps Addie - Winona is looking as angelic as ever xx

 

Sugar Ray Leonard has to be one of the greatest fighters anyone alive has ever seen.

 

1st time bump, do'nt time fly:smoke

 

"Beating Hearns took every ounce of my heart, spirit and soul"

I believe it.

He conjured an inhuman will to win. It's rare to see that.

You could see when he clipped Hearns and he was clearly affected, Leonard smelled blood and turned into a monster.

It is laughable to compare Mayweather to Leonard.

That fight was the highest level of life-and-death sanctioned combat. Both guys were in survival mode and fighting on instinct. There aren't too many fights that could be named as having the same quality of willpower from both sides at play from these days...

 

In his biography Leonard names this as his peak perfomance and that seems about right. He probably never was as good again or before.

 

Yes. One of the best fights ever, and a personal
favorite. Doesnt get much better when Leonard
started doing the bolo punch when he had
Tommy hurt, a complete fighter and a
Dazzling showman. The first time I saw
it I wasnt in love with the stoppage, neither
were the commentators, Tommy was hurt
though, lot of time left in the round.
As Tommy said after something like "You
saw a show tonight". Sugar's will to
prove his greatness defined him. I
have this fight recorded from Espn
classic, who saw it live or was at the fight?

 

Leonard best quility is his ability to win fight he probbly shouldn't have won. Bentiez, Hearns, Duran, Hagler. Even Lalonde and Duran in their 3rd bout.

 

Leonard is one of those fighters I respect fully, but am not really a fan. There's certainly no denying his greatness or abilities.

Critics will claim he ducked here and there, never gave rematches (which isn't true), blah, blah, blah, etc. Look, if you want to ***** about avoidance of any real danger in boxing and an almost pathological fear of challenge, you always have Floyd Mayweather........

 

What does Floyd have to do with this thread? Jeez...and I'm a huge SRL fan. He defined killer instinct and never let off the gas if you were hurt.

 

Perhaps you're right. It's just that Leonard is as polarizing a figure to classic fans as you-know-who is to modern fans, I suppose. Still, point taken.