Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Jose 'Pipino' Cuevas

I was a fan of Cuevas too, but the fact is that he would have been painfully outclassed...and I mean painfully...the ko would have been, in it's own way, just as impressive for Ray as Tommy Hearn's victory.

 

It does make me respect him somewhat more , but who were his top 2 wins ?

 

piamonte is listed as 1-0 by d time he faced Cuevas and Obregon as 2-0 ,
d part i colored in red gives rise 2d question as 2y didn't he (Cuevas) achieve something more significant since then , bikoz he did have d time 4 it .

 

???? strange?? These 13 yr old pro fighters always burn out young.

 

It would be easy to believe that Leonard would have easily defeated Cuevas. This is primarily because of the way their respective careers panned out. After the Leonard vs Cuevas fight was cancelled, Pipino went on to be destroyed by Thomas Hearns and sink into obscurity. He suffered a loss to Roger Stafford and lost the majority of his remaining fights, including a 4th round KO loss to Roberto Duran.
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Leonard went on to split a pair of fights with Duran, defeat Hearns and later narrowly decision Hagler among his other accomplishments. It's hard to imagine Cuevas defeating Leonard.
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Pipino lost the chance for the biggest fight of his career. He didn't stand a chance against the marriage between Sulaiman, King, the WBC and the fact that its headquarters was located in Mexico. Add to that, the WBA was located in Panama, Duran's country. The PTB wanted Duran to get a shot at Leonard instead.
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While I share the sentiment, that Leonard would win such a match up, it must be taken into consideration that timing might have be a determining factor in this possible match-up.
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Consider: If Cueves and Leonard had faced each other when the fight was originally signed, each would enter under vastly different circumstances. Cuevas was the longest reigning champion in the sport, having held the WBA title since 1976, before Leonard turned pro. Leonard was fresh off his victory over Benitez, who may not have been in the best of shape, and an easy defense against Dave Green, KO 4.
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Again, Leonard likely wins this. But a Cuevas win would have been far more imaginable in 1980 than it seems now. With his straight forward style, Cuevas would likely have been a sitting duck for the quick fisted Leonard. However, Cuevas is the harder puncher and Ray was still learning.
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Leonard went on to lose the title to Duran in June 1980, partly because he was drawn into a psychological war with a master like Duran, who might have been second only to ALI in that distinction. The difference is that, while Duran is far more skilled than Cuevas, Cuevas always trained well. He took boxing a bit more seriously than Duran did at that time.
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How would Leonard cope if tagged by the solid punching Cuevas. Again, it's hard to imagine but Pipino might well have packed as much power as Hearns, the man who destroyed him. Hearns' power was aided primarily by his reach, leverage, speed, accuracy and timing, all attributes Cuevas lacked. But Power is Power. It's safe to say that Cuevas equals Duran in that category. However, again, Duran is more skilled. Here you have the difference between Power and "Use of Power".
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In round 2 of the Leonard fight, Duran pulverized him with a right-left combination, which took Leonard until round 5 to clear his head. While the odds are that Cuevas would have a much harder time landing a solid one on Ray's chin, it's not beyond the realm of possibility. If Ray could be drawn into a trench war with Duran, who's to say he wouldn't allow himself to do the same against Cuevas?
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Cuevas was a much nicer guy than Duran was at the time. But there was no doubt in his mind that he could beat Leonard. He was a very proud champion and it's possible that he might have said things to provoke Leonard to prove he could stand and fight him in the trenches.
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Again, it's a stretch but the point is that a Cuevas win would have been far more believable and maybe even possible, at that time. Ray wins this one but a Cuevas win was certainly possible.

 

Despite having a powerful left-hook, Pipino Cuevas was far too limited to have much of a chance with a far better fighter like Sugar Ray Leonard. I think that Cuevas's management was aware of his limitations, matching him very carefully up to the time he fought Tommy Hearns.

- Chuck Johnston

 

You've said it yourself, Cuevas could turn it all around if Leonard got careless.

However, if there is one thing Leonard has never been accused of, it is being careless.

Leonard inside 8 rounds.

 

Ray would take this in anywhere from 6 to 10 rounds, better skilled, and he had an iron chin at welterweight.

 

Don't know if he hit harder than Leonard. Duran didn't think so. He always said that Leonard could bang, hit harder than Hagler. He walked right through Cuevas best hooks.

 

This is not a blowout win for Leonard. This will be a hard and dangerous fight.

Leonard is not as tall and rangy as Hearns, nor as aggressive and skilled at infighting as Duran.

Leonard will box and get caught a few times in the process, Cuevas had Iron in his Jaw, and wont go down as quickly as he did against Hearns or even Duran.

This would be a great fight for about 4 rounds, then Leonard will finally catch and hurt Cuevas, ( Probably same shot that Cuevas could weather once or twice)

Leoanrd was a great finisher , he would overwhelm Cuavas and KO him between rounds 4-6. Cuevas does better against Leonard than either Hearns or Duran.