What could Leonard do better than Robinson?

Retire.

Robinson only managed two in his entire career.
Leonard retired at least 5 or 6 times.

 

Showboat in the ring. Leonard could be pretty obnoxious with the taunting, posing, etc. Robinson was all business.

 

thrill the crowd

 

Ah, but even when Leonard was being the aggressor, or when SRR was in boxer mode, SRL tended to be a bit more elusive. It's not like Leonard was vastly superior to Robinson in this category, but he does edge it, in my opinion.

I still stand by my asserion that Robinson was more inclined throughout his career to suffer fades in the later rounds of his fights. But, then again, he had eight times as many fights as Leonard, so there are more likely to be a few more late round comebacks by his opponents on his record.

 

Mind games and controlling the crowd, SRR liked it simple and quick, Leonard needed all the light flashing into his face.

 

I think Leonard's hand speed was faster than Robinson's. Don't get me wrong, Robinson was no slouch in the speed department and was extremely fast himself, but I think Leonard had even faster hand speed than him.

I've always thought that, although Robinson was the greater fighter, I still think Leonard was a better "thinker" in the ring. Not that Robinson wasn't, but if RR had fought Hagler, I see a tougher for him than it would be for Leonard. Robinson often slugged a bit more, depended on his power more, and could be a little easier to hit at times. I think Leonard depended more on speed and his wits.

 

There's no doubt in my mind that Leonard was faster.

 

Ray Robinson is considered the best P4P fighter of all time. And no amount of "Revisionism" by younger and newer fans on this site will change that fact! And to compare SRR to Ray Leonard is an insult to the REAL "Sugar" Ray...do your homework...and that doesn't mean watch a 2 minute video on YouTube. It means watch lots of film...read...delve into his history...make up your own mind...and don't be swayed because some guy was taking about it with his friends...Hell...they probably have no sense of boxing history!

 

Both of them treats the game a bit differently in mentality, perhaps.

SRR was your average great boxer until he killed Doyle,he proposed that he didn't really enjoy boxing, although in reality he punched out dudes left and right with an aggressive approach.


SRL once said that there's some primal desires kicking in when he punched someone,but he's still somewhat careful enough to adjust and change gears at times.

 

SRL has the edge in adjusting to atmospheric conditions.

Ray Robinson melted in the heat and fainted.

Ray Leonard never did that. He got stronger when fighting a light heavyweight.

SRL also fought well in Duran III when it was near-freezing.

Leonard probably hydrated better too.

I think SRL was also very obviously a better businessman. He made deals that have kept him living a more than comfortable life off his ring savings and whatever he’s done investment-wise post-boxing. He came back because he wanted to. SRR had to tap-dance for a living and then he came back because he needed the money.

SRR is the greater fighter with accomplishments over a longer career in a day when guys fought a lot more frequently. If they met in a mythical fight, I’d pick SRR, but I wouldn’t count SRL out — he was as competitive as anyone and had what a guy I used to know would call “a lot of champion in him.”