When did we see SRL at the peak of his powers?

Wilfred Benitez, imo that was the fight where he show'd his full repetiore. He was making Benitez miss and firing back with fast combos.

 

1979-1982. Benitez, Duran I and II, Kayule, Hearns I, Finch.

 

I believe Leonard was hitting his peak around the Hearns fight and had a very good 2 or 3 year period coming. He learnt a lot from Duran 1 that made him a better fighter and i thik he would have taken a bit from the Hearns bout too. I reckon he was peak at retirement.

 

Hard to say he had so few matches but I'd say the Hagler fight. For once he didnt fall behind in a fight.

 

He was doing Coke I think even before he retired with the eye injury. I would say Benitez

 

bruce finch

 

Hagler was shot in your opinion and Leonard was at the peak of his powers?.

I would say Hagler was past his prime, not shot, and Leonard was past his peak weight, but his performance was as good as you could get from a 30 year old who had been inactive for 3 years.

Leonard's stamina against Hagler wasn't what it was during the very early 80's.

 

Anytime around 1980. Even when he fought Duran the first time. He was tricked into slug fest in order to prove his toughness as a fighter, and I'm glad. That was so much more entertaining than it would have been if he'd fought the same way he fought in their rematch.

 

leonard never had great stamina that's why he could only fight in spurts and lost to Duran.

Remember that he lost in 1980 and already appeared vulnerable in the Geraldo fight.

In the Hagler fight he was doing more fighting so he tired quicker and went flat in the middle rounds.

Leonard peaked for this fight yes. In fact, I remember Angelo saying something about leonard's perparation that he was so well prepared that he had him hold back on some of his training because he didnt want him peaking too soon.

30 is not old when you are not fighting and taking punches. 30 is old when you have been taking punches on a regular basis. Though Ray was 160 which is over his natural weight, the fact that Hagler was shot and incapable of really throwing anything significant, more than compensated for Ray's new weight. He was properly prepared to fight at that weight.

 

I don't buy into Leonard having Stamina issues. It didn't look like it when he was stopping Benitez in the 15th round, or Hearns in the 14th round. If that is bad stamina, then no fighter has to worry about getting good stamina. Bad stamina will do just fine.

He lost to Duran because he decided to go toe to toe with him. Tactical error, dumb mistake, let Duran get to his ego and tried to prove he was tougher... any of those would be much more accurate than bad stamina. They were still going at it hard at the end.

Hagler was not shot when he fought Leonard. He was still throwing hard punches, got to Leonard at times, and barley lost the fight. Hagler was just too cocky against Leonard, and seemed to think that just being in the ring was enough to win some of the earlier rounds. He had a look of superiority on his face similar to what Holmes was wearing in his first fight with Spinks.

 

Fighters who have stepped up in weight and been inactive for 3 years will have stamina issues. Its only natural. Stamina problems will arise after inactivity. It's fine training for months before a fight, but it's not the same as combat on a regular basis.

 

benitez??

No fighter I've seen has had stamina issues facing Benitez. Even hearns didnt have problems going 15 with Wilfred but when pushed hard enough, collpased quickly with Hagler. It just depends on the pace of the fight. Second, Wifred was in no danger of being knocked out. The ref just overreacted and stopped it too soon. Wifred could make the bell easy. it was not a stoppage.

Hagler was indeed shot and didnt have any fights left in him. That's why he never put on the gloves again.

 

Well-reasoned. I concur.

 

Yeah it's a fair call i reckon. Duran taught him a lesson in humility and the need to fully respect and map out an opponent lest you get a nasty surprise, not to mention plenty of in ring things as well. A great learning fight on so many levels. I believe the lessons would have been shown to the fullest in his upcoming fight vs Pryor, Leonard would have been giving Pryor 100% respect as an opponent and would have put on a 5 star performance.