If we're just talking welterweight and H2H I guess there's maybe a conversation to be had. Leonard was probably just as fast as Robinson and maybe faster. I think he'd give the best version of Robinson a hell of a good fight. We're talking about the greatest welterweight v the second greatest so it's worthy of debate from that point of view. But once you factor in middleweight as well, it ceases to become debatable as Robinson's resume there pisses on Leonard's from a high height. No disrespect to Leonard meant in that comment - it just is the way it is.
I'd pick the Leonard who beat Hagler to beat Maxim using the same tactics. Leonard could feint, set traps, counter while not punching himself out like Robinson did. Robinson fought at a pace he wasn't comfortable with to try and keep Maxim off him. That isn't the tactics Leonard would employ. Maxim was beat by Charles and Marshall who weighed around 168 when they beat him so I think it's feesable a 160lb Leonard beats Maxim. I think Hagler, who probably put on a bit of weight after the weigh in, was a better offensive fighter than Maxim. Also he beat a LHW champion in Lalonde. People point to him putting in a 168lb catch weight, but Lalonde had weighed in at 167 only 2 years before.
Interesting scenario. Leonard did guys who were at least a division heavier on the way up (ranked middleweight Geraldo being the most notable among them) so being in against a naturally larger man wouldn't have been completely foreign to him. Leonard, like SRR, definitely had a hand and foot speed advantage over Maxim, so that could stand him in good stead. And Maxim wasn't a huge puncher, even though he's miles ahead of the light heavy that Leonard faced in terms of quality. I dunno...I think the Leonard that fights Hagler and even Lalonde probably manages to remain quite competitive against Maxim from SRR at least for a while. Wouldn't be surprised if he's ahead by the championship rounds-which SRL most certainly would reach.
Yeah, I get that. Hagler may be a higher ranking middleweight than anyone SRR faced in an all time sense, but Leonard's only other notable win over a ranked middleweight was against Geraldo. SRR's resume at middleweight is obviously way more extensive than Leonard, who stayed there for the proverbial cup of coffee. But I mean, Leonard did a ton of great work at welterweight in a really short period of time and along with Hearns managed to clean out a pretty solid division. Based on the work he did, I don't comparisons to SRR in the categories mentioned should be dismissed outright, is all.
Some would say Leonard missed out on Aaron Pryor and Donald Curry, amongst others. He has many great signature wins but as far as cleaning out a division and becoming a dominant presence over an era for years, no he never truly did that. A quality over quantity sort of resume.
Well, he cleaned it out in conjunction with Hearns. Between the two of them, they missed very few contenders during their respective tenures in the division on their way up and during their title reigns. Then, they fought one another to unify to complete the cleaning ritual. I can't really fault Leonard for missing Pryor when he moved up in weight to defeat undefeated and lineal 154lb champ Ayub Kalule and then fought Hearns. And Curry had yet to establish himself as the clear top dog at welterweight when Leonard retired for the first time. He, along with Starling and Brown, were part of the next generation of welterweights.
Better wins, a better P4P ranking, skills, an undeniably cast iron chin as well as a fighting prestige you often don’t see in fighters of today the willingness to face everyone and anyone he lost a lot at the end of his career, he had a few rough spots but he also has wins over ATGs from multiple weight classes.
I mean what physical advantages does maxim have over Kovalev? I mean h2h Kovalev would beat Maxim at 175lbs in their primes
