Who is greater P4P fighter Joe Louis or Sugar Ray Leonard?

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by OddR, Sep 4, 2026 at 10:53 AM.


Joe Louis or Sugar Ray Leonard

  1. Joe Louis

    60.0%
  2. Sugar Ray Leonard

    26.7%
  3. Flip a coin

    13.3%
  1. OddR

    OddR Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Why not.

    Sorry for forgetting the in the title.
     
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2026 at 10:58 AM
  2. Boxing GOAT

    Boxing GOAT Active Member Full Member

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    Leonard for me. Fought and defeated a better level of competition. Leonard also had the hand-speed and foot-speed advantage.
     
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  3. Yorbals

    Yorbals Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Louis by a small distance.
     
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  4. mr. magoo

    mr. magoo VIP Member Full Member

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    I think the entire world of Joe Louis. But a pound for pound argument would have to go in favor of Leonard for me. While Louis had many more world title fight wins and overall professional bouts, Ray’s Top 3-4 wins top Louis’s best victories by some distance. Then there’s the factor of Leonard being a multiple division champion and Olympic gold medalist.
     
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  5. OddR

    OddR Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Do you could amateur achievements if it's a OG gold?
     
  6. impacted

    impacted Well-Known Member Full Member

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    When it gets to the level of absolute GOATS of the game that those two are at, there's no decisive argument either way really. Louis' longevity or Leonard's more eye catching individual wins? A *** paper between them. Same as comparing Duran to Holyfield or Archie Moore to Hagler.
     
  7. mr. magoo

    mr. magoo VIP Member Full Member

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    I usually only consider amateur achievements as an added bonus
     
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  8. Eddie Ezzard

    Eddie Ezzard Boxing Addict Full Member

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    I love Evander but there's a distance between him and Duran, Roberto is arguably top ten lb for lb all time. I cant make that case for Holy. Moore and Marvin however is a close one.
     
  9. Noel857

    Noel857 I Am Duran

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    I have Louis @ no 10 and Leonard @ no 14 on my atg list so i voted for Joe
     
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  10. Greg Price99

    Greg Price99 Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Louis #9 and SRL #17 for me, Noel.
     
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  11. Dynamicpuncher

    Dynamicpuncher Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    It's Louis for me.

    Louis has 25 world title fights compared to 10 for Leonard.

    Louis has something like 30 wins against top 10 ranked opposition.

    I'd gather Leonard has about half the amount of wins against top 10 opposition.

    Leonard has very good quantity to his resume despite not fighting that much.

    But the sheer bulk of Louis's resume with the longevity and filler is too much to overcome IMO.
     
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  12. Noel857

    Noel857 I Am Duran

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    Fair enough Greg, in reality i could rank Leonard anywhere from 12 to 20 so certainly not disagreeing with you
     
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  13. OddR

    OddR Boxing Addict Full Member

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    I could see it being used a tiebreaker but for me the amateur vs pro saga confuses it for me.
     
  14. Joeywill

    Joeywill Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Leonard by a lot but it's hard to compare heavyweights to non heavyweights
     
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