Hearns had a faster jab, and faster right hand. Leonard had faster feet, and slightly faster flurries.
I think Tommy matches Ray when it comes to straight shots like the Jab and right cross, But not for Combinations, Tommy's Long Arms could not quite compete with Ray at closes range (see Ray vs Andy Price dismissal) i also thing Timing was with Ray he knew when to throw that surprise shot.
i think hearns was faster, which was a big reason no one saw the right coming, and a big part of the reason why leonard, benitez, virgil hill etc could never outbox him. when hearns opened up it was with a frightening combination of speed and power though leonard was definitely not far behind
The reason Hearns outboxed Leonard was he had good enough speed with the jab, no way he was faster than Ray, maybe Donald Curry, but not Ray.
in close, Ray was better. that is, until Tommy hit his peak three yrs later. By then the blitz was too fast for even Doo-ran to follow
theres no way to directly compare them because they were quick with different shots. Hearns was super fast with straight shots and left hooks to the body whereas leonard was super fast with his hooks and overhand shots and both were fast with the jab. big fan of both but im my opinion hearns had the edge in speed and definitely in power. Would never compare leonard to khan or calzaghe but those two were super fast because they didnt punch properly whereas fighters like hearns and tyson hit flush and fast
Leonard had to be faster in order to negate Hearn's advantage in height and reach. If Tommy had everything including height, reach, power AND speed it would have been a pretty bad beat down.
