Who was fighter of the year in 1981: Sugar Ray Leonard or Salvador Sanchez

I give it to Leonard. He also beat Ayub Kalule, one of the 2 best 154 lb. fighters in the world, as basically a tune-up for Tommy.

 

Leonard WAS fighter of the year in 1981, as named by Ring Magazine and the Boxing Writers Association. But I guess you mean, did he deserve it?

It's a tough call, since Sanchez and Gomez were such special fighters. But there are intangibles for giving the award to Leonard. You know how much more hype there is in the higher weight classes. This fight was two years in the making. People thought Ray was ducking Tommy. And Ray was an American, Gold Medalist and media darling. And Tommy was a goddamn monster. People thought Tommy was going to kill Ray. And the fight lived up to all the hype. Ray pulled a goddamn rabbit out of a hat to win it.

I have no problem giving it to Ray, or to both him and Sanchez actually.

 

Sanchez

 

I see we have until 2064 to vote on this. Should give everybody plenty of time.