Why did Sugar Ray Leonard have so few fights?

One could also imagine that Hagler retired due to Leonard openly not wanting it. "About a second fight with Hagler, Leonard said, "I'm saying no because I don't want it. I don't want it now. I'm saying this now.""

There's also that.

 

Big athletic Europeans, many from former Soviet countries, emerged in the NBA in a similar time frame as they did in heagyweight boxing.

 

The decision ruined Hagler for a long time .. and he just wanted to get as far away from it as possible .. And its that simple ..... and it had absolutely nothing to do with some talks of a rematch .. He was going through Family problems on top of that .. and he took him a VERY VERY long time to come to grips with what happened in the ring that night ......

 

Business was good. Leonard didn’t need to fight more then he did, lots of money and injuries are the answer.

 

Whose record was that?

 

ah cmon " Business was good? " lol.. what the hell does that mean.. and what injuries ?? the retina was one procedure and he was cleared to box 6 months after .. Dont take the bait if you followed his career? He was using his popularity to go in and out of retirement for years to cherry pick fights .. and IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS INJURY .. he was never the shop worn fighter .. he was taking fights when he wanted to ... when posters here talk about well he made money and still has his health .. well thats great and good for him but that is and always will be an excuse for NOT BEING AN ACTIVE FIGHTER Do people talk about how much Hearns made ? NO !!! WHY ? Because he was a ACTIVE FIGHTER who took on EVERYBODY !!! ....... who lost everything by the way ... just call like it is ... Ray was a special talent ... and I'm not taking any of that away from him ..... but the fact is Hearns , Duran, and Hagler KEPT FIGHTING .. ray didnt ... and give the credit for that work they put in and being a winner a hell of a lot longer than he did .. same as the old school fighters did ,, they put in the work in a full career .. not in and out or retirement game .. how many times did Duran Hagler and Hearns retire ?? he lost to a fighter who moved up to take his title at his best weight .. 1-1 with Duran. well 2-1 .. 1-1 with Hearns .. and 1-0 in a coin flip fight with Hagler .. he had only 40 fights ...BFD
so to answer the question directly why did he have so few fights ? .. popularity .. wanted the titles but didnt want to put in the work .. and its as simple as that as far as his mid career to the end

 

George Dixon

 

I think Leonard probably has the best resume in the last 30 years, or at least one of them.

Look at who he beat. He fought many ring magazine ranked contenders did he face? A ton of them is the answer.

 

I totally disagree about that and the idea that the eye had nothing to do with his retirement in the early 80s.

Eye surgery is eye surgery. Don't be cavalier about that. Now it's done with lasers. In the early 1980s, it was still done with stitches.

While the actual retina surgery isn't nearly as big of a deal now as it used to be, don't gloss over the fact there was a long, deep and very rich history of fighters in boxing who went blind or died on the operating table during eye surgery.

Boxing gloves weren't thumbless yet in the early 80s.

And Leonard literally had a defense lined up against Stafford, tickets were being sold, when it was called off due to the injury. He didn't drop out to pick and choose who he fought. He did pick and choose when he came back because he was in a position to do that after beating Hagler. He left, because he had eye surgery.

Hell, Sugar Ray Seales, who was on the US Olympic team in 72, a team Leonard was almost on, did go blind from damaged retinas. It was still a huge deal at the time in 1982. It can still be a big deal. Israel Vazquez had his eye removed a few years ago.

 

30 years ago was 1993.

 

Stop being dramatic about retinal surgery. A lot of the procedures from the 80s are still used today, and a cornea with stitches rapidly heals. The corneal stitches are a nonissue for boxing since they’re temporary.

 

Not 40 years ago they weren't!!!!!!!

 

Tell Israel Vazquez not to be so dramatic. Tell the John Murray not to be so dramatic. Seriously, you are a complete *******.

"Stop being dramatic about BLINDNESS. It's cool."

 

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You fight and go blind, and people say, "You should never have fought again. How terrible. How can you be so dumb?"

You come back and you don't go blind, and they say, "See, he was faking it."

People suck.

 

I’m guessing you don’t know my profession and that I’ve done the eye exams for boxing licensees including a current champion.