Why is Leonard so disliked?

Saul Alvarez obviously uses this model as his career path!

 

Was he? Did Ali, Robinson and Dempsey just not exist?

 

His level and his class were too high

 

I think it is called for also. He asked for aligning an that. All those handpickings and the Lalonde fight and titles. And most of the punches which dropped Lalonde were on the break. The Lalonde thing ruined the standards of boxing. I never understood regardless of who he was letting him win two titles when neither title should have been on the line. You weaken the champion to 168 from 175 and then fight for the 168 pound title where neither guy ever fought at 168 in recent times at least or were rated. And he did it because Hearns was winning titles and winning his 5th three days before Ray fought Lalonde. Tommy was going to fight Fully Obel for the WBA title at 168 but on October 18th, Obel pulled out because of a rib injury, so the new title the WBO had it's first title fight with Tommy vs. Kinchen. Then Ray won two titles with Lalonde. So they won their 5th titles 3 days apart. Talk about Tommy and Ray's careers being totally aligned with each other.

The announcement was ridiculous. Why would he get Marvin to go there just to make it a spectacle? Howard Cosell was there also. What an ego. He is a great fighter no doubt. To me top 10 all time. He proved it with his wins, but he took his ego at that point and went overboard a little.

 

Ray started the handpicking at the right time thing in boxing. And it does not seem to affect the legacies of the fighters. If Hagler slipped but he did not have a loss on his record prior to Ray to show he slipped, then it was as good a win as if Ray had beaten him on the night Hagler beat Hearns (when he was more active and probably a bit more motivated). But Ray beat him when Duran or Hearns did not and that matters. Fighting him at the right time and using all those other tactics worked for Ray. He got the win but came out of it looking like a handpicker. Duran and Hearns lost but fought Marvin more honestly. What is better? Probably a win.

 

I never really know what to make of Leonard outside the ring. He seems like a decent bloke but It seems like it all could be a bit of an act as well. Can't deny his ability, though he did try to get things his own way in fights in a way that guys like Hagler or Duran never bothered with and that's the only thing that takes away from his legacy. I can sort of see why people call him the original Mayweather though in my opinion he was 10x the fighter Mayweather was.

 

Some of my posts from an actual decade ago do not reflect my views now.

 

I don't dislike him, but agree with everything I've read here about him. Special treatment I guess.

 

I'd be interested in a bit of elaboration mate.

 

Because he is dislikable.

 

For the same reason Mayweather, Ward, and Canelo are not loved by significant segments of the boxing community, and Duran, Hagler, and Hearns are. When your road to victory involves rehydration clauses, shady scoring, diva A side tactics, cherry picking referees, rushing opponents into matches to dimimish their fitness, optimal ring sizes, boxing gloves, etc, it detracts from the legitimacy of your "victories". Delahoya and Pacquiao have to a lesser degree employed these tactics, but they get passes by most for willingness to fight almost anybody and being victims of shady scoring themselves.

Leonard 's personality was also a bit too slick, and his "divaness" too much like Alex Rodriguez's. Part of boxing's appeal is that it is supposed to be the most "honest" of sporting contests, where one man pits his skill, will, and fitness against another with nowhere to hide in the squared circle. Manipulating the outcome of the contest by accruing every advantage, and getting the benefit of the promoter's paid judges undermines the notion the contest is fair. The credibility of the contest and the manipulating fighter suffer as a result.

 

I personally have no problems with Benny Leonard

 

I think because of how he flaunted the rules flagrantly to get what he wanted. I was a Sugar Ray fan as a kid, but to me, vintage Ray was 1977-1982. The version after that is very flaky. And if he doees some of the stuff he has been rumored to have done on the left coast, it is really a tragedy.

 

This one sentence stands out to me as being false. Leonard hurt Lalonde initially with a counter right after getting buzzed himself early in round 9 and then had him rocked badly with some hooks that followed. LaLonde went in to clinch, but Leonard had his left hand free and was able to create some space and drop Donny for the first time with another hook. Steele, who was directly in front of them, didn't call a foul and wasn't signalling for a break...so I don't think a foul was the cause of Lalonde's downfall.

You can say what you want about the catch-weight and 2 titles on the line...But the knockout was perfectly legit.