Why was Leonard vs Lalonde for World Titles at TWO different weights?

As for pure boxing, this is after all the guy who gave us seven fights in total against Benitez, Duran, Hearns and Leonard, and only in one of these fights was the other guy so much further removed from his prime to make the fight somewhat irrelevant (and even then was Duran still a good fighter in 1989).

And while he made a spectacle of the LaLonde fight, it was still a good fight and limited as LaLonde was - a bigger, younger fighter with a punch and everything to win is always dangerous.

And how about going to 154 to face a young, dangerous fighter like Norris when you're in your mid 30's and coming off inactivity? That's a move so ballsy that it's almost reckless and certainly no easy payday, but I never hear Leonard getting any credit for that.

 

There's an account of Leonard's treatment of Juanita in Sorcery at Caesar's.

I don't agree that Leonard gets more abuse than other fighters. Look at any Tyson, Dempsey, Ali, Marciano, Lewis, Mayweather or Klitschko topic and you're guaranteed to find a few folks positively foaming at the mouth about them. A recent Monzon thread ended with a discussion about him being a woman murdering scumbag. Of course Robinson was an almighty **** as well. His own son said he was.

As Unforgiven alluded to, Leonard is the poster boy for fighters using their Golden Boy clout to stack the deck in their favour with catchweights, unearned title shots, demanding their preferred ring and glove size etc. The Lalonde gimmick is a good example of that. None of that started with him, of course, but he did take it to egregious new levels. I don't think anyone else has had the nerve to repeat his two titles in one fight ego trip.

 

Totally on board with that.

 

There are some people who would call him a smart buisness man ...Here's a fighter who never got exploited by anyone

 

Im the opposite of you ...I was nuetral towards him but he has so many haters on boxing forumns that he's starting to become a favorite of mine

 

His ex-wife says he was an *******...that's suprising isnt it

 

Other fighters mainly get critisised for what they did or didn't do as fighters, I never see anyone else get so much hate for his personality. And that very much includes Monzon.

I think he gets very much the cup half empty treatment. He makes a comeback and jumps up two weight classes to face Hagler. Everyone thinks he's crazy and will get brutally KO'd. Enter revisionism on this forum and it is literally him who has waited poor Hagler out and makes insane demands as a 12 round fight limit (which most HW title fights were that year, for example).

He takes on a younger and bigger Hearns - again it is him who has waited the poor guy out and feasts on his corpse. But, hey, let's just forget that Tommy two years later outboxed a LHW champion while Leonard got his ass handed to him by LMW.

At almost 35 he comes straight out of inactivity to take on prime Norris... Not a word about how that's a pretty gutsy move.

And this is his post prime career. In his prime he faced Benitez, Duran x 2, Hearns and Kalule as an appetizer before Hearns. No catchweights, no belts for two divisions at the same time, nothing like that. Ok, sure, but he did "make" Duran rematch him only five months after Montreal right? Which left Duran with "only" a three month training camp. What a *******!

No one since has given us the fights SRL gave us and hardly anyone before. That isn't undone just because he did some silly stuff when winding done. Not even close to it.

 

Sugar Ray Leonard changed the way people look at boxers ...people dont give him enough credit for that

 

There is no such thing as a humble prizefighter. They're all cocky and arrogant. They have to be .There are no Rocky Balboas in real life . To get knocked out and get back in the ring you have to be visualize your self winning

 

I have to correct you.
https://streamable.com/4004x

 

Ehhhh………...that first part is just untrue. Look, ALL fighters here catch stick occasionally for this or that. But no one is as divisive or stirs up these kinds of threads the way Leonard does. No one.

 

Going to get some stick but here Goes nothing. SRL was in my opinion the closest thing to a perfect example of a fighter ever! Blistering speed genuine one punch power chin Guts boxing brain and absolute merciless Finishing .Still looking good mega rich and not punchy ! .Some guys have all the luck!

 

Well he made his own luck...…...and he's despised for it.