How Good Was Sugar Ray Leonard's Chin?

[bojangles1987]

Going by standards people hold today, they'd say it was weak because he got wobbled a few times. Some of the shots he took and the punishment he absorbed was incredible though, very, very good chin.

[New England]

ray leonard had a top flight chin

[Ray Corso]

He did a good job when he was hurt, in the second round against Duran he got hurt abit and Duran felt it but Ray did a good job to cover up and recouped well by the beginning of round three! He wasn't very good at tieing up, so many American boxers with exstensive amatuer backgrounds never learned how to tie up properly. I'd say Leonard had a good chin and his excellant conditioning added to his ability to handle hard shots. When he was over 160lbs he didn't have conditioning so he couldn't absorb shots as he did in his prime weight shape. Plus when you move up in weight class your moving into more power shots than your used to so your integrity to absorb goes down some. Thats just a natural progression. Ray waited for Hahler to get a little older and have a few more fights before he said yes to their fight and then he ran to make sure Hagler couldn't land anything with authority. Hagler was never a heavy handed puncher to begin with but he had enough to hurt a welterweight, Ray was smart inside and outside the ring. Patience and picking up all the pennies is always the smart move before going for the dime. Sorta like what Mayweather vs Pacman are doing, pickup the pennies first!!! Ray.

[Anthony342]

Yeah Mayweather/Pacquiao kind of reminds me of Leonard/Hagler too.

[Anthony342]

Leonard's chin is similar to the likes of De La Hoya and Hamed. You assume that they're not tough because they're pretty boys and seem to be more interested in being celebritys than fighters sometimes but when it comes down to it they were as tough as anybody in their divisions.

I still think Pryor would've stopped him though.

That would've been a great fight. Love watching Aaron Pryor fights. He was one tough dude in the ring.

[McGoorty]

I rate Leonard's chin as excellent. For the first 15 years of his pro career it was up there with the very best.

For me it first showed signs of deterioration when he dropped down two weight divisions to light middleweight to face Terry Norris in what? 1991/92..........and it was near as dammit all gone by the time he faced Hector Camacho in 1997. There seems to be a pattern with chins deteriorating as older fighters lose too much weight to make fights. Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya are two recent examples which jump to mind.

But before then Leonard handled the best punches of Hearns, Benitez, Duran and Hagler. In the return with Hearns in 1989 he took some truely revolting head shots when being decked the second time, but was up quickly and soon firing back.

I totally agree with all that. Leonard had a good chin,, and he was even better at not being hit, the guy was a very smooth operator. I think the original Sugar Ray had an even better chin and edges Leonard in all departments,,, but thats Robinson for ya.

[GoogleMe]

Superb chin, he fought Duran, Hearns, Hagler, Benitez without being too badly hurt.

[slicksouthpaw16]

Leonard's chin was great overall (talking prime) but for some reason Duran's shots had a lot more effect on him than Hearns did, never could understand why.

[slicksouthpaw16]

Leonard's chin is similar to the likes of De La Hoya and Hamed. You assume that they're not tough because they're pretty boys and seem to be more interested in being celebritys than fighters sometimes but when it comes down to it they were as tough as anybody in their divisions.

I still think Pryor would've stopped him though.

I think his chin was more like Oscar's than Hamed's. Hamed would have his hands by his waist and he looked like he was staggered every time he got hit because his opponent would catch full face the way he would lean into the punches. Oscar had a great chin, most of the knockdowns he suffered in his career were mainly due to balance issues that was sorted out as he became more experienced.