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A welterweight bout pitting a 1981 "Sugar" Ray Leonard versus a 2009 "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather would have been a fascinating battle of tremendous skills and contrasting styles.
Leonard (36-3-1, 25 KOs), who captured a gold medal at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and was the first prizefighter to earn in excess of $100 million in purses, is widely considered one of the greatest pugilists of all-time.
"Sugar Ray," the winner of five world titles in five weight divisions, managed to trump future fellow International Hall of Fame inductees Wilfred Benitez (53-8-1, 31 KOs), Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns (61-5-1, 48 KOs), Roberto "Manos de piedra" Duran (103-16, 70 KOs) and Marvelous Marvin Hagler (62-3-2, 52 KOs) before he finally hung-up his gloves for good in March 1997.
Regardless of Leonard's litany of accolades and triumphs, the man named "Boxer of the Decade" for the 1980s was at his vintage best when he fought Hearns in September 1981 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada to unify the world welterweight titles in a contest scheduled for fifteen rounds.
Hearns entered the Leonard bout with an unblemished record of 32-0 with 30 knockouts
"The Hitman" somehow generated frightening punching power despite his awkwardness and tall and skinny physique.
In the promotion dubbed "The Showdown," Hearns battered Leonard and was winning on all three judges scorecards after the conclusion of the twelfth round.
Leonard's legendary trainer, Angelo Dundee, screamed at "Sugar Ray" between rounds, "You're blowing it, son! You're blowing it."
With a horrifically swollen left-eye and nearing defeat, Leonard heeded Dundee's words and stormed out of his corner with violent intentions at the start of the thirteenth round.
Leonard subsequently pounded Hearns and knocked "The Hitman" to the canvas twice in the thirteenth round alone.
Hearns barely survived the pummeling and was literally saved by the bell.
In the fourteenth, Hearns was a lamb to the slaughter as Leonard landed furious combinations that caused the referee to mercilessly halt the bruising.
Leonard continued to periodically fight for 17 years after he trounced Hearns in their initial contest and he vanquished many more fine competitors over that span of time.
Sadly, after the Hearns victory, Leonard struggled with a serious eye injury and cocaine and alcohol abuse.
Hence, Leonard was at his most elite that late-summer night versus Hearns in "Sin City."
Although extremely debatable and controversial, Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs) was at his dynamic best in the ring when he virtually shutout an undersized Juan Manuel Marquez (51-5-1, 37 KOs) last September.
Mayweather, a nine-time titlist in five separate weight classes who was named Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year in 1998 and 2007, failed to meet the required weight limit for his dismantling of Marquez.
Nevertheless, Mayweather's utter domination of a worthy adversary cannot be diminished.
Ultimately, Mayweather landed a surreal 59% of his 490 punches.
Conversely, Marquez connected on a porous 12% of his 583 punches.
Mayweather so thoroughly manhandled Marquez that it's difficult to claim he wasn't at his peak in the autumn of 2009.
Still, if a 2009 version of Mayweather scrapped a 1981 edition of Leonard on ten occasions, "Sugar Ray" would have emerged victorious approximately eight times.
In his prime, Leonard was naturally bigger, stronger and quicker than Mayweather.
More importantly, Leonard was simply a mentally and physically tougher man than Mayweather ever will be.
Mayweather, one of two boxers ever in Compubox history to go an entire round without being hit, is an absolute defensive wizard.
"Pretty Boy" is such a legitimate defensive tactician that he would have consistently given Leonard epic battles.
However, Mayweather mainly would have vacated an arena against Leonard as a decided loser.
Leonard would have knocked Mayweather onto Queer Street six times and earned two more victories over "Pretty Boy" in a unanimous fashion.
Strictly because he is a defensive virtuoso, Mayweather may have slithered by Leonard twice to prevail on the scorecards.
Floyd Mayweather is a great fighter.
"Sugar" Ray Leonard is an iconic pugilist.
Floyd Mayweather does not deserve to be mentioned in the same breathe as Ray Leonard. -
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ending sentence....
"Floyd Mayweather does not deserve to be mentioned in the same breathe as Ray Leonard." ("breath"....not "breathe").
You only need 4 words to make this comparison a laugher...
Benitez, Hearns, Duran, Hagler. Come on maaaaaaaaan!!!
As skilled as Mayweather is...certainly the most skilled of this generation...there's nothing in his boxing resume that is deserving of ATG list.Last edited by NesNY; 08-25-2010, 11:31 PM.Comment
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Big SRL fan but also realistic. Ray doesnt win this fight easy at all. Watch his fight with Benitez and Duran and Ray had problems landing solid shots in both fights because both were very good defensive fighters. In the 1st Duran fight when Duran was in shape, Ray missed a lot of punches and the same with the Benitez fight.
Floyd is 5 times quicker than Benitez, better defense and a much more accurate puncher. Benitez punches wide with his punches and had marginal speed at best.
I see both having success. Floyd's straight right hand when Ray drops that left hand, and Floyds upcercut when Ray bends his head down which he had a habit of doing. I see Ray trying to use his size and volumes of punches to overwelm Floyd. It depends on who the judges are had they fought. You prefer accuracy or volume. I see Floyd making Ray miss and landing accurate shots with Ray just throwing a ton of punches but not always landing solid. Just a of volume.
The fight would be like Leonard vs Benitez but Floyd much better offensively than Benitez and much quicker. If Ray kept his left hand down like he did against Benitez he would eat straight right hands all night long. Ray never fought a fighter that was as unorthodox as Floyd, meaning throwing upercuts as as the lead punch or leading with the straight right. Hearns was great, but still traditional with the jab, right 1-2. Floyd mixes it up. Ray might think a jab is coming but Floyd might fent, fent, fent, than upercut from nowhere. Floyd would be the smartest fighter SRL ever faced.
Neither has fought a fighter like the otherComment
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it's not a head to head fight....Originally posted by RayLeonard82 View Post
the article is comparing their respective boxing careers and legacy.
and wow....even with all that writing...you won't find ONE sane AP/BWAA writer or historian who says Mayweather beats SRL @147lbs.Comment
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The Leonard opponent that was the closest comparison to Floyd was Wilfred Benitez, who was 10 times the superior of Floyd when it came to laying traps, feinting, drawing, counter punching, and just about every possible aspect of SCIENTIFIC BOXING. He was, in fact, dubbed "The Bible of Boxing" for his deep understanding of the "sweet science". Yet, despite this, Sugar Ray Leonard still outboxed him rather easily. Frankly, Benitez out counter punches Mayweather in what would be a very boring fight in which each guy tries to draw the other into a trap. Benitez's boxing IQ was leaps and bounds superior to Floyd's.
The Leonard opponent that was the closest comparison to Pacquiao was undoubtedly Roberto Duran. Even though Duran had slower hand speed and had much less punch volume than Pacquiao, 50% would probably say he punched harder than Manny. I won't even venture to guess who Leonard would have handled a more busy and faster southpaw version of Duran.
Thanks for the link to the article. I enjoyed reading it.Comment
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Floyd is the much more superior fighter than Benitez. Benitez punched wide and his speed was average at best. He wasnt that quick. Floyd defensively can fight you from close range, still making you miss and countering at the same time. Floyd is so much quicker than Benitez its not even close and he punches straight down the pipe with accuracy.Originally posted by Flomo Tard View PostComment
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CihtuJ369p0
Benitez looks so slow offensively. Good defensive fighter but offensively he looks predictable and you can see the punch coming a mile away.
Ray looks great but he's open for straight right hands and the lead upercut if Benitez had that in his arsenal. Ray is wide open for a quick lead right. Floyd had that in his arsenal as well as the lead upercut which Ray is also vulnerable to.Comment
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Sugar Ray Leonard never injected a synthetic compound into his fists before every fight
If its a fair fight without xylocaine Leonard would BEAT THE LIVING H*** outta mayweather. PERIOD.
So not only does Leonard have the better legacy against better competition, he would destroy mayweather in this "fantasy" matchupComment
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