If Ray Leonard was boxing today....what kind of PPV numbers would he draw?

[manimgoindown]

I think he would eclipse any other star. That warm smile. That slickness. Prizefighting for real. Dude would get 10 million buys in the US

[Tom Cruise]

Not sure about 10 million but he would probably be the no.1 attraction in the sport.

Saying that, does he make the same cultural impact without the big names to fight like Hearns, Duran, Hagler etc and with a much smaller hardcore boxing fanbase? Floyd managed to make it by tapping into the Hip Hop culture, how would Ray Leonard make his dollars?

[The Big Dunn]

I think he would eclipse any other star. That warm smile. That slickness. Prizefighting for real. Dude would get 10 million buys in the US

Tough question to answer. I can't see how he'd sell alot.

Ray was an Olympic hero. Olympic boxing and boxing in general was huge in the late 1970's. Ray got exsposure then that simply isn't available now. He was clean cut, smiled, didn't talk alot, a real nice guy on the camera. He was the perfect african american sportsman for the time-all the talent of ALi but none of the bombast or political baggage.

Andre Ward is very similar to Ray, except he has less charisma IMO. Is been hard for him to become a star in this era. His Gold medal barely registered with US fans. Ray would be great in any era without question, but would that traslate in the ppv era?

[BUNGALOWS]

Not sure about 10 million but he would probably be the no.1 attraction in the sport.

Saying that, does he make the same cultural impact without the big names to fight like Hearns, Duran, Hagler etc and with a much smaller hardcore boxing fanbase? Floyd managed to make it by tapping into the Hip Hop culture, how would Ray Leonard make his dollars?

He'd be a god in today's era. He'd beat everyone at 147/154/160. He could beat the top p4p elites of each weight class, and he'd be looked upon as the Alpha and Omega.

Oscar would give him a chance, and he'd become a PPV star.

[BUNGALOWS]

To answer the question. Hard to gauge. Broner got the push from Haymon, even before the audience knew he was a flamboyant, ******. It's because he saw the talent in him, and his amateur background was pristine.

Now imagine the type of push that a Ray Leonard gets. Oh lawd......

[Tom Cruise]

He'd be a god in today's era. He'd beat everyone at 147/154/160. He could beat the top p4p elites of each weight class, and he'd be looked upon as the Alpha and Omega.

Oscar would give him a chance, and he'd become a PPV star.

He would probably be a huge star in this era, i just dont think he would be as big now as he was when he was active. Boxing is less popular, there are less name fighters to make his mark and the cold war of our two main promotional outfits would rule out a good few fights

[UTEP]

He'd be a god in today's era. He'd beat everyone at 147/154/160. He could beat the top p4p elites of each weight class, and he'd be looked upon as the Alpha and Omega.

Oscar would give him a chance, and he'd become a PPV star.

Exactly, he wouldn't duck anybody either.

[IMDAZED]

How many PPV's would a Leonard-Mayweather fight do? Good guy versus bad? Oh man...

[junior gong]

Tough question to answer. I can't see how he'd sell alot.

Ray was an Olympic hero. Olympic boxing and boxing in general was huge in the late 1970's. Ray got exsposure then that simply isn't available now. He was clean cut, smiled, didn't talk alot, a real nice guy on the camera. He was the perfect african american sportsman for the time-all the talent of ALi but none of the bombast or political baggage.

Andre Ward is very similar to Ray, except he has less charisma IMO. Is been hard for him to become a star in this era. His Gold medal barely registered with US fans. Ray would be great in any era without question, but would that traslate in the ppv era?

Desperate, painful and embarrasing....please dunn, dont do this to yourself, buddy.

[CubanGuyNYC]

It's true that when Leonard won his gold medal it meant a lot more than it does today; but Ray would still be a superstar. He had the skills, talent, style and charisma to appeal to the masses; and Leonard had the smarts to market himself to millions.

We're talking about an ATG that beat several other ATGs. Ray lost his first fight to Duran (my favorite fighter) by playing into Roberto's style. But he came back to utterly embarrass Duran in their second meeting. Leonard beat Hearns in an all-time classic, come from behind victory. He went on to beat one of the greatest middleweights of all time, Marvin Hagler (although I thought Marvin edged it out).

How can a fighter such as this not draw huge PPV numbers?