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

[-Kev-]

I think he would sell like prime Trinidad. 400-600k.

I don't see anything in SRL's personality that would help him sell 1mill+ and he was not a KO artist.

[StarshipTrooper]

Ali was also a hero because he was funny, articulate and a great fighter. Vietnam was just a part of it.

Ali's personality was tailor made for 24/7.....

[Ham Porter]

That's a cop out. Might as well just say older boxers had magic in their fists. Even then it still shows Leonard was partial to picking opponents who weren't the best.

Leonard's appetite for record padding is no different than Mayweather, Tysons or any other boxer in history. The nostalgia people put around Leonard or the older fighters is no different than the undue credit people give to Tyson.

Number of top ren rated contenders fought before title shot:


Leonard: Mayweather Sr, Shields, Muniz, Gant, Geraldo, Chiaverini, Ranzany, Price (Geraldo and Chiaverini rated above Welterweight)


Tyson: Ratliff (rated at Cruiserweight)


Mayweather: .............

I'm not complaining. I'm stating a fact. Boxers have always padded out their records. It's just funny to see someone bashing Floyd for fighting someone like the Ghost, while simultaneously praising the older fighters who did the exact same stuff back in their day.

Here's the key difference: opponents like Guerrero were never built up as a serious threat in order to charge people $60 to $70 just to watch. Fighters weren't paid thirty odd million for glorified sparring sessions against such heavily mismatched opponents.

[Grimgash]

He's in the money making divisions, and HW sucks. He'd be the top money maker in the sport, and relative to the condition of boxing, he'd be the biggest thing.

You didn't say anything about depending on when he came in. You just said he couldn't get fights with Hagler, etc. and he'd have even less television exposure.

He'd be boxing's biggest draw, and the undisputed #1. He'd get all the television exposure that's available for boxing.

And yes, Manny, Floyd, and Canelo are the biggest draws. If there was a Sugar Ray in the mix, he'd be THE biggest draw. It's pretty simple.

If there's a Sugar Ray in the picture, there's not enough hype left for those guys.

He'd be the top money maker maybe...but the fact remains how WELL would he do? If he was undeniably better than Pac and Floyd they wouldn't be as big as they became, a lot has to do with the allure of them fighting each other or lack thereof.

I don't think he'd be as big as people think, is the point im making, top money maker but I don't think he'd be at a Pac/Floyd current level. Floyd got there with his personality, Pac got there as Floyds rival and they've fed off that for years.

The main point is he wouldn't be as big as those two currently are, nor would those two be as big as they are, at least in my opinion. I'm not discrediting him in any way, it's more im not buying into his almighty star power he would have in this era.

[Ham Porter]

and you'd also know that he ducked Pryor

The pretense of claiming to "know history" while spouting such bollocks.

He is Roy Jones Jr. in this era..the amazing talent, charisma, flashy in the ring, crowd pleasing style..but thats where it ends. sadly for RJJ, he came out in a time where he had a lack-luster pool

The lacklusture pool existed due to Jones hiding behind his HBO contract to make safe mandatory defenses as opposed to pursuing the genuinely compelling fights that were around for him.

[_original_]

I think he would sell like prime Trinidad. 400-600k.

I don't see anything in SRL's personality that would help him sell 1mill+ and he was not a KO artist.

I completely disagree. SRL had/has tons of charisma, are you aware that he's the original golden boy? Actually, there's nobody in boxing today that I can think of that has anywhere close to the amount of personality that SRL had, the media would fall in love with him even today. This guy would be getting sponsor deals left and right. And not only was he the "golden boy," he was also a showman in and out of the ring. Also, where did you pull up this fact that you have to be a KO artist to be a star in boxing? Pacquiao and Mayweather aren't. Let's also not ignore the fact that SRL would probably stop most guys from 147-160. Hell, I'd imagine the PPV numbers that SRL VS Mayweather/Pacquiao/DLH would bring, all fights that I and most knowledgeable boxing fans would favor him to win.

[Boxfan7819]

Im assuming you havent watched any of his fights? He would beat any current fighters today if they were in his division

[manimgoindown]

A lot of great and insightful comments on a forum normally full of wise ass cracks.

One thing I liked was the contemporary culture in the US not aligning with a calm serene personality. I don't buy it though. SRL was still hip, he was someone you look up to and model your kids after. I think he had the Muhammad Ali-esque, not Tyson esque apppeal. My initial assessment was based on an 'all things equal' assumption about boxing still being on mainstream non-cable tv.

Another thing to think about is FMJ as much as we love him, had his most difficult fight and in my opinion loss to JLC...a career lightweight, while a fit, non-camp Floyd walks around at 149. I'm just saying, SRL fought full blown light and middle weights. For me there is no comparison in the quality of opponent being talked about

It's also interesting to note that opposite: what would SRL have today that FMJ wouldn't have in SRL's era? Imagine FB Youtube Twitter, social media and focused marketing. I really stand by that 10 million sales prediction. Saturday night people hug the bars to watch boxing fights.

[Mike Haynes]

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?

Ward is a boring fighter, that's why he's not a star.

[manimgoindown]

This...not only this but SRL was a prize fighter. His calisthenic abilities were supreme. Look at the shot that put Mayweather Senior put down...it looked like Neptune's spear. Just beautiful aesthetically pleasing boxing 28:00 35:45 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQCVmXOOfoI