I mean, he was a good fighter... but did he REALLY live up the legend? Leonard have lost - to a lightweight who have lost to DeJesus, a guy considered a bum back in the day. Have Leonard the cars? Have Leonard the pet lions? Have Leonard the strippers? Let's take a closer look at this so-called "Sugar"...
Agree... Leonard got a lot of credit for beating Benitez but Benitez got a gift decision over BRUCE Curry and was pwned in his PRIME (he was under 30 so therefore prime) by bums like Hamsho and Davey Moore ... Why is it a big deal to beat him?
The only thing that MIGHT count against Leonard's resume is his small number of fights. He concentrated on very few fights to be at his very best in them. Had he been as active as Duran or some other legends or fought as long as them, he might have more 'weak' performances in his resume. Ability-wise Leonard is the type of fighter who looks best ever in highlight reels, the same way Hearns, Norris, Ali, Jackson, Tyson and other quick-fisted guys did. However, the real-world Leonard was closer of actually being that highlight reel than anyone. Also it has to be remembered that Leonard wasn't great in everything he did. He wasn't the biggest puncher (even though these days he gets portrayed as one) nor demonstrated great variety of tactics. He didn't NEED any of that because he did his thing well enough, but let's not pretend he was 10/10 in EVERY part of the game
Nah Leonard deserves all the accolades he gets unlike Hagler. Leonard beat Hagler for one thing in his first fight in 3 years and second in 7. Leonard beat a prime undefeated Hearns. He took the title from Benitez. He was a truly great fighter with a resume that hardly anyone can match. I have no criticism to level against Leonard, except for his post Hagler competition.... Which can be excused considering what he accomplished before. Funny though people don't excuse mayweather's fights and competition when he was in his late 30s...but I get it, he wasn't fighting in the 80s. ;)
Not only do Leonard not have cars, he have gift draw decision against Hearns in rematch. He also have loss to Hector Camacho.
Leonard's biggest win was against a guy who lost to some bum (I don't know anything about him, so he's therefore a bum) named Monroe
Leonard was a great fighter; fought the best and beat the best. As such it is unfair for people to bring up the fact that he had his ass penetrated by his boxing coach during the Olympics.
Sugar Ray Leonard Have a Blueprint to Beat Him, but Ain't No Blueprint to Beat Floyd Mayweather...49 have Tried and 49 have Failed... REED
By the time Leonard was 25 he'd beaten Benitez, lost to then beat Duran then beat Hearns. He lost to a lightweight so he wasn't that good. And he didn't get paid 9 figures. Funny, Hearns was 23 when he fought Leonard the first time. It took Floyd and Manny 5 years to get into the ring for the biggest hyped, most damaging to the sport of boxing, fight ever.
I remember reading an article in KO Boxing in 1996 which basically said that Leonard had fought a lot of mooks and struggled in most of his fights against better fighters and also retired to avoid rematching Hagler, who was himself overrated. MTF
I remember reading 2 or 300 articles in boxing magazines that taught me you don't need to know a whole lot about boxing or boxers to make a living writing about it
Have Leonard won titles in 5 divisions ( not including the Lalonde fiasco) and remained undefeated in 20 years? Have he ever beaten an undefeated champion young enough to be his son ? Do he have the pedigree ?
If only he'd been fortunate enough to be born 20 years later in time to dominate the worst era in modern boxing history north of Featherweight
have a teenage Mayweather jr let a grown man suck his dick??? i guess that depends on how old da'suction of gaymen was if and when there were any ammy tournaments north of the border
Floyd ain't got no gold medal. He coated his bronze medal with diamonds. Leonard ain't got no diamond bronze medal
Man Leonard couldn't even beat his girl right. Juanita took his punches and still kept it moving from what I heard. What a waste.