Who, in your opinion, was the better fighter and who should rank higher in the all-time standings? Leonard had that incomparable record whereas Whitaker was perhaps even more unbeatable in his prime and fought on high level for longer
I consider Leonard both better and greater, though the gap in both (quality/greatness) is not wide. I have Leonard at #4 all time. My top 3 are Robinson, Duran, and Armstrong. Pea I think has a good argument at lower top 10, or at the very worst, top 15.
Leonard One of the most versatile fighters ever with the tools and skills to handle every style and type of opponent.
If I tried to make an argument for Whitaker, I'd point out that prime Leonard lost in his best weight class and was outboxed for 12+ rounds on another occasion, whereas Whitaker was never close of defeat (minus a bogus decision). Leonard was more versatile but Whitaker's A-game might have been even more difficult to beat with any tactics. I wouldn't make any lightweight in the history the favorite against him (though Duran certainly would have a say)
And that argument can easily be countered by... Whitaker never faced a prime Duran level fighter. The best fighter Pea beat at lightweight was Nelson, and Azumah's prime was 126-130. Listen, in my opinion the 5 best fighters of the last 50 years are (in no order): Duran, Leonard, Roy, Whitaker, and Floyd. I don't think there's a HUGE separation between any of the five, but I generally consider Duran/Leonard a bit greater than the latter 3. Ranking Roy/Whitaker/Floyd in terms of greatness would be tough - they're all pretty close in terms of greatness, but Roy IMO was a cut above Whitaker/Floyd in prime.
But as I said, I don't know if there has ever been a fighter good enough to beat LW Whitaker. And if you want to look at it through Pernell-lenses, Leonard losing to Duran would equal Pernell losing to a featherweight, such as Pac or Gomez. Of course, these two are among the very best ever to do it, so all criticism is nit-picking relatively speaking. I can see the argument in favor of PW although I concede that Leonard would be the pick for majority
Well, Armstrong was a featherweight, and I think you could make a compelling case for Armstrong being able to beat Pea. He might not have, but at least a case can be made. Duran is the favorite over Whitaker at 135. And I know you don't like Duran, and might not wanna admit that, but it's just logical to make Duran the favorite. He beat MUCH MUCH better lightweight comp than Whitaker did, and dominated lightweight over a longer period.
Greater obviously depends on your criteria, much of it with how much you value activity. Whitaker was one of the best boxers, or the best, p4p in the world for about 7-8 years straight. Leonard was always retiring and unretiring, but he was better at his 1979-82 peak than Whitaker was at his peak around a decade later and Ray’s best wins triumph Whitaker’s best. He didn’t just beat one ATG, he beat 3 ATGs in or near their primes in a period of less than two years.
