What if Ray Leonard didn't retire in the early 80's? How would have his career unfolded. Would he have moved up to 154 for rematches with Hearns or Benitez or maybe given McCallum a go? Would he have stayed at 147 and taken on the likes of Curry, McCrory & Starling? Would we have seen the Leonard-Hagler fight as early as 1984?
When Leonard retired the first time was it because of his eye, or was that one of his numerous other retirements?
And who would have beaten him in 1983 or 1984? Assuming he didn't make the jump all the way to Middle that soon...who could get the job done? He had already beaten Hearns & Benitez. I don't see him Duran beating him at that point. McCallum was still pretty green...he finally got a title shot and was forced to go the distance with a light-hitting journeyman to win his vacant title. Who would make you happy and beat him? And don't just throw a name out...tell me why.
I happen to think that Ray would have beaten Hagler at any stage of his career. It would have been a close decision at any stage, but ray would have always won. Leonard would have moved up and had a rubber match with Duran which he would have won and a rematch with Hearns which he would have lost. Curry, Starling and those guys would have had no chance against him...
Ray never would have beaten Hagler during that time period. Hagler would have been too strong for him and Hagler's reflexes hadn't slowed. Plus, Ray didn't have the benefit of 'roids like he needed for the Hagler fight and Hearns rematch.
Curry had a VERY Good Chance... REED would've FAVORED Sugar Ray, but he WOULDN'T have just DOMINATED Donald Curry, or Anything... REED:nono:
What about Ray's reflexes and stamina after a 3 year layoff? People seem to forget this. The relative differences between them would have been the same at any stage. As for being too strong: Hagler wasn't too strong for Duran, and IMO Duran wasn't a tougher person than Leonard, in fact I'd say that Leonard was tougher....Hearns didn't KTFO Leonard in 2 rounds!
That sausage smoker was always a disaster waiting to happen. Curry had some eye-catching skills but he didn't have the testicular fortitude (no pun intended) to handle Ray when the going got tough.
Ray was more willing to stand and fight prior to his initial layoff and because of getting dropped by Kevin Howard, he realized that his reflexes and speed weren't quite the same. The REASON Ray was able to get a decision against Hagler is directly due to his having the maturity and experience to realize the fight plan he needed to utlilize in order to beat Hagler...just like he adopted a different gameplan against Duran in the rematch. As far as comparing Hearns fight with Duran with Leonard's...that's a piss poor example for obvious reasons...put it this way...that's like saying Hatton's greater than Mayweather because he knocked Castillo out and didn't need a second crack at him to get a clear win. (like Ray needed over Duran).
I think Hagler was too big and strong for Duran. Hagler didn't attack Duran with that much aggression, but Hagler was more of a boxer-puncher anyway. When they traded at quarters, Hagler got the better of it. I think his natural size and strength played a part.
I hate Ray as much as I've hated any other fighter "however" I have NO doubt that if Ray were around in the 90's there would be no Trinidad, Mosley, DLH, Curry or Mayweather. Ray would have defeated all those guys.
Perhaps... But Curry DID Have just Enough SPEED, POP, DEFENSE & TECHNIQUE to Give Leonard a VERY Tough Fight...A TACTICALLY "Tough" Fight... Even if Leonard Eventually KO'ed Curry, it WOULDN'T have Been a 1-Sided Fight PRIOR to that... REED:nono:
I've always thought Leonard-Pryor would be exciting fight...for about 4 or 5 rounds. Pryor was a great fighter at 140 and under but he would be a bit undersized at 147. I don't see any advantages for Pryor over Leonard at 147. Leonard would have the handspeed to match Pryor, the chin to handle whatever Pryor has to offer and the killer instinct to finish what he started if he drops or hurts Pryor early (which wasn't an uncommon occurance for Pryor). I know Duran moved up from 135 and beat Leonard, but a even a one armed and blindfolded Duran would be less easy to hit than Pryor and I don't see Leonard making the same mistakes he made against Duran the first time around.
REED ISN'T Sooooooo Sure that Pryor WASN'T a BETTER Puncher than Roberto Duran...w/1 Shot, he Probably WAS... & Despite the CONSTANT Pressure Duran Kept his Foes Under, he WASN'T Quite as MANIC as Aaron Pryor...Being FAIR, the Fact that Pryor was "Manic" Could ALSO Lead to him Being SLOPPY @ Times...& Undoubtedly, Duran was the SUPERIOR Defensive Fighter... Pryor had BETTER Footwork than Duran...So Leonard's Strategy in his 2nd Bout w/Duran WOULDN'T B Quite as Effective on Pryor... By NO Means is REED Saying Pryor would WIN, but he'd FORCE a FASTER Pace on Leonard than Ray had EVER Seen B 4... REED is Inclined to Favor Leonard by a LATE TKO, 12th or 13th Round, but it'd B a CLASSIC Fight in REED's Opinion... REED
