Depends how much pressure Canelo tries to put on Leonard that decides Leonard's choice of victory: Canelo boxes, he gets stopped in 7-9 Rds...Canelo brawls, he loses on Pts.
I kinda think it's the other way around around. The more aggressive Canelo is increases the likely hood of him getting stopped. He's not gonna bother Ray the way Duran did. Duran could close the distance MUCH quicker than the Ginger, and had an excellent defense, especially on the inside. Canelo trying to press Ray with his slow feet, he's just gonna run into shots he doesn't see coming. And even if he takes those shots for awhile, he'd fatigue and wouldn't take them all night. My hunch is he tries to be aggressive early, but after tasting Ray's speed and power he becomes a "good boy" and gets gunshy.
There is nothing in Leonard's or Canelo's history that gives even the slightest indication that Leonard would have stopped Canelo. ESPECIALLY when you consider that Canelo is the bigger man. Duran was stoppable, evidenced by getting blasted out of there by Hearns in just two short rounds. Leonard wouldn't have seriously hurt Duran had they fought 100 times....and Duran was a much smaller man , naturally, than Canelo. If Canelo was hittable like Margarito, Mickey Ward or someone like that...I'd agree with you, but he's not. Y'all are talking SHIT!
Leonard, himself said, in the build up to the Hagler fight that he wasn't known as a big puncher. Leonard had respectable pop...but he WAS NOT a puncher. To stop a man he'd have to give him a consistent beating. Who did Leonard ever stop that had the equivalent combination of size, defense and durability as Canelo?
But on the flip side, who has Canelo fought that brings the hand speed, stamina, and ability to put shots together the way Leonard could? Ray is not gonna let him rest the same way Floyd did. He will be all over him the moment he gets his rhythm and timing down and I'm hard pressed to see Cabelo survive against somebody who could do that to him.
The flip side argument doesn't work. Hagler had never fought anyone like Leonard before he fought Ray either. Hearns had the power and speed...but didn't have the chin or the stamina. Hagler had never fought a Ray Leonard equivalent...yet no one would have picked Leonard by stoppage. You see....when someone has a proven chin, as well as proven boxing ability....you do not predict them to lose by KO to a guy that's not known as a puncher. That's just logic. IF...Canelo showed a consistent deficiency in defense and/or chin you would have a point...but there is no precedent for that assertion. It is based purely on Canelo hasn't beaten a legend and Leonard is a legend. Silly.
And I say again...Canelo doesn't have a stamina issue....he has a workrate issue. They are not always the same thing. A stamina issue...is when you tend to run out of gas the longer a fight lasts. or maybe that's a conditioning issue. Either way...it doesn't lend to teh growing myth that the longer the fight lasts the more likely Canelo is to get stopped. The dude showed against both Cotto and Trout that he carries his power late...and is just as sharp.
I don't think he has the best stamina, I just don't think he's faced anybody who could bring that weakness outta him. That's ANOTHER reason I picked him over Cotto. Cats were talking about Cotto drowning Canelo late, and they forgot that Cotto ain't exactly Alexis Arguello when it comes to stamina.
Canelo certainly doesn't have Pacquiao/Duran/Armstrong/Pryor type stamina. But I think it's unfair to say, as well as a gross exaggeration, that he has a "stamina problem". I'll give you an example of a fighter with a stamina problem...Fres Oquendo. Canelo is like Mosley...a spurt fighter...but keeps his chin and power..and overall faculties late in the fight as well.
