Sugary Ray Leonard vs Oscar De La Hoya

Sugar stopped benitez the defensive wizard
oscar struggled to (rightfully) decision Whitaker
Sugar stopped a prime and unbeaten Hearns (ko artist)
de la hoya ran(literally) out of gas against trinidad
at welter no contest Leonard in 14!

I was thinking that Oscar would have an edge in hand speed- certainly in footspeed- while Leonard would be the harder puncher and be the superior in terms of defensive skills. Two "mental" issues weigh in on my pick. First , Oscar does not react well at all when hit hard by an opponent that he percieves as a real threat. I base this on how giddy he was over his blck eye after the Gonzalez fight (Oscar's best), those weird lulls in the Quartey fight , how after the Trinidad fight he gave me so distinct an impression of a man who had just been very very afraid and how he kept saying that their fight plan was that he not get hurt, how he seemed to be unraveling against Vargas, who blew it by looking for one punch instead of putting hands on Oscar, and his loss to Hopkins. Second, Leonard, as much as I disliked him (and Olympians in general) always found a way to win. Leonard by wide decision, maybe stoppage inthe 9-12th range. Oh with one caveat. Had DeLaHoya continued on with Rivero training him, he would beat Leonard by clear decision and he would be undefeated today. That man was creating a work of art and Clancy and especially Emmanuel Stewart should be expelled from the HoF for what they did to destroy Oscar's career and potential. Neither of thos two has a shred of credibility with me since then.

Ray wins without question :rolleyes3:

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Originally Posted by Johnny Law

Ray wins without question :rolleyes3:

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I think so too.

Sugar Ray wins this for me by late stoppage.

The only way oscar would knock out sugar ray is if he drugged him 10 minutes before fight time. Leonard by decision.

Being a lefty by nature Dela Hoya struggles working to his right anybody with good latarell movement always give him trouble. Leneord would make a meal of him

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Originally Posted by chamiley

Both were golden boys, both were pretty boys, had lightning fast hands, very sturdy chins, were commanding figures in their times and dominant at welterweights. Man the list of similarities is exhausting who would win and why.

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Suger Ray by UD....Unbelievable boxer. I would have benn a nice fight to have seen..

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Originally Posted by chamiley

Both were golden boys, both were pretty boys, had lightning fast hands, very sturdy chins, were commanding figures in their times and dominant at welterweights. Man the list of similarities is exhausting who would win and why.

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Sugar Ray....one step above ODLH in every category....

I think Oscar would win on points.

i think sugar would win. he's faster and he could change his style well.

Sugar Ray Leonard, it would have been great to see who would have had more star power in the fight, but then again I have never seen anybody with the star power of the Golden Boy. Sugar with a KO in the 7th

I have to go with Ray on this one based on what they both did in their careers...Both legends but Oscar has never had the Marquee win...EG he lost to Trinidad and Mosley was blown out by Hopkins....
Ray lost to but later on avenged his losses and eventually beat everyone put in front of him ( were talking prime ray not the ray who was old and almost blind in one eye when he fought Camacho) Leonard beat Duran,Hearns,Hagler,Lalonde and a string more

Leonard easy

As similar as they sound, in the ring they were worlds apart. Delahoya would have a lot of trouble figuring out the ever moving, flashy and nearly untouchable Sugar Ray Leonard. On the other hand, Leonard would probably be touching him up and flurrying all over him at the end of every round. His hands are too fast and hes a smarter fighter (not to say DLH isnt smart, hes just not got the ring savvy of Ray). I hink ODLH would have a big problem with a prime Duran because of the styles; Leonard would have given him fits. Especially in the old school fifteen round fights like Sugar Ray was used to. In a 15-rounder Leonard stops ODLH in the 14th, catching him on the ropes and unloading a lightning fast combination that seems to go on and on, punch after punch until the ref finally moves in to stop it. In a 12-rounder, Leonard by decision. 9 rounds to 3 or perhaps an even more lopsided score than that. I just dont see ODLH being able to deal with that combination of speed, rhythm, skill and lateral movement. Plus Leonard could punch, too. There's a reason he was the biggest thing in boxing even though the sport was left in shadow by Ali back in Sugar Ray's day. It's because he was that good. Oscar is a great fighter and champion too. But i think they are in slightly different leagues.