Quote Originally Posted by TitoFan View Post
Floyd-Corrales was arguably one of Floyd's best all-around fights to be sure. Diego was an awesome fighter with power and good boxing skills. It's hard to argue against that. But Sugar Ray's fights against Tommy Hearns, particularly the first fight, was a true classic. Add to that his victories over such ATG's as Roberto Duran, Wilfredo Benitez, and Marvin Hagler... and you can make a case for SRL as well. One thing I favor in SRL over Floyd, even if by a small margin, is SRL's style of mostly going on the offensive. Whereas in some of Floyd's fights, he tends to be mostly a defensive counterpuncher. But both are ATG's, and probably in the top 5 all time. It's a privilege to be able to say you've seen boxing mastery at its best.
I think there was a big skill advantage for Floyd over guys like Ray Leonard and Roy Jones, who relied heavily on their freakish reflexes. Floyd had the reflexes and the defensive skill. One thing that stood out was that Floyd's offense was so calculated. He got aggressive against Corrales at times but still managed to slip and roll with the punches coming back at him. Not to diminish what Leonard and RJJ did though, I still believe they were geniuses in the ring as well.

I've never seen a guy able to navigate his back off the ropes like Floyd did in that fight either, which is no small feat given the size and reach Corrales had on him (comparable to the advantage Hearns had on RL I guess). Never seen anything like it. Even Harold Lederman said he hadn't seen anything like it since Willy Pep.