Fighters who retired at the right time.

[TitoFan]

Diva, maybe. But Leonard faced the best at their peaks without worrying about catchweights or waiting for the planets to align before facing them
.

Oh, I'm not convinced about that Tito.

Leonard was a magnificent and courageous fighter, no doubt about that ......

But he was very very carefully matched on the way up, he agreed to defend against an already ageing Duran having his first fight at Welterweight, then didn't have the rubber match until Duran was truly ancient and fat.

He waited at least 5 years for Hagler to get old and for the planets to align, he made huge events from fighting substandard opposition (Kevin Howard, anyone?) and he cherry picked guys later on.

And you couldn't be more wrong about catchweights. Leonard INVENTED catchweights. The entire super middleweight division was invented to weight drain Donny Lalonde. It was a farce that history has looked kindly upon.

No, my friend. Duran was most certainly NOT aging when he fought Leonard... in what should be considered one of history's greatest fights. Duran was 29 years old, and pretty much in his prime.

You mention the rubber match... but no mention of the immediate rematch in which Duran was woefully unprepared (his fault) and given a boxing lesson by SRL.

Hagler? Sure... I'll give you that one. But what about the Who's Who of boxing ATG's on Leonard's resume, like Hearns and Benitez?

Can you imagine Ginger facing the same quality of opponent in their prime?? I can't.

Leonard can be accused of being a diva, arrogant, opportunistic at times.

But please............... PLEASE.......... don't anyone make the unforgivable mistake of putting an ATG and Coddled Ginger in the same sentence, paragraph, book.

[NoSavingByTheBell]

Duran/Leonard 1 is one of my Top 10 all-time favorites --- I read Roberto ate gallons and gallons of ice cream for months, partying after beating Leonard....

I remember Duran giving an interview one time to Howard Cosell, and he was asked why he had gained so much weight so quickly, and he gave a big smile and I remember he said:

"Ice cream! I love ice cream!!"

Hahaha

[SlimTrae]

I can understand when some say Duran was old (in ring) years. I think going the distance with Marvelous Marvin proved he still had a lot left.

[Master]

I can understand when some say Duran was old (in ring) years. I think going the distance with Marvelous Marvin proved he still had a lot left.

Duran is a superhuman who would still be fighting now if he did not have that car accident. He just kept on pulling out performances way past his best weight which was lightweight. How could he beat Leonard, go the distance with Hagler, beat Davey Moore, Barkley, and keep fighting until 50?

[X]

Diva, maybe. But Leonard faced the best at their peaks without worrying about catchweights or waiting for the planets to align before facing them
.

Oh, I'm not convinced about that Tito.

Leonard was a magnificent and courageous fighter, no doubt about that ......

But he was very very carefully matched on the way up, he agreed to defend against an already ageing Duran having his first fight at Welterweight, then didn't have the rubber match until Duran was truly ancient and fat.

He waited at least 5 years for Hagler to get old and for the planets to align, he made huge events from fighting substandard opposition (Kevin Howard, anyone?) and he cherry picked guys later on.

And you couldn't be more wrong about catchweights. Leonard INVENTED catchweights. The entire super middleweight division was invented to weight drain Donny Lalonde. It was a farce that history has looked kindly upon.

No, my friend. Duran was most certainly NOT aging when he fought Leonard... in what should be considered one of history's greatest fights. Duran was 29 years old, and pretty much in his prime.

You mention the rubber match... but no mention of the immediate rematch in which Duran was woefully unprepared (his fault) and given a boxing lesson by SRL.

Hagler? Sure... I'll give you that one. But what about the Who's Who of boxing ATG's on Leonard's resume, like Hearns and Benitez?

Can you imagine Ginger facing the same quality of opponent in their prime?? I can't.

Leonard can be accused of being a diva, arrogant, opportunistic at times.

But please............... PLEASE.......... don't anyone make the unforgivable mistake of putting an ATG and Coddled Ginger in the same sentence, paragraph, book.

OK, I will admit I was wrong about Duran being old in the first fight. I still think Leonard tried to reduce his risk by fighting Duran in his first fight at the higher weight, and the only reason there was an immediate rematch was that Leonard lost! You're right, though, at least there was a rematch.

I was highly critical of Leonard during his career of stacking the odds in his favour and he definitely liked catchweights in his favour!

I am definitely not criticising Leonard's skills, ability or courage. He is an All Time Great without doubt, and always entertaining in the ring. Fantastic fighter. 👍🏼