Quote Originally Posted by fatsandy
Even though SRL was before my time..I always thought of him as a GOAT then I seen a special on a Guy called the HAWK , I watched the HAWK call SRL out while they both were HOT commodities and SRL totally ignored him..as of that moment (in my mind) the GREAT SRL was a coward... I could see him as nothing more after that.... Can someone shed any light on this for me?
I suspect 'The Hawk' you are talking about is Aaron Pryor. Pryor was a superb Lightweight, who had to move up to 140lbs to get his title shot. By the time he peaked, Leonard had retired (after the Finch fight), and by the time Leonard had comeback sadly Pryor was a hopeless crack addict, who was losing to journeyman Bobby Joe Young...

I am no Leonard fan, but Ray never avoided a Pryor fight IMO, timing meant, it just was never considered a serious fight on the table.