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Sugar Ray Leonard? |
Did he avoid fighting Pipino Cuevas and fought Wilfred Benitez instead? Thumbs up to jazbac, if Ray avoided anyone it was most certainly Pryor, Ray's obvious fear and respect of Pryor was caught on video tape many times. Normally I don't revisit and edit my answers, but this one calls for a follow up. Ray Leonard earned everyone's respect in the first Hearns fight. Thomas was way ahead on all the cards, and Ray dug down and found a way to KO Hearns. That fight made the blogbaba a Ray Leonard fan. Duran dissed and than beat him in Montreal. But to claim Ray humiliated Duran in the no mas fight is to intentionally misunderstand Duran. Duran quit to show contempt for Ray's refusal to slug it out. To Duran it was another act of disrespect for Leonard, the world press moved into overdrive to promote America's darling, and the rest is history. The "No Mas" fight is called the "No Mas" fight not for anything Ray did, but because of Duran. The same holds true for Hagler/Leonard. Ray survived, which nobody expected, and he was the media favorite. The entire fight was about what Hagler didn't do, and had little to do with Ray's running behind a jab, or the pity pat flurry's he ended each round with to steal Hagler's title. Ray didn't beat either Duran the second time or Hagler, and Hagler quit all of boxing in disgust at the decision. Hearns dominated Ray again in their second fight, only to see Ray's media created legacy be protected by yet another outrageous decision, there is no possible way any reasonable person could claim that fight was a draw, it was the ONLY draw in history that was worse than the one Chavez got over Whitaker. Ray didn't avoid Cuevas, Cuevas was a non-issue. But the fear Ray felt for Aaron Pryor was real, and although Ray ran away from Duran and Hagler but still found a way to win, Pryor would have used the same rage that Camacho did to punish Ray for his refusal to engage in an actual fight. They call boxers "fighters" for a reason. Occasionally a boxer comes along with the ability to "not fight" his way to victory. Ray was one, and Mayweather is another. That doesn't mean they can't fight, it means they choose to run, flick a jab and claim victory by virture of what doesn't happen in the ring. If a fighter doesn' get hit, he doesn't lose, even if he doesn't do much to the other guy. Do I like the style? No, it is based as much on fear as it is intelligence. But I understand why it is imployed by those who do it, in fact I have done it myself on more than one occasion. Some fighters are too tough to go toe to toe with. Ray Leonard's KO of Hearns earned my respect. His fights with Hagler and Duran the second time earned my contempt. As for fear of Pryor, there is no shame in fearing the better man, all boxers feel fear. D'Amato said it best, how a man deals with fear defines who is a coward and who is a brave man. Ray was a brave man to run from Hagler and Duran in the ring, and somehow race to victory. He avoided Pryor because he didn't want to suffer the same fate of Arguello, and in truth a lot of good fighters avoided Pryor, not just Ray. But those of us who know fear, reconized it in Leonard when Ray looked at Aaron. I'm not sure, but he avoided Aaron Pryor like the plague! I agree with the others that Benitez was the bigger fight than Cuevas, and that Benitez was a better fighter. Benitez and the first fight with Hearns were by far the best performances of Leonard's career. First I want to tell Mowglieboy that Leonard didn't beat Hagler. A stone cold "Ali type" decision for the money man of boxing. Second of all, Hagler was at best about 75% of hisself by then. The wars with Hearns and especially Mugabi really took their toll on the aging Hagler. If Leonard wanted Hagler at his best, he could have fought him at anytime years before he did. Leonard said himself he didn't even consider it until after the Mugabi fight. Kudos to Blog! Great analysis ! ray leonard and pipino cuevas had already publicly agreed to meet each other for a unification match, but bob arum who had exclusive rights to tommy hearns and don king who had exclusive rights to wilfred benitez and roberto duran had other plans in mind to manipulate the welterweight unification showdown. If anybody Leonard avoided was Hagler. Benitez was the fighter to beat at that time. There more money to made fighting Benitez. Was Benitez a safer bet than Cuevas, I don't know, because Benitez was a rough customer. Amen jazbac! Benitez was the champ wasn't he? |
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