Why is Ray Leonard still outside the top 10 ever?

[Princemanspopa]

Completely different situation Malone,bugner was literally hounded out of the country.Hearns to my knowledge never held any hard feelings toward Ray Leonard.Neither men are really in a position to be doing commercials anymore,their from a past generation where only those above 30 know who they are.

[Jim Jeffries]

40 total fights. Turned pro in 77, had his last meaningful fight in 89, 12 years later. Out of those 12 years, he had 1 fight in the more than 5 years between the Finch and Hagler fights. Meaning he essentially had 7 meaningful years as a pro and that counts the tomato cans in the beginning.

The fact that he's ranked as high as he is is a testament to his greatness. And had he fought longer there is no doubt he would be top 10.

[Slimey Limey]

Ray Leonard may be a class A prick (which he is) but his quality as a fighter is pretty damn obvious (at least to me). I don't like the dude but there's no denying he's one of the best fighters I've ever seen.

Poet

Nobody gives a ****e which fighters you don't like or tickle your fanny. You're not important, mate. Although you love to think that you are.

Ray Leonard was atleast top 3 ever. Ali, Pep and Leonard. Indeed.

[Stoppage]

I have Leonard in my top 10 list.

[mickey malone]

Completely different situation Malone,bugner was literally hounded out of the country.Hearns to my knowledge never held any hard feelings toward Ray Leonard.Neither men are really in a position to be doing commercials anymore,their from a past generation where only those above 30 know who they are.

The commercial quip was 'tongue in cheek' stuff and no, it would not surprise me if they have indeed shaken hands and become friends, but I know there was bad blood between the 2 while they were both fighting, and it was on a personal level, and nothing to do with promotional hype.. Although I don't recall the source(s)
I can remember reading more than 1 article quoting they hadn't spoken in years, one writer even referred to witnessing them pass in a corridor without exchanging a glance..

I'm well informed on Joe Bugner, his stepson is a good friend of mine.. I'm sure he and Henry Cooper would have shaken hands a long time ago, had it not been for the diabolical hounding he endured from the **** shoveling British media that drove him out..
They would have probably earned a few bob together to, if you get my drift...

[RightCross94]

I myself rank Leonard top 10 p4p of all time, and I usually see him on other peoples/publications lists too

[GJC]

I myself rank Leonard top 10 p4p of all time, and I usually see him on other peoples/publications lists too

Not a fan of SRL but I have him in my top 20.

[BennyST]

Despite his amazing run during the 80s beating fellow ATGs Hearns, Hagler, Duran, & Benitez in their head to head confros & capturing titles in multiple weights (oh yeah an olympic gold medal to boot) why he is still outside the top 10 of any credible rankings of boxing greats? i.e. IBRO, THE RING or even ESPN?

Whats keeping him from the top 10?

I think it's simply due to his lack of longevity, retiring and un-retiring etc etc. What he did though was truly stunning and the fact he was able to do all that in such a short amount of time speaks volumes for him and is the reason why he is considered such a great.

He is always around the top ten though but due to a few small inconsistencies here and there and his premature retirement from his eye problems I think that is what keeps him out of the top ten most often, but he is still close enough that it doesn't matter. Some have him in the top ten and some have him just out of it.

[BennyST]

And where did you hear this Malone I was listening to an interview Leonard conducted a month ago and he said that the one fighter who he does keep in contact with is Thomas Hearns,and claimed that he just got of the phone with Hearns prior to that interview he conducted.

Hearns, during their fighting days and for most of their lives, hated Leonard with a passion. Kind of like Ali/Frazier. Got screwed in the rematch and hated Leonard for not making the rematch years earlier even though it was one of the most wanted and expected fights of that decade, if not the most wanted rematch.

Finally when it did happen though, Hearns gave him a beating but got screwed over badly because of his US of A media darling imagine. Hearns wasn't happy with it.

Still though, Leonard was arrogant. He is also rather truthful about his ring accounts today and tells it how it was, which is good to hear as many fighters don't and only say **** to protect their image and fight rep. He doesn't mind saying that Hearns beat him nowadays, though he certainly didn't say it back then, so I admire him a great deal for that. You won't find that many fighters of his caliber admit to a fight that he lost but got a BS corrupt decision in.

Like Chavez, he wouldn't admit that he lost to Whitaker.

[BennyST]

Another reason why he may be disliked, is because of the way the boxing authority's pampered to his demands.. The Super middleweight division was created, virtually on his say so, so that he could be the 1st man to win 5 weight titles.. They also let him keep his SMW title while he popped up to LH and beat Lalonde.. I'm sure this put a few noses out of joint, especially Hearns who did it very soon afterwards, a matter of days I think.

It was kind of the other way around. But yes, this is definitely a reason he was looked upon with some disdain.

He was the first, and only, fighter to win five world titles in different weight divisions without ever fighting at one of those weights. The fight with LaLonde who was the LHW champion was held at the SMW (168) division and LaLonde, who struggled mightily just to make the 175 division already, was not allowed to come in a pound over the SMW limit. So essentially, it was a 175 pound title fight for the 175 pound championship but, as stipulated by the challenger, the 175 pound champion was not allowed to come in anywhere in his own divisions weight limit and was only allowed to compete for his own 175 pound title in a completely different weight division limit. Amazing

So, when Leonard won that SMW title he also won the LHW championship. The only fighter in history to win a world championship at a weight by fighting at a completely different, an smaller, weight and the only fighter in history to make a champion fight completely out of his weight class in another division entirely and yet win his title for a higher weight class.

Don't get confused by catch-weights. This wasn't a catch-weight, it was a SMW title fight that was also somehow for the LHW title, though neither fighter was able to leave the SMW limit.

Absolutely hilarious. I think Pac or Mayweather should go for the middleweight title to make more history but by making Pavlik come down to at the WW limit. They would still make history right?