Leonard v Mayweather, the ultimate pickem?

Of all the common fantasy fights that play on the minds of every boxing fan, this is the one where i really struggle to come up with a clear one, both just look almost completely unbeatable in there primes, can anyone say they strongly believe in a winner one way or another?

Leonard for me. Not with overwhelming confidence but with a larger degre of confidence than a pick em. I would be comfortable installing Leonard as the favourite.

SRL by a clear UD. Over 15 rounds I'd score it 10-5.

Leonard for me, with power and weight being the deciding factors.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Leonard for me, with power and weight being the deciding factors.

And speed and skill. SRL was simply the better fighter imo.

Mayweather is the better defensively of the two while being a lot more accurate, the biggest stumbling block would be size, Whitaker would be the only man i'd pick to outskill him.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Mayweather is the better defensively of the two while being a lot more accurate, the biggest stumbling block would be size, Whitaker would be the only man i'd pick to outskill him.

I agree he's a better defensive fighter and more accurate puncher, but I dont think he would ever have met anyone with the skill-set coupled with greater speed that SRL. If they were both the same size I'd still pick SRL regardless of the weight issue.

It would be a one sided battering. Of our eyes and ears. Leonard SD in an ugly ugly fight.

ShahenshahG wrote:It would be a one sided battering. Of our eyes and ears. Leonard SD in an ugly ugly fight.

Why would it be an ugly fight? I see SRL controlling it with his jab and movement. He used the ring better that Floyd and his footwork was second to none. Floyd is a great great fighter, but SRL is just better. SRL has a more varied arsenal.

The ugly fight (or one for the purists) would be Floyd and Pernell.

Leonards record, size and power at the weight are all more reassuring for me. Hes the naturally bigger and stronger guy. Tougher aswell than he is often credited with.

With wins over Hearns, Benitez and Duran at the weight hs beaten guys that are not a million miles of Mayweather in standard whereas Mayweather hasnt beaten anyone remotely as good as Leonard at 147lb.

Cant rule someone of Mayweathers class out but would find it difficult to bet against Leonard in this one.

Yeah and Floyd also knows that he cant win a boxing match so he makes Leonard miss and force him to come at him. Leonards hardest punches were from a short distance, throwing from a distance is daft and Elonard is anything but daft. Leonard has to force the fight because mayweather won't. Just like Hopkins who played a sit back game and waited for Calzaghe to come to him but Calzaghe was always too much to play that sort of game, because he is absolutely relentless. In his next fight, Hopkins beats Seven shades of Poopie out of pavlik aggresively - a tactic he didnt dare try against Calzaghe because hes much too smart.

No Distance boxing, Leonard does a much more aggressive in and out style and both miss a hell of a alot. But Leonard wins because he was only pure KO power away from perfection.

Mayweather defensively brilliant,but he would need to be against Sugar Ray and even that wouldn.t be good enough

Leonard naturally bigger, faster, harder puncher and Leonard could still maintain his speed, agility and power late in a fight,its Leonard by a convincing UD.

I'd make Leonard the narrow favourite; certainly not far off a pick 'em, I'd imagine, but Leonard has more going for him here. The respective skills and qualities of the pair are fairly equal, but Ray has size on his side here. Good big'un, good little'un and all that jazz. I think Leonard's patience has Floyd blowing his top a little and forcing the issue more than usual, going after Leonard but losing the battle of the jabs and not being able to win the (rare) inside exchanges. Leonard by something like 116-113 over twelve, 145-141 over fifteen would be my best guess.

I think people are overlooking how smart and adaptable Floyd has become at Welterweight. Leonard had all the tools to beat Duran as he showed in the second fight but was lured into Duran's game and lost because of it first time round. I know Floyd and Duran couldn't be much more different in terms of style but if Floyd could get under Leonards skin a bit and Leonard brings anything less than his absolute best he could be in for a surprise. I'd still give Leonard the edge because it's his natural weight but I really would not be shocked to see Floyd drag him into a messy type of fight and land the cleaner single shots.

Imaginative boxing on Leonard's part would win this for him as much as size, speed, footwork, power, toughness and workrate. Every physical attribute is with Leonard, but he also ha greater vary and could win from any range. No disrespect to Mayweather, there are almost definitely less than three welters in history who beat a prime SRL. Maybe none.

He's also faced a defensive master in Benitez and beat him pretty conclusively. Obviously Benitez and Mayweather are different animals, but their styles and strengths aren't so different. I wouldn't be too worried about putting a fiver on Ray. Floyd's welterweight resume has nothing even approaching a Ray Leonard.

Benitez spent all pre fight shaggin whores and not training! not a focused Benitez.... anyway Floyd is a completely different kettle of fish. I always find Rays wonderment at floyd interesting to behold. It is so interesting in his comments to see what Ray picks out about floyd. The one comment i hear time and again is Ray say he has never seen a better watcher in the ring than floyd, 'its like Floyd sees everything in there'. And i think Ray knows how rare this is. it goes to the heart of why i think floyd wins on points. both guys are supreme athletes .... no point trying to quiblle on speed, its equal. strength is also too close to call, the recent Floyd just seems so strong in there. Boxing IQ is great on both sides, both are the best at finding ways to win.
So for me the key here is Floyds ability to clock Rays rhythm and estabilise it. And i think that is what he does from around round 6. And infact if we place this at 15 rounds it is actually better for the supremely fit Floyd! Floyd by close UD!

Leonard takes a handy UD, for me. Much more aggressive, just as fast, just as skilled and much busier.

Leonard takes a handy UD, for me. Much more aggressive, just as fast, just as skilled and much busier.

you dont have to tell me twice

I don't think either would dominate the other but would pick Leonard for the same reason as Fists said that Leonard would be way more busy and aggressive.

SRL wins this one as Fists said. He was also a man who took on all comers and beat them with style. I just wonder whether the fight would ever have taken place even if both had existed in the same era. If Mayweather is continually looking for ways out of a fight with Pacman (first the drug testing now he wants more than a 50-50 split), which is a fight I would have Mayweather as favourite for were it to ever take place, what are the chances that he would not want to take on SRL. And before all the haters say I am contradicting myself, lets be clear. I think Mayweather is good enough to beat Pacman, but I also think he is too scared to fight Pacman.

Spot on, ROni.

azumah HOF wrote:Benitez spent all pre fight shaggin whores and not training! not a focused Benitez.... anyway Floyd is a completely different kettle of fish. I always find Rays wonderment at floyd interesting to behold. It is so interesting in his comments to see what Ray picks out about floyd. The one comment i hear time and again is Ray say he has never seen a better watcher in the ring than floyd, 'its like Floyd sees everything in there'. And i think Ray knows how rare this is. it goes to the heart of why i think floyd wins on points. both guys are supreme athletes .... no point trying to quiblle on speed, its equal. strength is also too close to call, the recent Floyd just seems so strong in there. Boxing IQ is great on both sides, both are the best at finding ways to win.
So for me the key here is Floyds ability to clock Rays rhythm and estabilise it. And i think that is what he does from around round 6. And infact if we place this at 15 rounds it is actually better for the supremely fit Floyd! Floyd by close UD!

That could be any Benitez fight, he was always geat despite never training.

I think there is a need to quibble. Mainly because Mayweather usually throws one or two shots whereas Leonard threw flurries of laser fast punches one after the other. I'd definitely go with Leonard for speed. Equally as strong? I remember how much you like Mayweather and detest Ray but are you serious!? Leonard lost a close decision after going toe to toe with a prime DURAN for 15 rounds, he won a close fight with Marvin Hagler at middleweight and fought as high as super middleweight. No way a guy who started at 130 is that strong. He got backed up for almost every second of the fight with De La Hoya but he's meant to equal a guy with the natural size advantage of Leonard in strength? I cannot see it.

I only see Leonard winning this 1.