Arguably the standout of the beloved ‘Four Kings’, Sugar Ray Leonard is often heralded as one of the pound-for-pound icons of the sport. Although, when quizzed upon the greatest fighter in the history of boxing, Leonard admitted that he pales in comparison.
Leonard defeated each of Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler to establish himself as the top dog during the 1980s, eventually becoming boxing’s second five-division world champion, shortly after Hearns first achieved the feat.
As a result, Leonard is held in an extremely high regard, as much for his attitude of taking on anyone and everyone as his technical abilities in the ring.
Although, in an interview with ESPN, Leonard shut down talk of any comparison between his legacy and that of Sugar Ray Robinson, who fought in over 200 professional bouts and became the first five-time world champion of any division when competing at middleweight during the 1950s.
“Someone once said there was a comparison between Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe me, there’s no comparison. Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest.”
Robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951, before achieving the aforementioned success at middleweight. At one stage, his remarkable record read 129 wins, 1 defeat and 2 draws, going on a 91-fight unbeaten streak along the way.
He eventually retired with a record of 174-19-6 and is the reason why the term ‘pound-for-pound’ was first created, as writers found a way to give full credit to the talents of Robinson without suggesting that he could rule as a heavyweight.
