Max Kellerman, following this past weekend?s Manny Pacquiao- Antonio Margarito showdown again pointed boxing fans? hopes towards a potential Pacquiao- Floyd Mayweather Jr. match-up, comparing the delay in proceedings to Sugar Ray Leonard- Marvin Hagler. Leonard had waited till Hagler had slowed down just enough, Kellerman surmised, to the point where he was beatable. This might, due to some aspects of his performace against Margarito, be the point where Mayweather, like Leonard to Hagler, would be wise to challenge Pacquiao.
Comparing Hagler to Pacquiao is apt ? both at their prime were wrecking machines, on a collision course with whoever, whereever. A comparison of Leonard to Mayweather begs to be scrutinized by opposition faced.
Leonard fought the best of his Generation, a few of who make it on the ?all time? list: Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran, Wilfred Benitez.
In Comparison, Mayweather has fought a lesser field at a sparing pace: Jose Luis Castillo, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley.
Many have argued the first Mayweather-Castillo fight and the Mayweather-De La Hoya fight for Mayweather?s opponent. A rematch was granted for Castillo; De La Hoya, in a split decision that easily could have gone his way, was not so lucky.
Comparing Pacquiao-Mayweather to Leonard-Hagler is, at best, a situational comparison, Leonard-Hearns on the other hand, fits Sergio Martinez- Paul Williams in style and substance.
Martinez and Leonard are comparative in that they have movie-star looks outside of the ring and inside have what analysts would could an artful style, a combination of speed, movement and power.
Both were natural athletes: Leonard an Olympic gold medalist and Martinez a former professional soccer player and cyclist.
Both had a loss early in their careers to prime opposition, Leonard to Duran and Martinez to Margarito.
Both found their best match-up against a fighter who no one else wanted to fight.
A look down Paul Williams ring resume shows a boxer who has gone up and down divisions to fight any opposition available. Whether it is Winky Wright, Antonio Margarito, Kermit Cintron or an aborted match-up with former Middleweight Champion Kelly Pavlik, Williams is always looking for a fight.
In his prime, Tommy Hearns matched Williams in aggression and fearlessness to opposition.
In 1990, then 31 years of age and the WBO Super Middleweight Champion, Hearns expressed his interest to the Detroit Free Press of facing 23-year-old Mike Tyson at heavyweight.
In musculature, both Hearns and Williams started as freakish welterweights, with tremendous height and reach, long and lean, with power and output defying their mass.
When Hearns met Leonard for the WBA welterweight title in 1980, in a match dubbed ?The Showdown, the two only had a loss between them and a lifetime already spent in the ring. Hearns, having knocked out his first 17 opponents was feared by his opposition and appropriately dubbed ?The Hitman?. At the time, Leonard had already fought Floyd Mayweather Sr., Wilfred Benitez, and Roberto Duran twice.
Martinez-Williams I and Leonard-Hearns I were both fought at a frenetic, back-and-forth pace. The end of both fights saw four exhausted fighters who had left everything in the ring with Leonard knocking out Hearns in the 14th round and Willams winning a majority decision over Martinez.
The fight ?was my toughest?, said Leonard at the time. ?surpasses all my professional accomplishments.?
Leonard and Hearns would get together to fight once more in 1989, in a fight that ended in a draw.
The two boxers were tailor made for one another and both knew it.
In 2005, a New York Times article summed up the undying rivalry:
?About a year ago, Sugar Ray Leonard, then 48, got a phone call at his home in Baltimore. The voice at the other end was a little slurred, but it was familiar.
?Ray, how much you weigh?? he was asked.
?Why??
?Because we ought to get back in the ring for one more time,? Thomas Hearns, 46, said. ?The people would love it. It would be a hot item today.?
?Tommy,? Leonard said, ?forget it.?”
The Martinez-Williams rematch is being put together much quicker and in an era of unwilling competition, is no less desirable.
What all four of these fighters had in style and skill is comparable, but fearlessness to fight the best of their era set them apart from the field.
?Banging with him will be bad for me but good for the fans,? Williams said in their press conference for their second fight.
If Hearns or Leonard are watching on Saturday night they will no doubt chuckle at the similarities.
