Ray Leonard's legacy is problematic for several reasons, not just because he was blown away by a 36-year-old former lightweight title claimant (Hector Camacho).
After Leonard returned to the ring following his surgery for a detached retina, an injury that forced his retirement in 1983, his career was inconsistent at best, despite the celebrations of sportswriters.
There was his poor showing against journeyman Kevin Howard, who knocked him down, only to be on the receiving end of yet another gift stoppage in favor of Leonard (Wilfred Benitez and Thomas Hearns can tell you about this). There was the criminal split-decision victory over Marvin Hagler for the middleweight title. There was sloppy fight with light heavyweight Don LaLonde, in which Leonard was again knocked down. Leonard was knocked down twice in his next fight, a rematch with the vastly more accomplished Hearns, but still somehow managed to earn a draw. This travesty of judgment was followed by an incredibly boring rematch against Roberto Duran, a brutal beating at the hands of Terry Norris, who had Leonard on the canvas twice before letting up on him so that Leonard could finish the fight on his feet, and a knockout defeat inside of five rounds to the aforemened former lightweight title claimant.
That adds up to seven knockdowns in seven fights, two unambiguous losses (one a crushing knockout defeat), a controversial draw, a controversial split decision win, and lackluster win, and a controversial stoppage victory. When an alleged legend returns to the ring, the last thing he wants to damage his legend by posting such a dismal record.
Yet, his fans believe that this record adds to his legacy. How does one turn that mess into greatness? They dismiss the Norris and Camacho fights on the grounds that Leonard was old (despite the fact that numerous other fighters have been competitive at those ages, and Leonard's long periods of inactivity meant that he hadn't consistently absorbed the type of punishment that ages fighters). They rationalize that he defeated Hagler and that he really did pull out the draw with Hearns (they have constructed a string of myths to sustain this view of reality, the content of which I shall address in a future entry). They celebrate his victory over Duran as a display of smart boxing (the fight should have been declared a "no contest," as neither fighter came to fight). They make a bg deal out of the fact that LaLonde was a light heavyweight (but ignore the facts that Leonard negotiated LaLonde's weight down to 168 lbs so he could fight for something called the "super middleweight title," which the WBC created especially for him). And Leonard's embarrassing outing against Journeyman Kevin Howard has been dropped from the canon. And, in any case, this was Leonard "after his prime." It's all just "icing on the cake."
Well, if we go back to before he retired, we don't find as much to get excited over as the fanboys seemed to imply we should. His best win was over Benitez. It was a close fight, but Leonard was leading on the cards. The controversy of the fight, however, was the referee stopping the fight with seconds to go in the 15th and final round. There was no reason to stop the bout, other than to make sure of the outcome and give Leonard a knockout on his record over a knocn defensive wizard. In his fight against lightweight king Roberto Duran, Leonard was overwhelmed by Duran's brilliant boxing abilities. He lost nearly every round as he was hammered from post to post. While his punches had no effect on Duran, Duran wobbled Ray, even sending him flying across the ring. Leonard would regain the title, but only because Duran developed a serious stomach ailment that caused him stop fighing in the eighth round and seek medical attention in the emergency room after the fight. And then Leonard was being outboxed and beaten up - humiliated, really - by Thomas Hearns before the referee decided to stop the fight in the 14th round and award the victory to Leonard. Again, a mixed picture.
The bottomline is that the record is simply not consistent with the praises. Leonard was a very talented boxer. Nobody denies that. He won several amateur titles, including Olympic gold, and he won world titles. What (frankly) sane people deny is that Leonard is as great a boxer as the fanboys say he is.
