The Fabulous Four

Image: The Fabulous Four

By Gav Duthie: When I was first getting into boxing I went round to my high street HMV and bought all the boxing history videotapes I could. Youtube is great these days but it was guys like Bert Sugar, Harry Carpenter, Teddy Atlas etc that set the scene in these historic video/DVD pieces conveying how eras were shaped rather than just watching individual fights. I was in awe of one chronology in particular named ‘The Fabulous Four’ referencing the rivalries between Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns and Roberto Duran.

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Leonard: Kell Brook needs to prove the doubters wrong

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By Scott Gilfoid: It seems like the boxing world is giving Kell Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) very little chance of beating IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (35-0, 32 Kos), and you can add the great former world champion Sugar Ray Leonard among the doubters who don’t think “Special K” is talented enough to get the job done on September 10.

Like many other people, Leonard is skeptical about Brook having the mental and physical fortitude to take the big power shots to the body and head from Golovkin for 12 long rounds on the night. Leonard says that Brook needs to prove people wrong by going out there and getting the job done against Triple G.

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The Nostalgic/Sanctioning bodies

ali434324442By Robert “Big Moe” Elmore: Nostalgic fans love to talk how this era is better than this era and that only “certain things” happened in their era. For example, you have the 80’s babies saying “the best fought the best”. They did, but they weren’t all back to back. This is true for any and every era.

Unless there was a tournament (like the heavyweight tourney in the 80’s or the Super Six tourney that ran from 2009 to 2011), there was always a buildup. Leonard/Hearns 1, there was a build up; Ali/Frazier 1 there was a buildup. Today’s fans want big fight after big fight. It doesn’t work that way and it never will.

To take it a step further, Leonard/Hagler took five years to happen. Yes, Leonard retired in 1982, but came back in 84 to fight Kevin Howard. He eventually retired again and remerged in 1987 to fight Marvin Hagler. My question is; why didn’t Leonard fight Hagler in 84 when Hagler was red hot?

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Arum: To compare Mayweather to Ali or Sugar Ray Robinson is a joke

arum4By Chris Williams: The other day, Floyd Mayweather Jr. told ESPN that he saw himself as a better fighter than Sugar Ray Robinson (173-19-6, 108 KOs) and Muhammad Ali (56-5, 37 KOs), both of which suffered a fair amount of defeats during their respective careers.

Not surprisingly, Mayweather took some criticism from boxing fans because many of them hold a great deal of respect for Robinson and Ali. However, Mayweather was just telling it like it is by telling the truth about his skills compared to those fighters.

In the meantime, Manny Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum has come out and given his view on the subject, and he thinks it’s a joke for Mayweather to compare himself to those fighters.

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The biggest fights that never happened

By Gav Duthie: As the optimism increases yet again for a possible superfight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio there is no doubt the most talked about fight in history. If it doesn’t actually happen in May or September 2015 it will also be the biggest fight never to have happened in the sport. This article focuses on some of the other big fights that we have missed out on over the years and who might have won. leonard435243

Ray Leonard 36-3-1 (25) v Aaron Pryor 39-1 (35)

Aaron Pryor was recently awarded recognition as the greatest light welterweight of the 20th century. The problem is all the big fights at this time Tommy Hearns, Wilfried Benitez, Roberto Duran, Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler were at 147lbs and above. He had beaten Hearns as an amateur and was dominating as a Jnr welterweight. After turning down consecutive offers of $500,000 to face Duran and Leonard, Pryor eventually agreed to step up to challenge Ray Leonard for his Welterweight title for $750,000. This fight WAS going to happen. 

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Aaron Pryor-Sugar Ray Leonard It should of happened twice

By Daniel Hughes: It’s good to read in the comments sections on many different articles on this and different sites about those forgotten exciting fighters and those views on who they are. Aaron Pryor ‘The Hawk’ a 140lb WBA/IBF world champion, 39 (35kos)-1, certainly one to look up for the younger fight fan that may well of watched the well-known names of the era and want to watch and learn about other great fighters of the 80’s.

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Who can defeat Mayweather? No one but Sugar Ray Robinson and Leonard

floyd11233By Bob Smith:  Since the origin of this site in July of 2007, many have struggled to dethrone Floyd Mayweather Jr, but all have failed.  Actually, his unbeaten streak extends to 1996, or an amazing 18 years ago, despite fighting world champion after world champion, and despite defeating undefeated fighter after undefeated fighter.  He is, should be, and will be the pound for pound #1 fighter in the world, and one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport.

His work ethic, conditioning, ring generalship, and defense are arguably the best in the past 50 years of the sport, and perhaps ever.  Who then can defeat Mayweather?

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The Sweet Science, and defining the best ever

As I sit and look at the world of boxing, I cannot help but to really appreciate the era I had been so fortunate to witness. I am now in my mid 30’s, and look back, remembering boxing, as being one of the most prestigious entertaining events in the world. My love for the sweet science came around the early to mid-80’s. The Muhammad Ali era was still widely talked about, and the classic VHS tapes, still ran a fresh look into his classic fights.

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Sugar Ray Leonard: The Road To No Mas

leonard5653265By Jose Muradas: It’s hard to forget the smile, the commercials, the magazine covers.Ray Charles Leonard (36-3-1,25KO’s) was everywhere; he was boxing’s original golden boy. The press and the public wanted to know his every move, they couldn’t get enough of the kid from Palmer Park, Maryland. What most of us never expected was that Leonard was more than just a pretty face.

Leonard showcased his skills to the world at the 76′ Olympics. He dazzled the opposition with lighting-quick hands, and superior footwork. The final, would pit Leonard against Cuban light -welterweight standout Andres Aldama, the only one who stood between Leonard and the gold medal. In the end, it was Leonard who had the gold medal draped around him. He defeated the powerful Cuban by a perfect 5-0 score. Leonard left the 76′ games having shutout the light-welterweight field, no one touched the ghost.

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