BoxRec

We were fortunate to be able to spend a few minutes speaking with the great Sugar Ray Leonard, and wanted to know his views on the current state of boxing. As always, Leonard was forthcoming and honest, and was very willing to share his thoughts on the subject.

When Ray was fighting, most of the boxers wanted to face the very best, but it doesn’t seem as if that is the case today. And he certainly does not put a lot of the blame on the fighters themselves. Boxing has become big business, so responsibility lies elsewhere.

“Basically, it’s the promoter, and the manager. I mean, they are looking out for their interest. Why fight Killer John, when you can fight Joe Shmoe for about the same amount of money?

http://www.ringnews24.com/2017/01/22/le ... ISYgn3CcmI

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We were lucky enough to be able to chat to Leonard. I hope you enjoy the interview

thanks

sugar should be happy now, lots of great fights are getting made

Funny that Leonard always had everything his own way when facing any top fighter like Hagler everything was in his favour, ring size amount of rounds, bias commentary.I find Leonard a to be a hypocrite tbh.

Great fights getting made should be normal

No excuse for two Bob match making

Definitely hurts the sport and makes more tune into mma

I can name several fighters that Hagler, Hearns and Leonard chose to avoid in preference of chasing the dollar, especially when they were engaged in their veterans’ round-robin cash-generating tournament. Simply put: the proverbial “risk versus reward” equation is not a recently invented economic concept.

The same era also suffered from a “cold war” between rival promoters, the sports’ governing bodies were also making dubious decisions in regards to sanctioning certain title fights and often the “money-making” fighters were unfairly rewarded with higher rankings than anonymous, but well-deserving, peers.

Whilst the state of boxing is different now than what it was thirty years ago, people shouldn’t allow their nostalgia to unduly influence their ability to recall reality, due to their perception being distorted by wearing rose-tinted glasses, because many issues that currently have a detrimental effect on the sport today, also existed in previous eras.

The sport of boxing may not be appreciated quite as much now in the US in comparison to its heyday, but let’s not forget that it’s a global sport, which is clearly flourishing elsewhere, such as Southern Asia, Eastern Europe and particularly the UK.

Ringnews24 wrote:We were fortunate to be able to spend a few minutes speaking with the great Sugar Ray Leonard, and wanted to know his views on the current state of boxing. As always, Leonard was forthcoming and honest, and was very willing to share his thoughts on the subject.

When Ray was fighting, most of the boxers wanted to face the very best, but it doesn’t seem as if that is the case today. And he certainly does not put a lot of the blame on the fighters themselves. Boxing has become big business, so responsibility lies elsewhere.

“Basically, it’s the promoter, and the manager. I mean, they are looking out for their interest. Why fight Killer John, when you can fight Joe Shmoe for about the same amount of money?

http://www.ringnews24.com/2017/01/22/le ... ISYgn3CcmI

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We were lucky enough to be able to chat to Leonard. I hope you enjoy the interview

Leonard said, "There are so many incredible and talented fighters today" but he didn't name these incredible fighters... I think he should name his favorite boxers and the most skilled guys out there. Also the guys that people are avoiding, such as: Gennady Golovkin.. Vasyl Lomachenko.. Gary Russell.. Errol Spence.. Artur Beterbiev.. Luis Ortiz.. Terence Crawford and other guys who are getting ducked---but will fight anyone at their weight.

All the top boys are saying the same thing.

Kalan wrote:

Ringnews24 wrote:We were fortunate to be able to spend a few minutes speaking with the great Sugar Ray Leonard, and wanted to know his views on the current state of boxing. As always, Leonard was forthcoming and honest, and was very willing to share his thoughts on the subject.

When Ray was fighting, most of the boxers wanted to face the very best, but it doesn’t seem as if that is the case today. And he certainly does not put a lot of the blame on the fighters themselves. Boxing has become big business, so responsibility lies elsewhere.

“Basically, it’s the promoter, and the manager. I mean, they are looking out for their interest. Why fight Killer John, when you can fight Joe Shmoe for about the same amount of money?

http://www.ringnews24.com/2017/01/22/le ... ISYgn3CcmI

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We were lucky enough to be able to chat to Leonard. I hope you enjoy the interview

Leonard said, "There are so many incredible and talented fighters today" but he didn't name these incredible fighters... I think he should name his favorite boxers and the most skilled guys out there. Also the guys that people are avoiding, such as: Gennady Golovkin.. Vasyl Lomachenko.. Gary Russell.. Errol Spence.. Artur Beterbiev.. Luis Ortiz.. Terence Crawford and other guys who are getting ducked---but will fight anyone at their weight.

GOOD POINT. I will pass the info onto the writer and see if she can get an answer to your point.