GOAT Index

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Sugar Ray Leonard: the case for the GOAT

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    Sugar Ray Leonard: the case for the GOAT

    Welterweight · USA · Born 17 May 1956, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA · Career 1977–1997

    Olympic champion turned superstar of the 1980s, winning world titles from welterweight to light heavyweight. Blended speed, flair and ring intelligence with a ruthless finishing instinct.

    Career highlights

    Why Sugar Ray Leonard could be the GOAT

    Leonard beat a remarkable group of fellow greats in their primes: Wilfred Benítez, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Durán and Marvin Hagler, the last after nearly three years out of the ring. Those are four of the best fighters of the era, three of them on this list. For quality of wins over all-time greats, Leonard is hard to match.

    What fans say

    Sugar Ray Leonard is #5 of 25 in the fan ranking, with a 2–0 head-to-head record from 19 Men's boxing votes. See the full Men's boxing GOAT ranking

    Sugar Ray Leonard head to head

    How the ranking works. Every head-to-head vote is a result, like a game. The standings use a Bradley–Terry model, the same idea behind chess ratings: beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot. Ratings are shown on a chess-style scale centred on 1500.

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