THE V2 DREAM FIGHT
SERIES: EPISODE 1
Mayweather
vs
Leonard
And while his attacking prowess has been blunted as he's gone up in weight, his defence, if anything, has become even more impregnable. It's another area where Mayweather holds the advantage; Leonard, though a naturally slick boxer who could be elusive when he wanted or needed to be, did ship a bit of leather in most of his fights. Mayweather can't knock Leonard out (hell, if a peak Tommy Hearns couldn't manage the job, then Mayweather doing it would be nothing short of a miracle), but you don't need to knock a man out to beat them in a boxing match. With his ring intelligence, immaculate defence and sharp counter punching, it's possible that Mayweather could box his way to a decision over Leonard, possibly by making him lead.
There is one final thing to consider, though - Wilfred Benitez. There is nobody on Mayweather's record remotely in the class of Leonard, and also nobody who could really replicate his stunning style of attacking virtuosity. On the other hand, Leonard did beat Benitez, by 15th round TKO after a technically stunning fight, to lift the WBC Welterweight belt in 1979, his first world title - and in Benitez, Leonard does have someone on his CV who can be compared to Floyd.
Like Mayweather, Benitez presented a code that was yet to be cracked, as he was undefeated in 39 professional contests. The youngest world title holder ever at just 17, he was the current Welterweight champion, former Light-Welterweight king and soon to be Light-Middleweight titlist. His style, crucially, bore similarities to Mayweather's. He was, like Floyd, a fantastic natural athlete, a natural body mover with a tight defence and great reflexes and powers of anticipation.
Mayweather, just about, is a level above the gifted Benitez, but Leonard beat Benitez in a manner convincing enough for me to believe
that he could still emerge victorious against Mayweather; albeit I think he'd have to settle for a point’s verdict. I see a fight where Leonard dominates early on, in the stages where speed typically has the edge over timing. After being blinded by Leonard's tenacity, unable to get in to the fight due to having to move and defend so much, I imagine that Mayweather would be able to set traps for Leonard and make it very competitive later on, but even if Leonard's successes in the second half of the fight were rarer, they'd still be delivered with enough of his trademark power to really unsettle Floyd and force him to retreat and start all over again. Mayweather would make Leonard miss a fair amount and pick him off with counters, but I think it might be hard for him to get in to the fight from an aggressive stand point.
For me, the bigger Leonard with his attacking inclinations has enough to push Mayweather in to too much of a defensive shell for him to impress the judges, and I think Ray's record, natural size and list of opposition beaten in crunch fights is enough for me to edge towards him to beat Floyd Mayweather by decision. I could be blinded by nostalgia, or I could be right - we'll never know for sure. But it's a debate that'll rage on for a good while yet, so let's get it out in the open. Mayweather's great. But great enough to beat Leonard at Welter? Not quite, in my opinion.