ray leonard vs vernon forrest

[bumdujour]

first off, yes i know that forrest will not go down in history anywhere near as great a fighter as leonard.
and picking him to beat leonard is basically out of the question.

but styles make fights.....and head to head, i think forrest would give leonard hell.

a bit like tommy hearns, forrest was a tall guy who carried his left hand low so he could sucker his opponents into throwing lead rights.....that would allow him to catch to opponent coming in.

similar to tommy, he also carried great power (he is the only guy to floor sugar shane as far as i know) and liked to slow his opponents with body punching.

sure leonard would have the speed advantage, but the tall awkward presence of forrest, putting on the pressure and looking to swoop down on him with that right cross would always be dangerous.

in the end i see leonard taking a close decision, but forrest awkwardness and power would keep leonard from being dominant.

[achillesthegreat]

Vernon would be tough but Forrest isn't as fast as Hearns, nor as powerful. Plus Leonard is not Mosley, he is bigger and better at nearly everything.

Leonard would win a decision, maybe even stop him but Forrest would be tough, he is a class boxer.

Forrest got sparked by Mayorga, it happened. In the rematch the fact he was so scared lost him the bout. You could even argue Forrest won it and that would be fair but ultimately he had an AWFUL corner and couldn't quite conquer his demons. He wanted Mayorga tested for roids because Mayorga took his shots flush when he stuck his chin out. Imagine how this affected Forrest mentally during the fight. Hindsight shows Mayorga has a sick chin.

Forrest can be a great fighter, just needs a few more accomplishments. Two weight world champ, only lost to one man and has wins over Mosley and Quartey.

I've always liked Forrest.

[Olu G. Rotimi]

I dislike SRL as a man but he would KO Forrest.

[FlatNose]

This one is all Sugar, and Forrest gets diabetes.Leonard ko 8 Forrest.

[Bad_Intentions]

I dislike SRL as a man but he would KO Forrest. why is that? :huh

[achillesthegreat]

The win over Quartey was total BS though. I don't think Forrest is that good, I just think he was a bad style matchup for the smaer, somewhat limited Mosley.
It wasn't bullshit. People making that fight sound like some huge controversy where he lost clearly is a MYTH.

Quartey is of the Winky Wright mind where they think they are never getting hit.

[Olu G. Rotimi]

why is that? :huh

Please don't get me started on that. Really you don't want to know other than I should add Hagler, Benitez, Hearns, Duran and Don Curry were personal heroes of mine. I know he and Curry never fought but he advised Curry to stay at Welterweight and not fight Hagler. Result he made further millions against Hagler himself and Curry ran into Lloyd Honeyghan weight drained or not.

[achillesthegreat]

Please don't get me started on that. Really you don't want to know other than I should add Hagler, Benitez, Hearns, Duran and Don Curry were personal heroes of mine. I know he and Curry never fought but he advised Curry to stay at Welterweight and not fight Hagler. Result he made further millions against Hagler himself and Curry ran into Lloyd Honeyghan weight drained or not.
BS. Don't make out like Leonard had that power over Curry. Curry despised the comparison between them and often spoke of how he did things Leonard could only dream of. Curry wanted to be his own man and doing something as drastic as staying at a weight drained and avoiding a multi-million dollar payday were not something Leonard had power over.

[Lex]

Vernon's problem isn't any lack of talent but questionable heart. Leonard and Hearns demonstrated an ability to quickly rebound from defeat with a positive attitude and renewed vigor - especially Tommy. The losses to Mayorga really took Forrest's confidence away.

Even before those defeats Forrest wasn't what I'd consider an intimidating fighter, despite the impressive wins over Shane Mosley. Leonard was always intimidating, which gave him an edge before the bell rang.

Confidence and the ability to rebound from defeat make a big difference. Those are virtues that made Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield greater than their physical abilities or skills. They simply could not be intimidated by defeat.

[Titan1]

Ray would take out Vernon by the eighth round, not making the mistakes he made against Tommy.

[Blood Green]

I wouldn't be shocked if Vernon won. I wouldn't pick him, but if he could control the range he'd be more than in the fight.

[Sardu]

First of all - RIP Mr. Vernon Forrest

You were one heck of fighter and seemed like a nice guy too.

That said I don't want sentimentality to cloud good judgement. SRL is an ATG fighter in his brief prime 1979-82 and came back to decision Hagler although I think Hagler in his prime would have beaten Leonard. But Forrest was not Hagler as we know although he was quite good.

Leonard in 8

[laxpdx]

This would be your classical chess match. I think Vernon could be winning at some point during the fight, given his range and reach. However, Forrest isn't near the puncher Hearns was, so I'm inclined to think that Ray would take more chances, and possibly finish the Viper off if he had him in trouble. I'm thinking Leonard by either points or late stoppage.

[Addie]

BS. Don't make out like Leonard had that power over Curry. Curry despised the comparison between them and often spoke of how he did things Leonard could only dream of. Curry wanted to be his own man and doing something as drastic as staying at a weight drained and avoiding a multi-million dollar payday were not something Leonard had power over.

Didn't you know, Ray was responsible for everything bad happening to boxing in the 80s. Ask Rooster. Hearns was weight drained, Duran unmotivated, but prime himself for Norris and Camacho, not surprisingly, two of Rooster's favoruite fighters.

[BENNY BLANCO]

Leonard on points.

[red cobra]

Leonard on a final round tko...a close fight, with Forrest giving Ray a tough night and trailing in points by a very close margin when in the last round Ray would hurt him badly and a maniac, hail stone flurry would render Vernon helpless along the ropes, causing the ref to stop it just before the last bell.

[Xplosive]

Leonard stops Forrest late. Vern has his moments early, and might win a few rounds... but ultimately Ray wears him down then takes him out.