Sugar Ray Leonard believes there is just one fighter in boxing history that ranks above the late, great Muhammad Ali.
Leonard enjoyed an accomplished professional career of his own, becoming a world champion in five weight classes throughout the course of his tenure which spanned between 1977 and 1997.
He rose to prominence during the 1980s where he would rack up victories over the likes of Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler, proving himself to be one of the greatest fighters of all time in the process.
Ali’s iconic professional career played out over two decades from 1960 to 1981, where he became a multiple-time world heavyweight champion and picked up legendary victories over fellow greats such as George Foreman and Joe Frazier.
Whilst Leonard has revealed that he believes Ali, Rocky Marciano and Sugar Ray Robinson are the three greatest fighters to have ever graced the sport, the North Carolina-native has whittled this down to his number one.
In a conversation with ESPN, Leonard made no mistake in awarding the top spot to his namesake Sugar Ray Robinson, claiming there is ‘no debate’ that his countryman is the greatest fighter in boxing history.
“Someone once said there was a comparison between Sugar Ray Leonard and Sugar Ray Robinson. Believe me, there’s no comparison. Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest.”
Robinson became a six-time world champion during his 201-fight professional boxing career, which stretched across three decades between 1940 and 1965.
He reigned as the world welterweight champion from 1946 and 1951 before he eventually made the move up to middleweight where he won the world title on five occasions within a nine year period, defeating fighters such as Carmen Basilio, Gene Fullmer and Jake LaMotta before his career came to an end.
