Floyd Mayweather and Sugar Ray Leonard are two of boxing’s greatest ever fighters.
Leonard rose to prominence during the 1980s, defeating former rival Roberto Duran in their monumental rematch in 1980 to re-capture his WBC welterweight title. He would go on to become the undisputed champion at 147lbs shortly afterwards with that famous victory over Thomas Hearns.
As for Mayweather, the five-division world champion had a professional career that many fighters could only wish for. He remained unbeaten for the entire duration of his tenure, defeating each of the 50 opponents he crossed paths with including Canelo Alvarez, Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao.
In an interview with Sky Sports Boxing ahead of Mayweather’s 2015 showdown with Pacquiao, legendary promoter Bob Arum shared his thoughts on the comparison between ‘Money’ and Sugar Ray Leonard, which he claims are a ‘joke’.
“Floyd Mayweather is an excellent, excellent fighter, a great technician but to compare him to Ray Leonard is a joke. Floyd has megalomania, he believes that because of his accomplishments he rules everything he surveys and do what he pleases.”
Arum actually represented Mayweather during the earlier stages of the former pound-for-pound star’s career, before ‘Money’ went on to promote himself under his own promotional banner.
Mayweather would go on to announce his retirement from the sport back in 2017, just a short while after he got the better of MMA fighter Conor McGregor in their crossover match-up, stopping the Irishman in the tenth round of their bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.