Some importatnt fights that were never made

1.Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Aaron Pryor.

At first sight, this seems like a fight between guys from opposite sides of the track. Ray Leonard, the silver tongued, Olympic Gold Medalist, media darling and pretty boy, vs. Aaron Pryor, the most intense and angriest athlete some reporters had ever seen in or out of boxing.

This may not have been entirely accurate. Ray, though possessing a likable demeanor and a politician’s presence, was a street fighter in his youth. Also, Ray came from a rough family where his father was known to bust heads on the streets. Also, Ray out gunned Tommy Hearns, made Roberto Duran quit and played a mean game of human chess with Benitez before putting him away .

Aaron Pyror was a perpetual motion machine who never stopped coming, attacked at all angles, had underrated punching power, threw an endless amount of combos and like Leonard, had a reserve tank which never seemed to fail him in crucial moments.

The prefight hype to this fight would’ve eclipsed everything either man had ever been involved with. Sure, Ray had the Hearns fight, but Aaron’s attitude and intensity would generate it’s own attention and put concern into the heart of the most ardent Ray supporter.

Who wins? Who the hell knows? I’ll say the fans.

2.Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Charley Burley.

I’ll be honest. I havent' seen enough footage on Charlie Burley to call this fight. Eddie Futch and Archie Moore stated that he was the best fighter they ever saw. Sugar Ray Robinson suggested he was too pretty to fight Charlie Burley. There are just about no films of Charlie Burley and we’re left to depend on our imaginations as to what these experts were talking about in reference to the Pittsburgh KO machine.

Sugar Ray Robinson was well… Sugar Ray Robinson. I have no idea how this fight would’ve turned out. This is what happens when fights are not made. We’re left to ponder about them.
I am sure that more people would’ve known about the legend of Charlie Burley if he had fought and defeated Ray Robinson. Unfortunately, we’ll never know who would’ve won this fight and the legend of Charlie Burley is limited to an oral history, largely because this fight never took place.

3.Hugo Corro vs. Marvin Hagler:

No, I’m not suggesting this even approaches a competitive fight. However, I’m curious about what it does for the career of Hagler.

At this time, Hagler was a boxer/puncher with an emphasis on boxing. Very soon, he would place the emphasis on aggression and knocking his guy out. If this fight had taken place, would Hagler have been able to hold back the rage of being unjustly denied a title shot against a fighter who was seemingly obsessed with ducking him? I don’t think so. Not a sensitive guy like Hagler. So, he destroys Corro in a couple of rounds and his identity is formed long before the star welterweights (Leonard, Hearns, Benitez, Duran) take the stage. Even with the star power of Ray Leonad during this time, a destroyer like Marvin looking over him prior to his fight against Benitez may’ve had a major effect on the WW division.

The question of Hagler is presented to all these fighters much earlier. What would’ve happened? Hagler’s star shines brightly during all the incredible Leonard victories and Ray, though being a major star in the sport, does not eclipse Hagler to the degree that he did. The Boxing Press is much more aggressive in convincing the public that Ray must fight Hagler.
Do they fight earlier? Hell if I know. I’m just writing this thing .

4. Manny vs. Floyd.

I almost forgot about this frustrating subject.

Everything that can be said, has been said about this fight. I won't offer an opinion, but a few of the fighters of yesterday will.

Larry Holmes has designated Pac the "Greatest fighter of all times." Marvin Hagler also sides with Pac. Seeing that Pac is perceived as a nice guy by the press, and Holyfield seems to agree with their assessment (Yes, Van will tell you that Pac wins the fight), history will tell this story from Pac's point of view and Floyd will be left out in the cold.

Sure, that doesn't matter at the moment. However, 20 years from now, when the boxing press has a nearly unanimous opinion that Pac would've beat him from pillar to pillar, the legacy of Mayweather will suffer greatly. Though Floyd states, legacy does not pay the rent, this will hurt him in the end, whether the assessment of the press is true or not.

frank your all over the place on this one.example i wonder how much holmes was drinking when he said pac is the greatest fighter of all time if indeed he said that..i also dont see your claim that nearly all of the boxing press said pac would beat floyd pillar to post.my guess now if they had to pick a winner more will go with floyd.
ray vs pyior.i dont remember a big talk on attempting to get that fight done especialy when leanard started to be inactive a bit and actualy fought at 154 for a fight.pryor before that time surely would not be a credible opponent for ray in the years proceeding that.
now if we wanted to talk about important fights that would of been big and that serious attempts were made to get it done then its robinson vs archie moore or moore vs ingemar johanson.or the talk of a graziano-lamotta fight or we can speculate far back on a johnson -langford rematch where sam made serious efforts to make that fight.
also a pac floyd fight still looms as a possibilty .the topic in itself is good.the examples could of been much better i think.

wow i just read what you added.that history will favor pac totaly and floyd will be left out in the cold and future or todays writers 20 years from now overwealmingly say p-c would of crushed floyd..i dont see that at all.

johnson vs jeffries before jeffries retired. was johnson too green? or would he have still gotten the best of him? if jeffries wins, that would have really hurt johnsons reputation at the time and for all time. it could have also made jeffries a bigger name now than he is. if johnson wins, i think his stock goes up all around.

johnson fighting langford (sorry dmar, stole yours). if langford wins, then there are 2 black HW champs back to back. i think that changes history in and of itself. how would the people handle it? would langford try to be like johnson or more like louis was?

JMM vs barrera or morales during their primes. this is something i always wonder about. he could have been a 3rd huge mexican star at that weight but he never got the fights. i wonder if he could have won and if so, how much more of a star he would be right now?

thats all i got.

Leoanrd- Pryor was talked about by the boxing press and KO boxng Mag was pushing that fight. When Leonard came back to fight Hagler, it was "Jeff Ryan" of KO who stated that Leonard-Pryor was the fight he wanted to see. He represented the sentiment of KO mag at the time. Nobody knew that Pryor was becoming a crack addict.

As far as Pac-MW goes, truth be told, people tell history according to who they like. It's easy to believe that Pac beats Floyd, especially if you like him and dislike Floyd. I honestly feel that Floyd Mayweather will be forgotton. If people remember him 20 years from now, it will be from the fight that never was. It's human nature to forget disturbing people. Hey dmar, have you seen any specials on Sonny Liston lately? LOL

frank again i dislike floyd as much as anyone but certainly dont believe for a second that he will be forgotten and only remembered for a fight that never was which in reality that fight still has a chance to be made..
your point on liston i dont accept at all.is liston forgotten by boxing folks.nope.frank when was the last time we had a special on marciano pep robinson hagler harry greb patterson dempsey.are they forgotten because there are no specials.heck tyson gets plenty of specials including his one man show.that surely isnt a definitive critera for a fighters memory by the fans.
some fighters have a IT factor.marciano dempsey robinson ali ray leanard for example had it.so does floyd dispite the fact that you and i dislike him a great deal..he most certainly will not be a footnote in boxing history ...

frank thanks for the info on ko magazine.i never read that mag for i consintrated on ring or for a long while boxing illustrated also.im sure that fight would of been a big draw..

Ok Frank, we get it, you don't like Floyd. But to say no one is going to remember him 20 years from now is borderline trollish. Guys like Floyd, Tyson, De la Hoya will never be forgotten. They struck a cord with mainstream which is why they made so much money. You don't forget guys like that.

Floyd would beat Pacquiao in any weight class. Majority of boxing people believe this. Pacquiao and Arum are as much to.blame for the fight not happening. Stop drinking the koolaid.

SlickMoney wrote:Ok Frank, we get it, you don't like Floyd. But to say no one is going to remember him 20 years from now is borderline trollish. Guys like Floyd, Tyson, De la Hoya will never be forgotten. They struck a cord with mainstream which is why they made so much money. You don't forget guys like that.

Floyd would beat Pacquiao in any weight class. Majority of boxing people believe this. Pacquiao and Arum are as much to.blame for the fight not happening. Stop drinking the koolaid.

Really? Walk down the fucking street in general public right now and ask the common person do they know who the fuck MW is? You'll come back with some bullshit but you'll know in your heart that hardly anyone did. Broke guys are not popular either. He won't be able to put his hands on 35 dollars ten years from now. LOL

I don't care about MW slick, that's not what that thread was about. He's too ignorant to capture any part of my imagination.

By the way, don't call me a troll again. You're at the wrong site for that kind of shit.

Frank wrote:

SlickMoney wrote:Ok Frank, we get it, you don't like Floyd. But to say no one is going to remember him 20 years from now is borderline trollish. Guys like Floyd, Tyson, De la Hoya will never be forgotten. They struck a cord with mainstream which is why they made so much money. You don't forget guys like that.

Floyd would beat Pacquiao in any weight class. Majority of boxing people believe this. Pacquiao and Arum are as much to.blame for the fight not happening. Stop drinking the koolaid.

Really? Walk down the fucking street in general public right now and ask the common person do they know who the fuck MW is? You'll come back with some bullshit but you'll know in your heart that hardly anyone did. Broke guys are not popular either. He won't be able to put his hands on 35 dollars ten years from now. LOL

I don't care about MW slick, that's not what that thread was about. He's too ignorant to capture any part of my imagination.

By the way, don't call me a troll again. You're at the wrong site for that kind of shit.

i would say that most casual sport fans know who mayweather is. since boxing isnt that mainstream, there are definitely people who havent heard of mayweather. its not like basketball where most americans have at least heard of lebron james or tom brady.

but mayweather will always be remembered. i doubt that anybody who was ever known as the #1 p4p will ever be forgotten.