Sugar Ray Leonard says he’s coming back to Manny Pacquiao from his five-year retirement, he has to get used to training at a high level at a high level for his title shot against the WBC Welterweight Champion Mario Barrios on July 19.
Leonard’s return against Manny’s
Sugar Ray mentions that he has retired for five years and has returned successfully. However, Sugar Ray was only 30 when he returned. It will be much harder for 46-year-old Pacquiao to do what Leonard did because of his age, and all the ring wear from a long career.
“When I came back, I didn’t realize that it was five years that I was out. You had to get used to being hit. You have to get used to being trained so hard at that level, ‘Sugar Ray Leonard said when to Fight Hub TVWhen asked about his thoughts on Manny Pacquiao coming back at 46 after being out of the ring for five years.
The opponent who fought Leonard out of the ring for five years was Marvin Hagler, and he hit him with a 12-round decision. Hagler wanted it to be 15 rounds, which would have favored him.
“It’s more psychological than it is physical. You must have that heart, that feeling. And you know what? Do I ask that? No. Maybe he can do it. Maybe he knows the right thing to do. This is just the way you feel. We don’t think how foolish it is. Fighters don’t think most of it, ‘says Leonard, talking about older fighters after returning for years.
In Pacquiao’s case, it would also be physical because he was 46, and he was overlooked in his last battle against Yordenis Ugas on August 21, 2021. He lost the battle with a unanimous decision of 12 round. You must notice that Pacquiao, even with a wonderful camp, has lost a lot of the physical skills he showed in that struggle. What he must hope for is that Barrios does not have the talent to use it.
“I wish I had it, but then you couldn’t change your mind. I was ready to go in the ring. Not 100%. I will say that. I was not 100% prepared. But I did what I felt like I had to do, ‘says Leonard.
When Sugar Ray fought, he was fearless and adopted murderers like Marvin Hagler, Danny Lalonde, Wilfred Benitez, Roberto Duran and Tommy Hearns. At the end of Leonard’s career, he took extensive breaks from the ring. If he had kept fighting, he would have enjoyed even greater success, but he earned so much money.
Leonard on Crawford vs. Canelo
“It’s a big difference,” Leonard said as he was asked about his thoughts on Terence Crawford, which ran up from 154 to 168 to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed Super Midweight Championship on September 13. “When I fought Donny Lalonde, he hurt me to some extent every time he beat me. Don’t beat me out, but he hurt me to put it that way. ‘
When Leonard fought against WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Donny Lalonde on November 7, 1988, he came from a 19-month dismissal and fought against a bigger, younger and stronger man. One advantage Sugar Ray had was that Lalonde agreed to get to 168 with Leonard’s WBC Super Middleweight and Donny’s 175 pound title on the line. Lalonde drained to the weigh -in and could affect the result.
“He can do it. There is no doubt about it. That’s true (Canelo is too big for Crawford), but there’s always a way to win,” Leonard said.
As Leonard points out, there is a way for a smaller Crawford to win if he can find it against Alvarez. He must fight smartly and avoid getting fire fights with the larger, naturally stronger Canelo.
Crawford looked more slowly slower in his last fight and went out of the ring after a year to challenge Israil Madrimov for his WBA Junior Middleweight title. Now, another year outside the ring, Crawford is moving up 14 pounds to challenge Canelo at 168.
He will be slower, more on the hand, and will have to box Alvarez to win. Can he do that? Perhaps. Canelo looked old and tired on May 3 in his last fight against William Scull.
Last updated on 05/21/2025
