Shakur Stevenson prefers Sugar Ray Leonard to Sugar Ray Robinson. It is easy to see why. Leonard’s speed, movement, and command of distance resemble the qualities Shakur prizes in his own boxing. But Leonard’s finest wins also required him to fight through danger, and Robinson did that across a schedule neither man came close to matching.
“I like SRL better then I like SRR, This might make my people mad but SRL was one hellavu fighter to me his level was extremely high!!” said Shakur on X.
Stevenson posted that on X on September 22. He had previously called Robinson “buns,” then conceded Robinson was a great fighter and said he had been talking trash. His preference for Leonard is consistent with that view.
Leonard was no fighter who simply ran from trouble. He lost a hard 15 rounds to Roberto Durán, came back to beat him, and stopped Thomas Hearns late in their first fight. His footwork gave him choices; when those fights demanded more, he had offense and resolve to draw upon.
Robinson’s record makes the comparison tougher for Shakur. At age 29, Robinson was 108-1-2 with 72 knockouts. Shakur Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs) has fought 25 times at the same age. Leonard had fought 34. Different eras produced different schedules, but Robinson’s total still speaks to his ability to win, recover, and do it again.
Shakur’s defense is exceptional. What remains unproven is how he would respond if his legs slowed and an opponent forced him to fight for long stretches at close range. Leonard showed he had answers when movement was insufficient. Robinson showed them more than a hundred times before his 29th birthday, backed by power Shakur has yet to display.
Shakur can like Leonard better. If he is judging the full range of what a fighter had to survive and deliver, Robinson deserves a closer look.
Nobody from modern eras, Leonard included, touches what Robinson accomplished by 29.
Robinson was 128-1-2 with 84 knockouts by the time he hit his 30th birthday, and that lone defeat to Jake LaMotta was avenged multiple times over. He was fighting every few weeks, traveling by car or train, taking on rugged contenders in 15-round fights with small gloves and no modern sports science. If Leonard had tried to keep that exact pace against that level of weekly attrition, his body would have broken down even sooner. Leonard had brittle hands and a detached retina by fight 28. Robinson had a jaw made of granite, brutal endurance, and lethal power in both hands.
Shakur picking Leonard makes sense purely through the lens of modern comfort. Leonard represents the blueprint Shakur relates to: the flashy television superstar, the Olympic gold medalist, the master of lateral movement, hand speed, and distance management. Leonard showed that a fighter could dictate terms, generate huge paydays, and maintain an aura without having to fight forty times a year in smoke-filled arenas.
Where Shakur’s comparison falls completely flat is what Leonard actually did when boxing finesse failed. When Leonard got pulled into absolute hell against Roberto Duran in Montreal, he stood flat-footed and fought. When he was fading and behind on the cards against Thomas Hearns, he unleashed a vicious, predatory assault to close the show. Leonard had a ruthless finishing instinct.
Shakur takes the defensive, perimeter-oriented parts of Leonard’s style and strips away the violent bite. Robinson was a destructive puncher who could knock an opponent out going backward or forward. Shakur is a pure points collector who treats contact like a disaster.
Shakur looking at Robinson and favoring Leonard sounds like modern revisionism. It is a fighter who relies on safety and low output, trying to validate his own approach, overlooking the fact that both Sugar Rays had an appetite for destruction that Shakur has never shown inside a ring.
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