Sugar Ray Leonard vs Pernell Whitaker. Who wins?

Question

welterweights and 15 rounds

Answer 1

Oscar beat Pernell, though i thought Pernell did enough to win.
anyway, Ray was much much better than Oscar.
Ray beat a very good champion (youngest ever champ) in Wilfed Benitez, who was pretty good on the defense.
It would go 15 rounds, Pernell would not get hurt at all, but would not have enough offense, or size at 5'7 to score on the 5'10 Leonard who was also much faster.
Leonard would win because he threw the most punches.
Pernell would claim he won because Leonard never hurt him, but Leonard pressing the action wins the fight.
Hard to win a fight on the defensive, even though Pernell was one of the greats.

Answer 2

Leonard is a natural welter while Whitaker came up in weight from lightweight. Both guys have ring savvy. Leonard has the edge in size and punching power and ring generalship. I'd say Leonard by unanimous decision and Whitaker would take some heavy punches from Leonard showing swelling around the cheeks and eyes.

Answer 3

Now this is a very tough fight to pick. Pernell in his prime was as good as any fighter i've seen. He was almost untouchable with his defense and ring savvy. This guy barely lost ROUNDS let alone fights. Sugar Ray was the best of his era and he had it all, speed, skills, smarts, power (which i think was underrated) quickness, good chin, you name it, he had it! I see this fight as a chess match with both men trying to outsmart the other. I think Ray was a little bigger than Pernell and he had the edge in power but Whitaker was so tough to hit cleanly that Ray would really have to use his speed and ring savvy to find Pernell. Pernell would use his right jab and try to nail Ray with the straight left and counter Ray, who i think would be the aggressor in this fight. This is one tough cookie to pick, but i would have to say Leonard in a close, 15 rd decision based on his speed and outfighting Whitaker whenever they get in close.

Answer 4

I don't know, but I saw Sugar Ray Leonard on late night TV once a long time ago. He was just sitting in a chair and talking, but he moved some and he was as graceful as a cat. I have never seen a human being so graceful.