Sugar Ray Leonard predicts Floyd Mayweather vs each of Duran, Hagler and Hearns

Floyd Mayweather believes you could drop him in any era and he would come out with his undefeated record in tact.

The sport’s biggest pay-per-view star proved his credentials over 50 fights and five divisions, retiring in 2017 with zero losses and big wins over the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, Zab Judah and Shane Mosley.

With a record like that, it would be tough not to be confident. Mayweather has repeatedly stated he believes he tops the likes of Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson as the greatest fighter of all time.

Sugar Ray Leonard — named after Robinson — has had something to say about that in the past. Leonard beat Floyd Mayweather Sr. by TKO in 1978, and has been clear in his belief that he would do the same to the son.

In fact, speaking to Box Hub TV prior to Mayweather’s victory over Manny Pacquiao, Leonard praised the defensive master by way of saying he could be competitive in the Four Kings’ era, but picked each of his rivals to win.

“Mayweather can compete with the four of us in our era, but a bit more fire would come his way. Could he beat me? No. Could he beat Tommy? I don’t think so. Could he beat Hagler? No. Could he beat Duran? No.

“With that being said and all due respect to Mayweather who was an incredible technician, if you ask him he would say the same thing that he could beat us and beat our guys in my era. Fighters say that and believe that. Fighters believe they can beat anyone, and if you don’t say you can beat anyone, you’re not a fighter.”

Made up of the charismatic Leonard, iron-chinned Marvin Hagler, explosive Thomas Hearns and relentless Roberto Duran, the Four Kings fronted a golden era for the sport in the 1980s, facing each other, often on more than one occasion, at their peaks and with it all to lose.

Given that Mayweather’s highest fighting weight was 154lbs, the predictions may not come as much of a surprise. Hagler was a career-long middleweight, whilst Hearns and Leonard fought for their first world titles at 147 but then rose up through the divisions, particularly ‘The Hitman’ who fought as high as cruiserweight and even considered calling out Mike Tyson. The most intriguing matchup for Mayweather would be Duran, naturally smaller than the three Americans but every bit as tough.