By Edward Chaykovsky

Hall of Famer 'Sugar' Ray Leonard, who captured five divisional titles, is confident that he would have beaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. - if the two of them had met in the same era.

Mayweather, also a former five division world champion who considers himself to be 'the best ever,' retired from boxing last September with a perfect 49-0 record.

Leonard, like Mayweather, retired several times. He officially retired in 1991 after losing to Terry Norris, but briefly unretired for a fight with Hector Camacho in 1997. He walked away with a 36-3 record.

According to Leonard, he told Mayweather to his face that he would have beaten him. And of course Mayweather was also confident that he would have beaten Leonard.

The two remarkable boxers have often been compared, due to their talent and ability to market themselves.

In 1978, Leonard dropped and stopped Floyd's father and trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr.

Leonard has a lot of respect for Mayweather's ability and believes he would have held his own against the best of the 80s like Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and other top welterweights.

"I think because of Floyd's talent, his natural born talent, the hand speed.....Floyd is a very precise fighter, he's a technician in the ring. He's a great counter-puncher, he reminds me of his father who pretty much fought in the same way. Floyd would have held his own [in my era]," Leonard told SI Now.

"I told Floyd that I would have beat him - if he was in my era. And he told me the same thing, that he would beat me if I was in his era. I did tell him that [I beat his father] - like father, like son."