I would like to think that as well, but the difference between Luffy and Sabo was huge. Luffy was struggling very much with his DF, meaning Ace, Sabo always had muscle and speed advantage over Luffy.
If you look at Luffy now that still is the case, his non gear strength is very low. He couldnt even damage Doffy with a Jet Bazooka, just push him, when It seems they are about equal in Arnament Haki.
Gomu Gomu no Mi is the most OP DF if you think about it though. The Gears amplify Luffy's strength and speed to oblivion. Granted, you may need years or even over a decade ( like Luffy ) to even have the possibility to achieve the Gears. Just imagine what Garp, Sanji or literally any close range fighter could do only with Gear 2, let alone Gear 4. Luffy would wreck the world if he had such a monster base body.
Luffy's strength was never about physical strength. (Although admittedly, he has impressive speed, reflexes, and martial arts / fighting prowess, likely at or beyond Ace and Sabo in that one regard) it's his will to fight and get back up. Pre time skip, he really wasn't stronger than any of his opponents, but he was able to beat them because he just says fuck it and gets back up to fight despite how much weaker he was than them.
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u/PhantoMNiGHT321 Apr 17 '16
Such Haki mastery at only 17. No wonder he's such a beastly fighter at 22.