Nah not really why I could care about getting the hottest post? Kakashi said Sakura was going to surpass Tsunade also so that discredits the sakura being the underdog.
Sakura had high intelligence, great chakra control and unlike Lee she had ability of ninjutsu and genjutsu. They are not even comparable.
Lee was an underdog, he could not do ninjutsu and genjutsu; the most basic ninja skills. His taijutsu was below average; his former classmates and Gai; the expert on taijutsu stated it:
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Did Sakura had such problems with her skills? No but she was weak as hell in part 1; that's it
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He did not even had someone to support him at the academy unlike Sakura who abandoned Ino:
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And Gai's training of him did not start at academy; it started after he became his sensei(that's why Gai asks his genin students their goals; he would know Lee's if he had trained him before), and it exactly became his hard training after these moments:
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Not that being someone's student will make anyone talented in a moment...
