After the verdict was announced, Leonard announced his retirement. [68] He then offered Hearns a third fight, but Hearns said he could no longer make the weight and moved up to the light heavyweight division. Now I want to go to school." Roy Jones Jr. Ensuite Who defeated Mayweather? Leonard had difficulty with Hearns' long reach and sharp jab. Look back on this free fight from 1986 at "The Super Fight" between #MarvinHagler and #SugarRayLeonardNext Up for Top Rank Boxing, WBO/IBF unified junior li. His father worked as a supermarket night manager and his mother was a nurse. "It was stupid for me to fight Norris at 154 lbs", Leonard said. [48], A bout with Philadelphia's Kevin Howard, who was 2041, was scheduled for February 25, 1984. In the final, Leonard boxed the great Cuban knockout artist Andrs Aldama, who scored five straight knockouts to reach the final. In October 1996, the 40-year-old Leonard announced that he was coming out of retirement to fight 34-year-old Hctor Camacho for the lightly regarded International Boxing Council (IBC) Middleweight Championship. In the second, Durn rocked Leonard with a left hook, sending him into the ropes. He said he quit using drugs in early 1986, when he woke up one morning and "what I saw in the mirror was scary." His doctor suggested that he cancel the fight, but Leonard wanted to go through with it. Boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard breaks down some of his most iconic fights of all time, including his fights with Andrs Aldama in 1976, Dick Eklund in 1978,. Come under with a punch.". Dickie Eklund (left) smiles before the Sugar Ray fight. The two went toe-to-toe in the fifteenth. He finished his career with a record of 3631 with 25 knockouts. Tyson lost his first fight to Holyfield in 1996. There was a capacity crowd of about 4,600. It was the first knockdown of Leonard's professional career. The work greatly helped salvage his finances and was the reason he eventually settled in Southern California with his second wife, Millie. Afterward, Leonard announced, "I'm finishedI've fought my last fight. Hosted (yes, there was a host) by Mario Lopez,. In 2007 he was awarded The Ambassador Award of Excellence by the LA Sports & Entertainment Commission at the Riviera Country Club for his continued community involvement. AP Photo/Lennox McLendon What it's really about is boxing's great aesthetic divide. According to Bob Arum, the fight grossed $78 million (which equates to around $179 million in 2020). If he had scored it 109, as his two colleagues did, Hearns would have won by a split decision. He made him look like a guy chasing a bus. Robi is the daughter of Paul Robi, one of the original Platters, and she is the ex-wife of Lynn Swann. Leonard was aware of this, and in an interview for Beyond the Glory he said: "My intention was to fight Durn ASAP because I knew Durn's habits. In 1976, Leonard made the U.S. Olympic Team as the light welterweight representative. Durn received $1.5 million and Leonard, working for a percentage of the closed-circuit gate as well as a guarantee, received over $9 million. The rematch, billed as "Stone vs. Sugar.. Once Again", took place November 25, 1980 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans in front of 25,038 fans. himself. Leonard started boxing at the Palmer Park Recreation Center in 1969. As an amateur, he took an Olympic gold medal in the light-welterweight class at the 1976 Games in Montreal. [14]:4243 He finished his amateur career with a record of 1655 and 75 KOs.[19]. At the final bell, even uniformed ringside security rushed into the ring applauding and lauding Leonard's effort. After the quick and slick Leonard won the first two rounds on all three scorecards, Hagler started the third round as a southpaw. The referee stopped the fight with Camacho teeing off on a defenseless Leonard on the ropes. He tried to get me against the ropes, I'd pivot, spin off and Pow! Robert Durn's hair flies as Sugar Ray Leonard throws a punch in the early rounds of their welterwight fight on 25 November 1980. Jacobs had quit in 1980, disagreeing with Leonard's decision to have an immediate rematch with Durn. "[91] In 2011, Leonard revealed in an NPR interview that he had been free of alcohol since July 2006. Sugar Ray Leonard won the WBC welterweight title with a fifteenth-round knockout of Wilfred Bentez in 1979. Bonds was a southpaw, which made him a good opponent for Leonard, given that his next opponent was scheduled to be the WBA Light Middleweight Champion Ayub Kalule, a southpaw. In 1984 The Ring magazine placed Robinson No. "My idea is that he should have a tuneup fight before he fights with Roberto again", Jacobs said. . [34], After the Montreal fight Durn went on a partying binge and ballooned in weight. He requested a contract for the Lalonde fight and Leonard refused. His partner was Anna Trebunskaya. The working environment was not healthy."[84]. [45] Leonard's next fight was scheduled to be against Roger Stafford on May 14, 1982, in Buffalo, New York. Roger won some trophies and showed them off in front of Ray, goading him to start boxing. Leonard's attorney, Mike Trainer, said, "There never has been a linkage between his broadcasting and his fighting. [17] Leonard won his first four Olympic bouts by 50 decisions. "[56], Many others felt that Leonard deservedly got the decision, arguing that Leonard landed more punches and showed better defense and ring generalship. A strange night, a boring fight. However, given his style and first name, it was probably only a matter of time before people started calling him Sugar Ray, after the man many consider to be the best boxer of all time, Sugar Ray Robinson. . Benitez was very slick. I never had to go to school once because of him."[13]. Hometown: Palmer Park, Maryland, USA Birthplace: Wilmington, North Carolina, USA Stance: Orthodox Height: 175cm Reach: 179cm Promoter: Record Pro Boxer: Record Amateur Boxer: Record Trainers: Angelo Dundee, Dave Jacobs, Janks Morton, Pepe Correa, Adrian Davis Manager: Mike Trainer Sugar Ray Leonard Gallery Contents 1 Amateur Achievements Many felt that the ten-point must scoring system was not properly used and those rounds should have been scored 108. The real Leonard (a Seinfeld fan) mentioned that he was told about the episode by friends and family, but had never seen it for himself until a friend gave him the DVD set for a gift. Doctors said they believed he would be able to resume his boxing career before the end of the year. Hagler's undisputed status ended when the WBA stripped him of the title for choosing to fight Sugar Ray Leonard instead of mandatory challenger, Herol Graham. Career Highlights Sugar Ray Leonard fought a total of 40 times during his professional career. Benitez started improving in the fourth, slipping numerous punches and finding the range with his right hand. Their six-year-old son, Ray Jr., served as the ring bearer. I snapped it back again. [23] Leonard won by a tenth-round knockout. His lower lip was cut from a headbutt in the fourth round, his left eye was cut in the eleventh round, and his right eye was cut in the twelfth round. In 1989, Leonard was introduced to Bernadette Robi by Kenny G at a Luther Vandross concert. Of all people, John 'The Beast' Mugabi." Leonard kept it up, continuing to move, stop, and mug. Former boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard acknowledged today that he took cocaine and drank heavily during the early 1980's when his career was jeopardized by an eye injury.. Round ten was tame by comparison, as the pace slowed after the furious action of the previous round but with Hagler having more spectacular moments. The fight grossed over $35 million. But New York proved rough in other ways. The fight took place at the new Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. Judges Chuck Giampa and Franz Marti had Leonard ahead by scores of 7774 and 7775, respectively. "For the first time in a long time, I allowed someone to push me", Leonard said. In round fourteen, after staggering Hearns with an overhand right, Leonard pinned Hearns against the ropes, where he unleashed another furious combination, prompting referee Davey Pearl to stop the contest and award Sugar Ray Leonard the Unified World Welterweight Championship. Leonard landed the harder punches and had Benitez hurt several times late in the fight, but Leonard couldn't put him away. Many were critical of the fact that Lalonde's light heavyweight title was on the line when the weight limit of the fight with Leonard was at 168 pounds, and critical of Leonard for stipulating that his opponenta natural 175-poundershould weigh less than his usual fighting weight, which could possibly weaken him. When he did, he hit harder. Sugar Ray Leonard, the world welterweight champion, underwent two hours of surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore yesterday to repair a partially detached retina in his left eye.. He called Mike Trainer and said, "I can beat Hagler". Sugar Ray Leonard reflected on his famous fight with Marvin Hagler following the news on Saturday about his late opponent's death at the age of 66. Leonard was a shy child, and aside from the time he nearly drowned in a creek during a flood in Seat Pleasant, Maryland, his childhood was uneventful. However, he was able to outpunch Hagler along the ropes and got the better of several bristling exchanges. "I can never erase the pain or the scars I have made through my stupidity, my selfishness", Leonard said. He lost it to Roberto Durn by a close decision in June 1980 and regained it five months later in the infamous No Ms Fight, in which Duran quit in the eighth round. Kalule got up but the referee waved it off. The Camacho fight was Leonard's last. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Remembering Just Fontaine and His World Cup Record, The Man Behind the First All-Black Basketball Team, 8 Times Brothers Have Faced Off in a Championship, Every Black Quarterback to Play in the Super Bowl, Soccer Star Christian Atsu Survived an Earthquake. At the wedding ceremony, the grounds were converted into a garden with 10,000 roses and blossoms of other flowers flown in from the Netherlands.[92]. The Classic bout between Sugar Ray Leonard V Thomas Hearns.Leonard Snatches Victory from the jaws of defeat with a dramatic late Stoppage! "[36] Arcel was angry. 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