Leonard started boxing at the Palmer Park Recreation Center in 1969. [14]:78, In 1973, Leonard won the National Golden Gloves Lightweight Championship, but lost to Randy Shields in the lightweight final of the National AAU Tournament. Scottish boxing journalist Hugh McIlvanney wrote that Leonard's plan was to "steal rounds with a few flashy and carefully timed flurrieshe was happy to exaggerate hand speed at the expense of power, and neither he nor two of the scorers seemed bothered by the fact that many of the punches landed on the champion's gloves and arms. Just five months after one of the greatest fights in modern boxing history, Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran met in a rematch that somehow managed to transcend the original. The fight was a classic match between a slugger in Marvin Hagler, left, and a boxer in Sugar Ray Leonard. In 1991 the brilliant career of Sugar Ray Leonard appeared to have finally come to an end. Hearns won rounds nine through twelve on all three scorecards. Having lost, Sugar Ray Leonard believed he could catch Duran out of shape due to celebrating his victory in the first match. "[56], Many others felt that Leonard deservedly got the decision, arguing that Leonard landed more punches and showed better defense and ring generalship. Trainer then made Leonard the sole stockholder in Sugar Ray Leonard, Inc. Angelo Dundee, Muhammad Ali's trainer, was brought in to be Leonard's trainer and manager. [10] BoxRec ranks him as the 14th greatest boxer of all time, pound for pound. However, Lalonde later told HBO's Larry Merchant that he didn't have any trouble making weight.[59]. [60][61], Lalonde's size and awkwardness troubled Leonard. Tyson had a 71 reach, even shorter than Frazier's. For his services, Dundee would get 15% of Leonard's purse. "I didn't feel like being bothered by all those complications by asking him for any money for support", she said. Best Known For: Considered one of the greatest boxers of all time, Sugar Ray Robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951, and by 1958, he had become the first boxer to win a divisional world championship five times. He made him look like a guy chasing a bus. November 30, 1979: Leonard wins his first world titles by defeating Wilfred Bentez via 15th round TKO. [8] The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Year in 1979 and 1981, while the Boxing Writers Association of America named him Fighter of the Year in 1976, 1979, and 1981. The bout took place on June 20, 1980 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada. The following month, he made his first title defense against Andy Price. His incredible achievements include winning world titles in five weight divisions, including the WBC welterweight, WBA light middleweight, and WBC middleweight titles. As a boy growing up in Detroit, Sugar Ray Robinson was neighbors with heavyweight champion Joe Louis. [14]:75, In his fourteenth professional fight, Leonard fought his first world-ranked opponent, Floyd Mayweather, who was ranked seventeenth. [14]:4243 He finished his amateur career with a record of 1655 and 75 KOs.[19]. Promoted as "The Showdown", Leonard fought Thomas Hearns on September 16, 1981, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to unify the World Welterweight Championship in a scheduled fifteen-rounder. In a fight that many considered to be very boring, both fighters were booed often by the fans and many left the arena before the decision was announced. "[58] A month after Hagler's formal retirement in June 1988, Leonard would announce another comeback. Hearns, with too much faith in his powerful right hand, lost to Sugar Ray Leonard in their first match. "[91] In 2011, Leonard revealed in an NPR interview that he had been free of alcohol since July 2006. Always moving forward, he mauled and wrestled Leonard, scoring inside with hooks and rights. HBO believed it would be inappropriate for Leonard to continue with them if they couldn't bid on his fights. "I did the best I could", Leonard said. Leonard received $1 million and Benitez, a two-division champion with a record of 3801, received $1.2 million. Eventually, Leonard admitted that Hearns deserved the decision[citation needed]. In the fourth round, Leonard knocked Green out with a devastating left hook. The cuts required a total of 60 stitches. and played to the screaming crowd. Shortly afterward, Leonard dropped him with a flurry of punches. The announcement generated a lot of controversy because of Leonard's inactivity and eye injuries, yet it also excited many sports fans who had hoped to see them fight years earlier. Over his 25-year career, Robinson won the world welterweight and middleweight crowns and was dubbed "pound for pound, the best." Robinson, who was unapologetic for his lavish spending, is estimated to have earned more than $4 million as a fighter, all of which he burned through, forcing him to continue boxing much longer than he should have. 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. Sports Illustrated called his scorecard "a monument to indecision." The odds started at 41, then settled at 31. In Poland, local fighter Jan Kwacz was given a disqualification victory over Leonard after being knocked down three times in the first round but the referee ruled that Leonard had punched after the bell.[16]. In his testimony, Leonard confirmed his wife's claims and went on to reveal that the problems of their marriage were not due to drug and alcohol use.[90]. Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns II, billed as " The War ", was a professional boxing match contested on June 12, 1989 for the WBC and WBO super middleweight titles. 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. Hearns was the taller of the two by 6 cms and also had a 10 cm reach advantage. He stayed home a lot, reading comic books and playing with his dog. I snapped his head back with a jab. He actually scored it 148147. Fans flinched as much as Sugar Ray Leonard himself when Roberto Duran landed a right-handed punch on Leonard's left eye late in the 11th round of their . Roberto Duran takes on Sugar Ray Leonard at the Superdome in New Orleans in November 1980. . 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]. [27] Price, an up-and-coming contender who was sponsored by Marvin Gaye, had a reputation for prolonged bouts in earlier fights and was believed by sports reporters to defeat or give a long fight to Leonard. "He's got the three B's," Sammy Davis Jr. said of Seales at a 1984 benefit for the fighter. Kalule and his handlers had expected Leonard to use lateral movement against him, but Leonard chose to fight inside instead. Sugar Ray Leonard boxed Marvin Hagler and forced him to fight away from his strengths while using what he did bestflurrying with the mindset of disrupting Hagler and not trying to hurt or drop himwhich was something Ray knew could only fail, and open the door for Hagler to nail him. 1 in its book "The 100 Greatest Boxers of All Time.". I snapped it back again. Together, Leonard and ESPN would produce and promote "Sugar Ray Leonard and ESPN II Presents Friday Night Fights", which would air the first Friday of every month for twelve months. [12] The family moved to Washington, D.C., when he was three, and they settled permanently in Palmer Park, Maryland when he was ten. Roberto Duran, known as one of the greatest boxers of all time, held world championships in four weight classes during his career and met Sugar Ray Leonard in the ring for the first time in June 1980. 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. Leonard was also the subject of a Seinfeld episode (season 6, episode 22) where George tries to flatter his boss by saying he looks like Sugar Ray Leonard. [67], In August 1990, Leonard relinquished the WBC super middleweight title, saying that he was under the weight for the division. Hagler buckled Leonard's knees with a right uppercut near the end of the round, which finished with Leonard on the ropes. In 1976, Leonard made the U.S. Olympic Team as the light welterweight representative. Everyone was surprised by Durn's actions, none more so than his veteran trainers, Freddie Brown and Ray Arcel. "I'll try, I'll give it a shot", Leonard said of his latest retirement. He took control, attacking and driving Leonard against the ropes, bulling him back, hitting him with lefts and rights to the body as he maneuvered the champion against the ropes from corner to corner. Leonard is also the godfather of Khlo Kardashian and has appeared on many episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. But New York proved rough in other ways. From 1977-1997, Leonard only lost three professional fights. He wasn't afraid, he was being a smart businessman. I already had it in the back of my mind to dissolve the company. He drove him to the ropes and unleashed a furious assault. Sylvester Stallone, who co-hosted during the first season, was one of the executive producers, along with Mark Burnett. The British challenger had a record of 332. Leonard used constant lateral movement and won by a lopsided twelve-round unanimous decision over a listless Durn. During the night Durn was admitted to a hospital with stomach pains, and discharged the following day. [88] In 1984, they had another son, Jarrell. He never liked being called "The Hit Man," and after going nearly 14 rounds with nemesis Sugar Ray Leonard under the bright lights at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Tommy . To revisit this article, select My Account, then View saved stories. He hit more oftenHe made Hagler into what he perceived him to be throughout his careera brawler, a swarmer, a man who could club you to death only if you stood there and let him. Kalule got up but the referee waved it off. himself. Robert Durn's hair flies as Sugar Ray Leonard throws a punch in the early rounds of their welterwight fight on 25 November 1980. In the fifth, Camacho dropped Leonard with a right followed by two left uppercuts. He stuck out his chin, inviting Durn to hit it. I know how Hagler felt now."[70]. 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. Between rounds eleven and twelve, Leonard's trainer: Angelo Dundee, implored Sugar Ray to get up off his stool yelling "We got three minutesnew champnew champ!" He tried to get me against the ropes, I'd pivot, spin off and Pow! But at that point in the fight, Hagler appeared to be slightly more ring-general and clearly more aggressive. To the ropes, I 'd pivot, spin off and Pow only lost three professional.! The Palmer Park Recreation Center in 1969 another comeback bout took place June... Fight, Hagler appeared to be slightly more ring-general and clearly more aggressive and. Buckled Leonard 's knees with a right uppercut near the end of the round, which finished Leonard. 1977-1997, how many fights did sugar ray leonard lose made the U.S. Olympic Team as the 14th greatest boxer of all time. `` 70. 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