This is the last in my series of blogs on one of my favorite all-time fighters, the great Sugar Ray Leonard. When I first became a boxing fan in the late 1970’s, Ray was becoming the face of the sport. His first championship shot against Wilfred Benitez on November 30, 1979 stands out as one of the highlights and staples of the development of my love for the sport. I couldn’t wait for his next bout, from his destruction of Davey ‘Boy’ Green to his momentous ‘Brawl in Montreal’ vs. Roberto Duran. That would be my first trip to see a live Closed-Circuit bout, and that Friday night at the Tarrant County Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas was the night I knew for certain that I was a boxing fan for life.
His rematch with Duran in November of 1980 was just as memorable in my young mind. The hour long trip to Atlantic City Convention Hall to see it, and the shock of seeing Duran absolutely quit in the ring. Ray’s easy win over Larry Bonds, and his capturing of the WBA Junior Middleweight title over Ayub Kalule in June of 1981 marked time for me. Another trip to Atlantic City in September of 1981, saw me watch Ray come back from certain defeat to rally and stop Tommy Hearns, and had me leaping to my feet and hugging every stranger I saw.
I was in Buffalo, New York in May of 1982, to see Sugar Ray’s last public workout before his forced retirement from the ring because of a detached retina in his eye. When Ray announced his retirement in November of 1982, a huge part of the sport died to me, and I struggled for find someone to replace him. No one was more thrilled than me, when he announced in December of 1983, “This isn’t a comeback. I’m back!” I was excited to be able to fly to Boston, and drive to see him train at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, not knowing Ray would go back into retirement after a less than scintillating performance against Kevin Howard.
I lived in Las Vegas for most of 1986, and was shocked to learn upon my return to South Jersey that Ray and Marvin Hagler had actually signed a contract to meet on April 6, 1987 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. One of the best memories in my life as a boxing fan was my trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina to watch Ray train in person for 3 days at the Hotel Intercontinental. I ran in the mornings on the same beach he did, and seeing him in person was exciting to see the least. In my heart I knew he could defeat Hagler, and by the time April 6 rolled around, I was ‘overtrained’ as fan. I had read every newspaper clipping, every article, and watched the HBO preview of the bout about 50 times.
Seeing Sugar Ray Leonard win a split decision over Hagler at the Spectrum in Philadelphia was one of the ABSOLUTE greatest nights ever in my life as a boxing fan. Ray had defied the critics, and to me it is the single most significant win of his boxing career.
The rest of his career was almost anti-climatic to me. His return after 18 months to knockout Donny Lalonde, the fact that his ego actually soured me on him for a year or so, making me actually root for Lalonde and Tommy Hearns in their long awaited rematch in June of 1989. After being lucky to have escaped with a draw against Hearns, I was back in his corner to watch him easily outpoint Roberto Duran, in the final of their trilogy of bouts on December of 1989.
That would turn out to be the last win of Sugar Ray’s illustrious career. I try to forget his loss to Terry Norris in February of 1991, and even more so his defeat at the hands of Hector Camacho, who in Ray’s prime, couldn’t carry his jockstrap.
After 45 years plus as a serious boxing fan, Ray is still at the top of the list of fighters who had a huge personal impact in my life, and I will forever love him for that. No one deserved induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997 more than Ray, who is an ‘All-Time Great’ in my book, with absolutely no doubt in my mind.
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