After Sugar Ray Leonard won his first title by stopping Wilfred Benitez on November 30, 1979, he prepared to make his first defense in his hometown three months later. Ray’s opponent was Davey ‘Boy’ Green, and the fight was part of a mega-card broadcast live on ABC TV. I settled in to watch the fights as the snow fell in South Jersey, dropping 8 plus inches during an early spring storm. The awesome experience to watch great fighters fight on free TV is something I still cherish today, not knowing at the time how much things would change.
Ray easily defended his WBC belt with a spectacular 4th round knockout of Green, which left him semi-conscious on the canvas at the Capitol Center in Landover, Maryland. Leonard’s trainer Angelo Dundee said “I thought Ray had killed Green for a minute, he looked that seriously injured.” Fortunately, Green got up and made a full recovery.
Immediately after the victory, talks focused on the soon agreed upon June 20, 1980 super-fight with Roberto Duran in Montreal, Canada. The former lightweight great had moved up to welterweight, and wanted a crack at Leonard’s title. That June, I was in Dallas, Texas attending resident classes with Braniff Airlines for a new job I was pursuing in that field. I was able to purchase a $20 ticket to see the closed-circuit broadcast at the Tarrant County Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas by asking for a ride to a ticket broker. Since I wasn’t able to rent a car without a credit card, I planned to take a bus from the Love Field airport, which was within walking distance from the hotel I was staying at for the month. The bus would take me to DFW airport, where I could get a transfer to Fort Worth.
That Friday night was more than exciting for me, since it was the first time I had been to a closed-circuit bout. The crowd was racially divided, with sentiments seeming to favor both boxers. The fight itself was exciting, with the action brisk and furious at times. Duran seeming to be winning a lot of the rounds with his bullying tactics, and kept Ray pinned on the ropes far too many times. It surprised me that Ray chose to stand toe to toe most of the night, and didn’t use his brilliant boxing skills. Ray closed the last third of the bout strong, and still had a chance to win a decision when the final bell rang in my book. Nerves filled my stomach when the scorecards were announced, but my heart sank when Duran was announced the winner.
When I ran back to the bus station about a half mile or so from the arena, thoughts raced through my head about the entire night. It was something I had never experienced before, and that special Friday night in Texas erased any doubts that I would be a boxing fan for life.
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