After escaping with a draw with in his rematch with Thomas Hearns on June 12, 1989, Sugar Ray Leonard didn’t have to look far for his next opponent. His long time rival Roberto Duran, was fresh off his upset win over Iran Barkley on February 24 in Atlantic City. The first name out of Duran’s mouth was Leonard in his post fight press conference, and the fight was signed on July 26, not long after Ray’s draw with Hearns.
Leonard-Duran 3 was set for December 7, 1989 at the brand new Mirage Hotel on the strip in Las Vegas. Named ‘Uno Mas’ by promoter Bob Arum, I saw this as a one-sided bout from the first time I heard about it. There was no way at 38 that Duran was going to beat Leonard, who still could box and had the legs to avoid Duran. Barely defeating Barkley was one thing, but beating a guy who had your number in Leonard, was a whole different story.
That Thursday in south Jersey where I grew up was bitter cold, with temperatures in the single digits. My friend and I made the 7 mile drive to the Pavilion in Cherry Hill to catch the action on closed-circuit, and it would be the the first time I rooted for Ray to win since his win over Marvin Hagler two and a half years earlier. My anger with him had waned, especially after the Hearns rematch, and that coupled with my utter distain for Duran, made it an easy decision.
Ray boxed well in the chilly outdoor Vegas temps, and Duran did little else but follow him around for most of the fight. Once in a while Leonard would try the old taunting moves from their second bout, but they seemed forced and hollow. The fight was rather slow and boring, with Ray winning every round rather easily. The only dramatic moment came when Duran landed a huge right hand to Leonard’s eye that opened a huge gash as the 10th round came to a close. Ray weathered the storm as the blood flowed into his eye over the final two rounds, but was the easy winner on the scorecards after the 12th round bell rang.
In typical fashion, Duran ridiculously claimed victory, which was one of the reasons why I just couldn’t stand the whiner. It ended his career as a top draw, and although he continued to fight for years, his bouts were against mediocre and over the hill retreads.
Ray’s eye was so damaged that it required plastic surgery to fix, which put him on the shelf for months. As the new decade of the 1990’s dawned, it was obvious that his best days were behind him, and at 33 going on 34, I had to wonder who his next opponent would be.
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