The first time Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran met on June 20, 1980, Ray Leonard tried to fight Duran’s fight by going toe to toe. Duran bullied and mauled Leonard against the ropes and by the time Ray tried to box, it was too late. Sugar Ray vowed to fight ‘His fight’, in the November rematch and regain the welterweight championship.
Ray didn’t want a tune up bout in between fights, so the rematch was signed for Tuesday, November 25, 1980 at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. I saw the first fight in Fort Worth, Texas but for this one I drove an hour from my house to watch the closed circuit broadcast at Convention Hall in Atlantic City.
I knew that Leonard had a lot of pressure on him to win, because a loss would have totally derailed his career. After I took my seat on the floor of Convention Hall, I had to sit through a dreadful undercard and forced to watch fights I would never have watched otherwise.
As soon as the opening bell rang, it was obvious that Ray was going to box Duran and did so effectively from the start. He was more muscular than in June as he nailed Duran with sharp punches consistently over the first 3 or 4 rounds, and was in the lead on the scorecards. When Duran tried to trap Ray on the ropes, he spun off and counter punched back. By the seventh round, Sugar Ray was so confident that he started taunting Roberto, and to show it faked a bolo punch and landed a stinging jab to Duran’s face instead. Duran seethed in anger but did nothing to stop it, and it was obvious that it was a different Sugar Ray Leonard in the ring than it was in June.
Late in the eighth round, after Leonard hit Duran with a punch, Roberto motioned to referee Octavio Meyran that he didn’t want to fight anymore. When Meyran asked him again, Duran made the same motion saying I quit. Ray threw his hands up in the air and jumped on the ring ropes in celebration, while a shocked crowd tried to grasp what they had just seen. I sat stunned in my seat, shocked at what I had just witnessed. Duran giving up was the last thing I ever thought would happen and the only reason he did it was because Ray had embarrassed him and he didn’t know how to deal with it.
All of the crap that came out about Duran having stomach cramps was just an excuse and the world knew it. Even Duran’s home country of Panama was disgusted with him and no longer considered him the hero he once was. I on the other hand, was thrilled that Ray had recaptured the title. The hour drive home that night was great, with the fight playing in my head over and over again.
The huge victory for Ray opened up all kinds of opportunities and and restored him as the face of boxing in the 80’s.
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