After losing to Roberto Duran on June 20, 1980 in Montreal, Sugar Ray Leonard took his wife Juanita to Hawaii on vacation to relax. He needed a chance to heal his sore body and reassess his future. While running on the beach, Ray decided he wanted a rematch with Duran, with no other bouts in […]

In June of 1980, I was in Dallas, Texas for a month of resident training at an airline training school operated by the now defunct Braniff Airlines. While there, I made arrangements to see the June 20, 1980 bout between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran from Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada. I hopped a

After winning the WBC welterweight title on November 30, 1979 vs. Wilfred Benitez, Sugar Ray Leonard made his first title defense on March 31, 1980. His bout titled “The Champ Comes Home” was held at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, and would be broadcast live on ABC TV in prime time. His was one

I was working at a local department store in November of 1979 when I saw a commercial advertising the fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Wilfred Benitez on one of the televisions in the TV department. As I was walking past with a girl I worked with, I said, “I can’t wait to see this

Sugar Ray Leonard made his professional debut on February 5, 1977, vs. Luis “The Bull” Vega at the Baltimore Civic Center. It was broadcast live on CBS TV, and Ray received $38,000 for his first pro bout. Sugar Ray won all six rounds against the hard-headed Vega, who never hit the canvas. All in all,

Ray Charles Leonard was born on May 17, 1956 in Wilmington, North Carolina. His family moved to Washington, D.C., when he was 3, and settled in Palmer Park, Maryland. Ray grew up as a quiet kid who really didn’t get into any trouble. He started boxing at the urging of his older brother Roger at

This is the List of my Top 10 Favorite Knockouts of All-Time. 1. Thomas Hearns. vs. Roberto Duran. June 15, 1984. Caesar’s Palace; Las Vegas, Nevada. Hearns by 2nd round KO. 2. Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas. February 11, 1990. Tokyo Dome; Tokyo, Japan. Douglas by 10th round KO. 3. Lennox Lewis vs. Hasim Rahman

After getting beat up and knocked out by Lennox Lewis on June 8, 2002, Mike Tyson made no plans to return to the ring until 2003. In November, he announced that he would return to the Pyramid in Memphis on February 22 to face Clifford Etienne on Showtime. Etienne had good success early in his

Mike Tyson fought just once in 2001, on October 13, 2001 in Copenhagen, Denmark against Brian Nielsen. Tyson dropped the pudgy Nielsen in the third round, and pounded on him until he refused to answer the bell for the seventh. It was one less obstacle that separated Tyson from facing Lennox Lewis for the championship,

After serving jail time again, Mike Tyson was released on May 24, 1999. Don King signed Orlin Norris to be his next opponent on October 23rd back at the MGM in Las Vegas. When I sat in my recliner to watch the bout on Showtime, I figured that the crafty Norris could last into the