After the draw with Hearns in June, Ray Leonard signed to fight his arch nemesis Roberto Duran in December. I had softened in my anger towards Ray, and found it easy to vote for him once again because I really couldn’t stand Duran. The fight would christen the new Mirage hotel on the strip in […]
Leonard vs. Duran III Read More »
It had been nearly 8 years since their first battle in Las Vegas on September 16, 1981, when Sugar Ray Leonard stopped Thomas Hearns on the ropes in the 14th round. Now they were fighting at the super-middleweight limit of 168 lbs., with Ray defending the belt he won against Donny Lalonde. He had relinquished
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Sugar Ray Leonard was signed to fight Donny ‘The Golden Boy’ Lalonde on Monday, November 7th, 1988 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. The fight would be at the super-middleweight limit of 168 lbs., and be for both the WBC super-middleweight and Lalonde’s 175 belt as well. This despite the fact the WBC said it
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After the colossal upset of Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard returned to the top of the sport once again. He graced the cover of every boxing magazine, and enjoyed the limelight that came with the huge win. Talks of a rematch never really took hold, and Marvin went into retreat. The fact that he never
It was a cool early spring evening on April 6th, 1987 when I made my way to the Spectrum in Philadelphia to watch the Leonard-Hagler fight on closed circuit tv. I had been looking forward to this fight for months, had ready every article I could read, watched every video I could find and by
The Super-Fight Finally Happens Read More »
Sugar Ray Leonard began training in the spring of 1986 for his then proposed fight with Marvin Hagler. By the time was set in the fall, he was already fit. He continued to train earnestly, and went to Hilton Head, South Carolina in February to open camp for his final 6 weeks of preparation. I
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After watching Hagler struggle at times with John Mugabi in March of 1986, Sugar Ray Leonard started dropping hints to the media a few months later than he would be interested in a fight with Hagler. Marvin appeared on Johnny Carson not long after, and said he would probably take the fight. At the time
Hagler and Leonard is Set! Read More »
After his huge win over Hearns, Marvin was enjoying the limelight. He was doing a number of national commercials, and appearing on all the talk shows. He signed to fight WBA junior middleweight champ John ‘The Beast’ Mugabi in November of 1985, but the fight was cancelled when Marvin hurt his back. Mugabi was a
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The latest super-fight was set for April 15th at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. After a whirlwind press tour in January, both boxers went to training camp. It was the biggest fight in boxing in years, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I went to the Spectrum in Philadelphia to see the
After the knockout of Roldan, and Thomas Hearns’s destruction of Duran in 2 rounds in June, Marvin and Hearns were on a collision course. It was pretty much decided that Hagler would fight the mandatory challenger Mustafo Hamsho in October, and would then sign to fight Hearns in early 1985. The fight at Madison Square
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