After defeating Roberto Duran on December 7, 1989 rather easily, Sugar Ray Leonard’s career was put on hold because of the severe cut over his right eye. He needed plastic surgery to help it heal, then talked of a rematch with Marvin Hagler. Nothing came of that, and when Leonard wanted a third bout with Tommy Hearns at a catch-weight of 162 lbs., the ‘Hit Man’ refused. Ray stayed out of the ring all of 1990, before challenging WBC Super Welterweight Champion Terry Norris’s for his title on February 9, 1991.
Ray had not fought at 154 lbs. for nearly 10 years, and this fight made no sense to me. Norris was extremely fast and strong, and as much as I loved Leonard, I saw no possible way for him to win. His manager Mike Trainer made a deal with Showtime to broadcast the bout, and I would have to go over my sister’s apartment to see this one on pay-per-view. If you paid the $30 for the fight, you got Showtime for a month for free. She was happy with that deal, since she was a bartender at a local restaurant and wasn’t home on Saturday night anyway.
I was kind of nervous and sick in the stomach on the drive over her place that night. It would be Ray’s first and last appearance at Madison Square Garden, and for me personally, was a night I’d rather forget. Despite Sugar Ray appearing confident in his many appearances on TV to promote the fight, it didn’t change my mind.
Norris came out smoking, and was quick and aggressive from the start. Leonard fought bravely and tried to hang with the faster Norris, but he simply couldn’t. Late in the second round, Ray went down from a Norris left hook, and while Leonard was holding himself up, Norris nailed him with a blatant late blow. Honestly, I really couldn’t stand Norris or his annoying father, and that move made me dislike him even less.
Ray got up and tried valiantly to nail Norris with right hands and left hooks the whole night. Norris put him down again late in the seventh with a right hand, but Leonard got up and survived the round. After twelve difficult rounds to swallow on my end, the unanimous decision went to Norris. I was proud and happy that Ray had fought courageously, and never gave up the entire twelve rounds. He announced his retirement in the ring after the bout, and it remains today one of my least moments I’ve witnessed in 40 plus years as a serious boxing fan.
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