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, it was a very successful debut for Leonard, who now was ready to move forward with his career.
He would fight five more times in 1977, and win four times by knockout. Ray won his first five bouts of 1978 rather easily, before meeting his toughest opponent in Dick Ecklund. The fight at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston on July 18, 1978, saw Ecklund hit the deck three times, but get up and last the distance. Two months later, Leonard was matched with Floyd Mayweather on September 9 at the Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. Mayweather sported a 15-1 record, and was a skilled boxer. Ray took him to school, dropped him twice in the eighth round, and was showing how good he really was.
Sugar Ray finished 1978 with three more victories, including a decision over the tough Randy Shields on October 6 back at the Baltimore Civic Center. He began 1979 with a 17-0 record, with 8 knockouts, but added to that with 3 straight KO’s in 3 months to open the new year. Ray followed that with a decision win over Adolfo Viruet on April 21, 1979 at the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas. On May 20, Leonard moved up to face tough middleweight Marcus Geraldo in Baton Rouge. Ray weighed in at 153 lbs., went the full 10 round distance, and captured a unanimous decision.
Five weeks later, Leonard won a 4 round technical decision over Tony Chiaverini at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Two months later in the same Sports Pavilion at Caesar’s Ray knocked out Pete Ranzany in four rounds. On September 28, Sugar Ray knocked out Andy Price in one spectacular round back at Caesar’s, and had his first title shot inked for November.
Ray would challenge Wilfred Benitez on November 30, 1979 for the WBC Welterweight Championship on ABC TV. It would be on live television on a Friday night, and a chance for Ray to show how special he really was.
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