Sugar Ray Leonard traveled to the brand new Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York on March 28, 1981 to face a Denver trash man named Larry Bonds. The bout was broadcast live on HBO, which meant I had absolutely no means to see it live. Ray won by a 10th round TKO, but was lacking motivation and carried Bonds until he finally stopped him. Sugar Ray had his eyes on bigger things, and his next bout in June meant moving up in class to add the junior-middleweight crown to his collection of belts.
On June 25, I bought a $25 ticket to see a closed-circuit show named ‘The Welterweight Wars’ from the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. This meant a drive to the Spectrum in South Philly to catch the action, which featured Ray Leonard vs. Ayub Kalule, and also separate bouts with Thomas Hearns and Pipino Cuevas.
Leonard was challenging Kalule for his WBA junior-middleweight title, which had him, fighting at 154 pounds for the first time in years. Ray struggled with the awkward southpaw at times, but knocked him down and out for good in the 8th. Now a two division champ, Leonard and Hearns (who also won his fight with Pablo Baez) were on a collision course for their mega-bout in September.
For me, the summer of 1981 was a chance to get hyped for the Leonard-Hearns fight nicknamed ‘The Showdown’. On my morning runs, I would imagine the different scenarios that might occur, hoping that Ray would find a way to beat the talented Thomas Hearns. This time I decided to drive the hour to Atlantic City to see the bout at Convention Hall rather than the Spectrum in Philly, where I found the crowd more annoying.
That Wednesday September 16, 1981 as I took my seat in the very first row on the floor of Convention Hall, butterflies filled my stomach with nerves of anticipation. After the first few rounds, my jitters settled down as I watched Ray and Hearns actually mixing it up at the ring at the outdoor arena at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Hearns was ahead on the cards entering the sixth round, when a stinging left hook by Ray hurt Thomas badly. Hearns weathered the storm, was hurt again in the seventh by Ray, which totally changed his strategy. Up until that point, he had been the aggressor in the bout, but now got on his bicycle and ran. Thomas easily won rounds 8 through 12, and appeared on his way to a decision victory.
After the 12th round, Ray’s legendary trainer Angelo Dundee yelled the famous words to his fighter “You’re blowing it son. You’re blowing it. You have to be quicker and you have to take it away from him!” Inspired, Leonard stepped up his pace in the 13th round, nailed Thomas and put him on the canvas. I leapt to me feet with excitement, and when the 14th round began, hoped Leonard could finish Tommy off. Ray did in fact hurt Hearns again late, trapped him on the ropes and battered him with blows until referee Davey Pearl called a halt to the action.
Running about, I hugged every person I saw, thrilled that Ray had actually pulled off a late miracle, and was now the unified welterweight champion. I was on a high for days from the victory, and couldn’t have imagined being anywhere in the world other than Convention Hall in Atlantic City that late summer night in September, to see Sugar Ray Leonard win a historic battle over another great fighter in Thomas Hearns.
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