After pulling off the colossal upset of Marvin Hagler on April 6, 1987, Sugar Ray Leonard said that he was retired for good. However, the limelight he missed was luring him back slowly to pursue more challenges in the ring. In August of 1988, Ray agreed to meet WBC light heavyweight champion Donny Lalonde for two titles on the same night, which just so happened to break the WBC’s own rules.
The November 7, 1988 bout at Caesar’s Palace would be for Lalonde’s light heavyweight title, and newly created super middleweight belt as well. The fight would be held at 168 lbs., which meant Lalonde would be fighting 7 pounds below his ideal weight.
As a long time Sugar Ray Leonard fan, his cocky and arrogant attitude since his Hagler win had soured me. So much so that I decided to root hard against him on November 7, in hopes that Lalonde could knock him out and shut his big mouth.
For this closed-circuit broadcast, the Pavilion in Cherry Hill, New Jersey had recently opened, which meant only a seven or mile drive to the beautiful new amphitheater, which would turn out to be my favorite venue ever. On my drive to the fight in my 1985 Pontiac Firebird, I could hardly believe that I would be actually pulling for Ray to get clobbered. His ego was too much for me at that point, and when I took my seat, I was hoping a Lalonde right hand would knock Ray out cold.
Donny was controlling the early rounds, and actually put Ray on his butt in the fourth round with a powerful right hand. Like the champ he was, Leonard got up and fought back well, and slowly took control of the action. By the ninth round, a tiring Lalonde was easy prey for Leonard, who knocked Donny down and out as the round came to a close.
I went home pissed, and didn’t even wait to listen to the post-fight interviews. Frustrated, I penned a letter to KO magazine expressing my feelings about Leonard, and they published it the very next month.
My hope was that Ray would agree to the long awaited rematch with Thomas Hearns which had been discussed, and that Tommy would knock him out for me instead.
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