Sugar Ray Leonard was the darling of the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. As more of a baseball fan than boxing fan, I admired his talent, but the memories of his gold medal winning performance faded as summer turned to fall.
Leonard had wanted to retire from boxing and attend the University of Maryland in 1976. However his father was ill and he turned pro to help his family to pay their medical expenses. His talent and good looks made him a favorite with fans, and he quickly moved up the welterweight rankings over the next 3 years.
As 1979 came to a close, Ray had earned a shot at Wilfredo Benitez’s WBC welterweight title on November 30 at Caesar`s Palace in Las Vegas. I was psyched for this fight, and sat in my room to catch the action on ABC with Howard Cosell at the mike.
The action was even and brisk between the both talented welterweights. Ray dropped Benitez with a stiff left jab in the 3rd round, and the difference in ability was starting to show. Benitez was a slick defensive boxer, but Leonard was stronger and packed a better punch. As the spirited tussle got into the later rounds, Leonard was hurting Wilfredo. He dropped him and stopped him with just seconds left in the 15th round, and captured his first pro title. If I wasn`t a Sugar Ray fan up until then, I definitely became one that night. He was just what the sport needed after the retirement of Muhammad Ali.
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