Sugar Ray Leonard
From Free net encyclopedia
{{Infobox_Boxer | name = Sugar Ray Leonard | nationality = American | realname = Ray Charles Leonard | image = Sugar-ray-leonard.jpeg | nickname = Sugar | weight = Welterweight | birth_date = May 17, 1956 | birth_place = Wilmington, North Carolina, USA | home = Palmer Park, Maryland | style = Orthodox | total = 40 | wins = 36 | KO = 25 | losses = 3 | draws = 1 | no contests = 0 }}
"Sugar" Ray Leonard (born May 17, 1956 in Wilmington, North Carolina) is an American former professional boxer. He was one of the leading boxers in the world in the 1970s and 1980s, winning world titles at multiple weights and triumphing in contests with such celebrated opponents as Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran and Marvin Hagler. Born Ray Charles Leonard, named for the singing legend Ray Charles, Leonard later adopted the nickname used by Sugar Ray Robinson.
Contents |
Early career
Leonard won gold at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada. He finished his amateur career with a record of 145-5. Sugar Ray wanted to go to college, but when his father became ill and his family needed money, he decided to turn professional. Leonard made $40,000 for his first professional fight against tough Puerto Rican Luis Vega. The fight was televised nationally, and Leonard won by a 6 round decision.
Leonard won his first 25 pro fights and then challenged for his first pro title. He knocked out Pete Ranzany in round 4 to win the North American Boxing Federation welterweight title. Three months later, he challenged world welterweight champion Wilfred Benitez. He and Benitez met at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on November 30, 1979 and after a brilliantly fought battle, Leonard was declared world champion with a technical knockout in round 15, with 6 seconds left in the fight.
World champion
Leonard won his first defense by knocking out British challenger Dave Green in 4 rounds in Landover, Maryland. Green was knocked out with a devastating left hook to the chin. The fight was broadcast to a national audience in the United States. Next, Leonard went back to the Olympic Stadium in Montreal to defend his title against Roberto Duran, in the first superfight of the 1980's. Leonard abandoned his usual slick boxing style and brawled with Duran. It was a great fight, but Leonard lost in a unanimous 15-round decision. The scores were 148-147, 145-144, and 146-144.
Their rematch was in New Orleans on November 25, 1980. This time, Sugar Ray boxed Duran. Using speed and movement, he frustrated Duran from the opening bell. In round 7, he started to taunt Duran, and with 17 seconds to go in round 8,the unthinkable happened: Duran turned around, walked to his corner and gave up, saying the now famous words, "no más." Referee Octavio Meyran, perhaps as incredulous as was the rest of the world at what he was seeing, asked Duran if he was sure, and Duran repeated, "No más, no más." Duran, who gorged himself after the weigh-in, claimed he quit because he was having stomach cramps, but most felt he quit out of frustration.
Leonard was a world champion again and, after avenging his only defeat, once more was on top of the world.
On June 25, 1981, Leonard fought Ayub Kalule, world junior middleweight champion. Kalule gave Leonard a tough fight and it was closely contested. In round 3, Leonard injured his left hand, making the bout even more difficult for him. But by round 9, after a vicious body assault, Leonard connected with a combination of punches that sent Kalule down. The fight ended there, and in celebration of his second world title, Leonard did a front flip.
Ring arch-rival Thomas Hearns, meanwhile, was tearing apart the welterweight division and had won the WBA world title by knocking out the Hall Of Famer, Pipino Cuevas. A unification bout was set for September 16, 1981, once again at Caesar's Palace. In a bout televised on closed-circuit and pay-per-view outlets throughout the world, Leonard and Hearns fought one for the ages. Hearns started at the aggressor and built an early lead, but after being hurt by Leonard in round 6, Hearns went from puncher to boxer, and Leonard went from boxer to puncher. After several tough rounds, Hearns was able to regroup, and he again started to pile up points. With an eye almost closed, trailing on all 3 score cards, Leonard dug deep and came on strong. Leonard floored Hearns in the 13th, and after a rain of punches caught Hearns against the ropes in round 14, referee David Pearl stopped the fight, making Leonard the undisputed world welterweight champion. For his performance, he also received Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award.
In 22 months, Leonard stopped Benitez, Duran, Kalule, and Hearns. All four were reigning world champions when he stopped them, and they had a combined record of 177-1-1.
A February 1982 title defense against Bruce Finch followed the win against Hearns. However, Leonard's next defense against Roger Stafford in May had to be canceled. A few days before the bout, doctors discovered Leonard had suffered a detached retina, and he underwent surgery at Johns Hopkins hospital to repair the problem. By then, many people were talking about a potential fight with world Middleweight champion Marvin Hagler.
Retirement and comeback
Leonard decided to take a job as a commentator with HBO, and a few months after pondering his future, he invited Hagler and other boxing dignitaries to an event in Baltimore, Maryland, where he announced his retirement. Hagler left the conference disappointed, and Leonard, who said "Unfortunately, that fight (vs Hagler) will never happen," would later learn to never say never again.
In May 1984, Sugar Ray made the first of several comebacks during his career against clubfighter Kevin Howard. The bout took place in Worcester, Massachusetts, televised live on HBO. With Hagler, Aaron Pryor, and Donald Curry in attendance, Leonard scored a 9th round TKO. However, he was unimpressive in the fight, even getting knocked down for the first time in the 4th round. At the post-fight press conference, Leonard surprised everyone by announcing his retirement again, saying he just didn't have it anymore.
On April 6 1987, Leonard came out of retirement to fight Marvelous Marvin Hagler for the world middleweight title. Hagler was a heavy favorite, the odds starting at 4-1, then 3-1. Leonard had only fought once in five years, and that one bout was three years earlier. Leonard had never fought as a middleweight, and now he was fighting a man who had been middleweight champion for seven years and had not lost a fight in eleven years. However, Leonard surprised the experts. Sugar Ray won by a split decision to become the world's middleweight champion. Hagler bitterly protested the result, and many boxing fans and writers have argued about the decision since. After this stunning upset, Leonard announced his retirement a month later. This announcment was met with skepticism, many fans and writers predicting he would eventually fight again. They were right.
Image:66-15.jpg On November 7, 1988 Leonard came back and fought Don Lalonde. He picked himself up off the canvas and knocked out Lalonde in the ninth round to win two world titles, the vacant WBC super middleweight championship, and Lalonde's WBC light heavyweight championship.
In 1989, Leonard fought two old rivals. In June, he battled Hearns again at Caesar's Palace. Leonard was knocked down twice, but he came back and hurt Hearns after each trip to the canvas. A strong final round helped Leonard pull out a twelve round draw. Six months later, in December 1989, he fought Roberto Duran for a third time. This took place at the new Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. Leonard won a lopsided, extremely boring twelve round unanimous decision.
Déjà-vu?
Leonard was inactive in 1990, but came back in 1991 to fight world junior middleweight champion Terry Norris at Madison Square Garden, Leonard's first outing there. Leonard suffered two knockdowns and lost by a lopsided unanimous decision. After the decision was announced, Leonard took the microphone and once again announced his retirement.
Ahead were very difficult times: after the fight, Leonard admitted to a stint with cocaine that lasted from 1984 to 1989. He fell victim to the drug, and reports surfaced of violence against his wife Juanita. Leonard admitted that his problems were caused by a need to be involved in the sport of boxing during the periods he was away from it, and immaturity. He kicked his habit for good after 1986.
He and Juanita divorced, and in 1993, he married Bernadette Robi, the daughter of Paul Robi, a member of the original Platters.
In 1997, at age 40, Leonard launched yet another comeback against former lightweight champion Hector 'Macho' Camacho. His brilliant boxing skills long since gone, Sugar Ray was easily defeated and lost via 5th round TKO. After this humiliating defeat, it was finally enough for Leonard, and he has not fought since. Later that year, Leonard was inducted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame.
For a short time, Leonard headed a boxing promotion company that included world cruiserweight champion Vassiliy Jirov and rising heavyweight Joe Mesi.
He is now involved in the TV reality boxing series, The Contender. He, along with Sylvester Stallone, serves as host and boxing mentor to the aspiring fighters.
Trivia
- Ray Leonard was named after Ray Charles, whose real name is Ray Robinson. This is also the name of the original Sugar Ray, Sugar Ray Robinson, from whom Leonard gets his nickname.
See also
- List of male boxers
- List of WBC world champions
- The No Más Fight
- Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns
External links
Template:Championshiptitle-1de:Sugar Ray Leonard fi:Sugar Ray Leonard fr:Sugar Ray Leonard pt:Sugar Ray Leonard sv:Sugar Ray Leonard