"He's got the three B's," Sammy Davis Jr. said of Seales at a 1984 benefit for the fighter. "It was a crutch, something that enabled me to forget." Hearns dropped Leonard with a right cross in the third round, but Leonard came back and battered Hearns around the ring in the fifth. If he had scored it 109, as his two colleagues did, Hearns would have won by a split decision. Late in the final round, he again hurt Aldama, which brought a standing eight count from the referee. Leonard made his first title defense in Landover, Maryland, on March 31, 1980. I knew he would indulge himself, he'd gain 4050 lbs and then sweat it off to make 147." Leonard married his high school sweetheart, Juanita Wilkinson, in January 1980. In the semifinals, he faced Kazimierz Szczerba and won a 50 decision. When his fighting days were over, however, he was getting beaten up. His most famous commercial was a 7 Up ad he did with his son, Ray Jr., Roberto Durn and Durn's son Roberto Jr. in the early 1980s. When he did, he hit harder. Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns feature in fight one of a BBC Sounds look back at some of boxing's greatest fights. [80], Leonard has also worked as an actor. . Julio Cesar Chavez and Sugar Ray Leonard. The fight was named "Fight of the Year" and "Upset of the Year" by The Ring. In the second, he dropped Aldama with a left to the chin. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Remembering Just Fontaine and His World Cup Record, The Man Behind the First All-Black Basketball Team, 8 Times Brothers Have Faced Off in a Championship, Every Black Quarterback to Play in the Super Bowl, Soccer Star Christian Atsu Survived an Earthquake. He also worked as an adviser in the 2011 robot boxing film Real Steel. Hometown: Palmer Park, Maryland, USA Birthplace: Wilmington, North Carolina, USA Stance: Orthodox Height: 175cm Reach: 179cm Promoter: Record Pro Boxer: Record Amateur Boxer: Record Trainers: Angelo Dundee, Dave Jacobs, Janks Morton, Pepe Correa, Adrian Davis Manager: Mike Trainer Sugar Ray Leonard Gallery Contents 1 Amateur Achievements [14]:78, In 1973, Leonard won the National Golden Gloves Lightweight Championship, but lost to Randy Shields in the lightweight final of the National AAU Tournament. Hagler's punches lacked snap and, although he was scoring solidly to the body, he looked nothing like the powerful fighter who had dominated the middleweight division for the previous five years. Duran rode out his trilogy with Sugar Ray Leonard with little fire. The Classic bout between Sugar Ray Leonard V Thomas Hearns.Leonard Snatches Victory from the jaws of defeat with a dramatic late Stoppage! At the post-fight press conference, Leonard surprised everyone by announcing his retirement again, saying he just didn't have it anymore.[51]. Robinson inspired Ali's famous matador style, which he used to defeat Sonny Liston for the heavyweight title in 1964. Ray Charles Leonard, known as the boxing champion "Sugar Ray" Leonard (after the champion boxer Sugar Ray Robinson), was born on May 17, 1956 in Wilmington, North Carolina to Getha Leonard and Cicero Leonard, who boxed in the Navy. He called Mike Trainer and said, "I can beat Hagler". The Senate hearing was titled "Type 1 Diabetes Research: Real Progress and Real Hope for a Cure". Death Year: 1989, Death date: April 12, 1989, Death State: California, Death City: Culver City, Death Country: United States, Article Title: Sugar Ray Robinson Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/athletes/sugar-ray-robinson, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: April 13, 2021, Original Published Date: April 2, 2014. TYson had warched film of Foreman destroying Joe Frazier. The fight ended with Hagler and Leonard exchanging along the ropes. Leonard was ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Leonard was the winner by a technical knockout at 2:44 of round eight, regaining the WBC Welterweight Championship. Bonds was a southpaw, which made him a good opponent for Leonard, given that his next opponent was scheduled to be the WBA Light Middleweight Champion Ayub Kalule, a southpaw. He tried to get me against the ropes, I'd pivot, spin off and Pow! The win over Barkley was in many ways the final memory of the old rampaging warrior. Promoted as "The Showdown", Leonard fought Thomas Hearns on September 16, 1981, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to unify the World Welterweight Championship in a scheduled fifteen-rounder. . The bout took place on June 20, 1980 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada. In 1989, Leonard was introduced to Bernadette Robi by Kenny G at a Luther Vandross concert. "All I can do is say I'm sorry, but that is not enough. By 1958, he had become the first boxer to win a divisional world championship five times. Leonard entered the bout as a 3-1 favorite but Norris dominated the fight, giving Leonard a heavy beating. [8] The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Year in 1979 and 1981, while the Boxing Writers Association of America named him Fighter of the Year in 1976, 1979, and 1981. Leonard won the fight in 12 rounds on a split decision. Leonard was the aggressor throughout, with Bonds circling the ring. The following year, Leonard won the National Golden Gloves and National AAU Lightweight Championships. The following month, he made his first title defense against Andy Price. Close Alert. Six years later, Robinson captured the middleweight title for the first time by defeating Jake LaMotta. I'm in the best shape possible. Leonard also won a light welterweight gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. The induction ceremony was on June 15, 1997.[73]. He is the celebrity spokesperson for the Atlanta law firm John Foy and Associates, PC. Dave Jacobs, a former boxer, and Janks Morton volunteered as boxing coaches. [17] Leonard won his first four Olympic bouts by 50 decisions. "No one, I mean no one, can make me miss punches like that", Leonard said. Hagler buckled Leonard's knees with a right uppercut near the end of the round, which finished with Leonard on the ropes. Hagler's undisputed status ended when the WBA stripped him of the title for choosing to fight Sugar Ray Leonard instead of mandatory challenger, Herol Graham. . "I was shocked", Brown said. Despite Leonard's obvious fatigue, he boxed well in the eleventh. The team also included Leon and Michael Spinks, Howard Davis Jr., Leo Randolph, Charles Mooney, and John Tate. His father worked as a supermarket night manager and his mother was a nurse. Robinson, who was unapologetic for his lavish spending, is estimated to have earned more than $4 million as a fighter, all of which he burned through, forcing him to continue boxing much longer than he should have. Judges Chuck Giampa and Franz Marti had Leonard ahead by scores of 7774 and 7775, respectively. Robinson, who had a son from a previous marriage, helped raise Millie's two children. Afterward, Leonard retired again, saying, "For sure, my career is definitely over for me in the ring." He has also appeared in several movies, including I Spy and most recently The Fighter (2010), starring Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg. Leonard and Robi were married at Leonard's $8.7 million estate in Pacific Palisades, California in August 1993. The judges scored the fight a draw and Leonard retained the title. 1 in its book "The 100 Greatest Boxers of All Time.". Sugar Ray Leonard (def. Astrological Sign: Taurus. "He almost knocked me out", Leonard said. I already had it in the back of my mind to dissolve the company. Shortly before the Olympics, Wilkinson had filed an application to receive $156 a month in child support payments from Prince George's County, Maryland. and played to the screaming crowd. The two went toe-to-toe in the fifteenth. "[72], In January 1997, it was announced that Leonard had been voted into the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in Canastota, New York. Going into the final round, Leonard led by scores of 137130, 137133, and 136134. I think he needs a psychiatrist more than he needs anything else." [24][25], On August 12, 1979, Leonard knocked out Pete Ranzany in four rounds to win the NABF Welterweight Championship. [76], Leonard has worked as a boxing analyst for ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, HBO and EPIX. The 'Super Fight' between Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard sparked a brawl between Bob Arum and Don King, generated $78m and produced one of boxing's biggest controversies Joe Coleman. Hearns started to stick and move, and he started to pile up points again. His older brother, Roger, started boxing first. Sugar Ray Robinson turned pro in 1940 and won his first 40 fights. Frazier had a 73 reach. . Judge Dave Moretti scored it 115113 for Leonard, while judge Lou Filippo had it 115113 for Hagler. Leonard would continue to pursue his Olympic dream while she and the baby, Ray Charles Leonard Jr., lived with her parents. Early in the ninth, Lalonde hurt Leonard with a right to the chin. [21], Leonard had hoped to get lucrative endorsements following his gold medal win, but the negative publicity from the paternity suit chased off any big commercial possibilities. From 1977-1997, Leonard only lost three professional fights. At the age of 20 (1977), Leonard won his first professional fight, only setting the stage for a collection of the most memorable fights in all of boxing history. [62], After the fight, Leonard vacated the light heavyweight title, but kept the super middleweight title. HBO believed it would be inappropriate for Leonard to continue with them if they couldn't bid on his fights. Leonard learned of the suit several days after returning home from the Olympics. Leonard moved up to the junior middleweight division and faced Kalule on June 25, 1981, at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. Camacho applied pressure from the opening bell and started to score well in the third. Hearns was the taller of the two by 6 cms and also had a 10 cm reach advantage. Leonard and Duran fought the fiercest battle in welterweight history, fuelled by Duran's utter hatred for the pretty boy with lots of money and Ray's refusal to back down. Friends and family mourned the loss of the welterweight champion at wake . Roberto Duran Speaks: The Untold Story Is Finally Revealed!, Bill Brubaker, The Boxing Writers Association of America, List of light middleweight boxing champions, "Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard lead the way", "The Fabulous Four Hagler, Hearns, Duran, and Leonard", "Ring Magazine's 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years", "Who is the greatest fighter alive? Hagler never seized total control of the fight as he had against Thomas Hearns two years earlier, when he brutalized Hearns and scored a third-round knockout. "I wanted more", Leonard said. After several comebacks, Leonard ended his professional career with 36 wins, three losses, and one draw. [14]:75, In his fourteenth professional fight, Leonard fought his first world-ranked opponent, Floyd Mayweather, who was ranked seventeenth. Jim Murray, long-time sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times, wrote, "It wasn't even closeHe didn't just outpoint Hagler, he exposed him. In the closing seconds of the eighth round, Durn turned his back to Leonard and quit, saying to referee Octavio Meyran, "No Ms" (English: "No more"). Kalule got up but the referee waved it off. Answer (1 of 8): Hearns and Leonard fought twice. Or why Roberto Durn was acting out of prudence, not cowardice, when he quit in his second fight against Leonard. In the fourth round, Leonard knocked Green out with a devastating left hook. To revisit this article, select My Account, then View saved stories. 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