Welcome back to Boxing After Dark! Today, we revisit 1998, a year marked by Leonard's remarkable return from retirement to claim the title of the first-ever five-weight world champion against the legendary Golden Boy, Donny Lalonde. With Leonard's illustrious victories over formidable opponents like Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler already etched in history, the anticipation for this bout was palpable. However, Donny Lalonde was determined, believing he knew how to do it.
This is why I love this channel. This was a great fight that's been pretty much forgotten about until this channel brings it back.
❤ this video
How can it be forgotten if your a straight boxing nut. This was leonard winning his 5th division title. Hope your cool
I agree and may I add. Precision highlight edits not jump cuts and kept the commentary minimal.
@@ThehulkGreengrow up clownfish
This was a big and impressive win for Leonard, to win a belt in his 5th weight class. But for the most part, boxing fans don't focus much on this fight, because Lalond was not a great figher. If Lalond had been thought to be even as close to an imposing fighter as Hearns, Hagler, No Mas, Benitez - this fight would still be remembered by even casual fight fans.
He called Ray an overweight has been, but got knocked cold for his troubles. Don't mess with one of the fabulous four. Great video.
Some folks you just don't run your mouth to, ever..
Leonard was sand bagging it. Lalonde was a pure minor leaguer. He could have fought tougher opponents, but because somehow lalonde held one of the many belts available, Leonard wanted to pretend he was fighting a real fighter.
@@josephhewes4894 I kinda agree but at the same time. U don’t get a 47-5 career without being pretty nice. Lalonde wasn’t a superstar name but his record match so that’s good enuf. And the fact Ray was up 4 weight classes from where he started by that time
@@josephhewes4894complete snot drivel
Drivel
Guts, determination and grit, the great Sugar Ray Leonard.
And cocaine. Lots and lots of cocaine
Who stole by showboating the fights vs Hearns (second one) and Hagler. Edit: typos sorry
@@LennyMarcusNYhush kid
@@ziggy7506the best ever
He picked his Hagler fight only when he thought he had a chance. Avoided him for too long to be convincing.
Father Time certainly taught Donny a lesson he will never forget.
What lesson is that?!?!? Curious
@@mariogilbert4260 Speed and reflexes may go away on older fighters but skill and power will age like wine.
@mariogilbert4260 look up the Panama papers donny lalonde. That's how
We all know hagler beat sugar
No way hagler won that fight, he was outclassed by a much smaller man
Sugar Ray was one of my fav’s. He fought a lot of great battles. One of the greats.
Incomparable era in boxing. Leonard, Hearns, Hagler and Duran. Just incredible. Sugar Ray coming back after the detached retina was monumental and scary for true boxing fans. Sugar Ray was absolutely brilliant. And, an elite finisher.
They are the 4 horsemen of the 80s one of the best era's in the history of boxing
Great coverage of the fight. Keep it up man, i love rewatching these forgotten classics
That's a glorious mullet on Lalonde, thank you for documenting it. 😂
Looks like Aaron Rodgers
Party was in the front, put on by Sugar Ray's fists.
Sht was fire in the 80's 🔥🤣
The mullet was only in fashion in the UK for about 18 months but in the U.S. it did the rounds for about 6 years, definitely loved the mullet, Donny here and also Tommy Morrison still living the mullet well into the late 80s early 90s. Sometimes with a nice moustache to go with it like Jimmy Smith.😂😂
Its back in fashion !!!
Sugar Ray Leonard is a special athlete. He was classy and mixed with Hollywood elite, an astute self promoter, and he could fight. He could box and be flashy but at the end of the day he was a dog. He didn’t have any quit in him. True warrior, through and through.
He got KO'd by Camacho. lol. And Duran, Hearns & Hagler beat him too!
@@stormyweather9917that's true and nobody can deny it!!!
Don't forget Aaron the hulk prior my friend.. Ray Leonard basically duk him all his damn career...smh
He wws an old man against camacho, he outclassed hagler and hearns didnt beat him either lol
@@richardconte3837exactly they don't know what they're talking about just haters
This is the greatest fight I had never seen until now. Wow. Thanks for creating this.
People either forget or never knew, Ray maintained an 80+ percent knockout ratio for his career; his punches were cat-quick and delivered with devastating speed which more often than not, resulted in an opponent's visiting the canvas....
Who forgets mabey you 😊
As I age, I admire sports figures who don't let a loss destroy them.
Wrong!!! His knockout percentage was slightly above 69 percent. He was a great fighter no doubt about it. My favorite fight was when he fought Terry Norris.
I always thought Ray was an amazing fighter. Since he was a household name in his day, his flame naturally couldn't burn as bright for ever. It seems he's not really talked about too much any more but he was amazing, almost a mini Ali. Another piece of Dundee magic.
@@JDnFL - I stand corrected. Thanks for looking it up....
Wow! That looked like one of the best boxing matches ever!
It was!
It was up there! Lalonde really had skills. No hype job!
Very good, exciting high level fight. Thanks for posting. I was a big Sugar Ray fan back in the day.
Donny was such a nice caring and respectful guy, I think the title calling him trash talking is wrong. He just shown confidence, was magnanimous in defeat and an all round great guy.
Dude got ass beat to damn near to death. Donny was a little trash talking bitch.
I'm going on very old memories (as in, I may be thinking of another fight entirely), but I seem to recall that in the lead-up to this fight, or maybe just during the full broadcast, they ran lengthy promos where Lalonde was trash talking like at the start, and Leonard wouldn't say anything negative in return, just stuff along the lines of "my record speaks for itself," and then they'd list some of his accomplishments. But that's just the angle that the promotion took, a way to build a good guy vs. bad guy story and hype it for viewers, probably nothing to do with how Lalonde really felt.
YEP!!!!… 100%… trash talking fools.
Spectacular video,amazing, great work 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Great video! Well done. Great fight!! A classic.👏👏
First-class video. Thank you!
Phenomenal video and your commentary was excellent!
People like Leonard, Lalonde...they created the Golden Age of boxing; along with the few others like Hearns, Hagler, Norris and Duran. Some of the best who even now, have not been surpassed.
well said very well said sir
Don't forget about Ali, Ken Norton, Joe Frazier and George Foreman.
Yeah, agree completely with that, on lalonde if he hadn't been so intent on handing out a lesson to Ray he'd have won this fight, jmo but the more time he took the more Ray got back into it classic fight , one can only pray that Fury- Usyk will be s true fight. I'd also keep an eye on AJ, yes he's been beaten twice by usyk but that doesn't mean he's finished not by a long shot , I think the title came to AJ too soon and we've still to see the best of him yet.
Great job on this vid. Very fair and compelling. Fine editing.
Wow, I haven't seen this since it was televised back in the day. Thanks for uploading this.
ABC I think.
Sugar man!!!! Seeing Ray fight was always a spectacle. When he made that full conversion from nice guy into a pitbull with boxing gloves, in was a sight to behold. Picture Mayweather with a real killer side to his craft. Wear em down, pepper the opponent….and when the time is right the beast emerges. Few boxers in history could do it quite like Ray Leonard. Thanks for the memories Sugar man!!!!
Thanks for this!
I was in the house that night. Seeing this video brought back so many memories. Sugar Ray Lenard put on one heck of a show. The Stars were out that night it was a great time to be in Las Vegas!!
Sugar was one of the best ever. I was privileged, to watch all those great boxing matches of the 80's.
Great editing, stories and commentary.
WOW! That was an awesome fight! Also VERY nice to see the respect they each had for each other. GREAT SPORTSMANSHIP!!
Now that was a fight. Respect to both for their courage
I don't think you could call Lalonde as trash talking but it was a more competitive fight than expected and Leonard definitly demonstrated why he is such a legend.
Lalonde was a minor leaguer. Name one good fighter he beat. Can't do it, can you?
@@josephhewes4894 Lalonde is a scumbag who ripped off investors and his own coach. Teddy Atlas almost killed him
He has wins over Eddie Davis and he went the distance with spinks also Leslie stewart former champion
He wasn't a all time great or anything but wasn't a chump
Lalonde was a very solid fighter . He was no bum .
Sugar Ray Leonard would lure you to the deep end and drown you with a smile on his face.
That was a great fight. I had forgotten about this fight. Good editing.
I'm watching and cheering like I'm seeing this live 😂 Great content!
Boxing in the 70s/80s will never be matched.
truth
That's nostalgia talking. I'm sure that guys who watched Ray Robinson, Joe Lewis, Ali, Frazier, Foreman and all those guys from the 60s and earlier would disagree. But the biggest problem with what you said is that you can not possibly know what the future of boxing will be.
@@charlesm7589I can tell you this, unless you are a diehard boxing fan or a gambler you will never know all the names like we did back then. EVERYBODY knew who the Heavyweight champ was. EVERYBODY could name all the middleweights (think that is right) Hearns Hagler Duran Barkley Leonard.
@davidziemann9653 I'm 65 and followed boxing like you apparently did in the 70s and 80s. I knew nearly all the champions and contenders as you did! Many, many great fighters and fights. My only point was the future is a long open plain and we can't see past our horizon. I have no doubt the stars will align again in some new decade with great fighters meeting in epic fights. 🙂
Except for the 1960's and 70's.
I remember this fight from 88. It was a tough fight for both fighters. There are some comments I've read here about how much weight Lalonde had to give to come down to meet Leonard, and thus muscle/power. They're correct in stating that but must remember Leonard also came up to meet him. The biggest thing to remember, and consider in weight class jumping or any fight is that the fighters don't have to fight. They don't have to accept the challenges that are offered. I agree with other comments here that the title of this video is a wrong description of Donny Lalonde. Both of these fighters demonstrated classy sportsmanship not only in this fight, but throughout their venerable careers. Well done gentlemen, you were a pleasure to watch, and thank you. C A
Exactly! I didn't hear trash talking either. This was simply a fantastic, evenly matched fight.
@@jayryan7473 hardly evenly-matched, though. Good fight but LaLonde never really had a shot.
Brilliant video ,thank you
Gotta remember, Sugar Ray had a detached retina repaired with stitches, before lasers existed, in 1982. He retired, healed up, risked his eyesight again. Fans worried about his eye every fight.
Camacho would have never beaten a prime Sugar Ray Leonard
Lalonde favorite movie was definitely rocky, tuff ass dude tho
He was solid
fasho @@rlmpproductions
What a flashback thank you😮
My favorite Ray Leonard Fight!
My least favourite. It should have been for the LH belt only. Throwing in a vacant SM belt meant Lalonde had to make SM weight limit
I was Leonard fan before the Olympics. His fight with Wilfredo was a master class. But I thought he got beat by Hagler. When he stepped up to Lalonde, he *fought*. I'll always admire his grit in that fight, just like the first Hearns fight.
He definitely lost to Hagler , boxing can be unfair sometimes
Hagler let Leonard have it by starting off in orthodox stance and starting slow. I’ve rewatched it a few times and it is a very close fight; I used to lean towards Hagler. Leonard did enough to win, certainly can’t be called a robbery.
@@geraldfriend256wrong
@@geraldfriend256Wrong!
@@geraldfriend256 I certainly can't argue with that. No matter how you call it, it was a close fight. I thought Ray missed a huge opportunity at the end of the fight. When he hugged Haggler, I thought he told him, "You beat me." Hagler thought so, too. Later, Ray denied saying that. He said he told Marvin, "You'll always be a champion, to me." Sorry guys, I saw it, you saw it, there's no way Ray said that many words. The best thing Ray could have done was to say, "Yes, I said that. I thought Marvin beat me. The judges didn't see it that way, and there's nothing we can do about their opinions. But we can all acknowledge that Marvelous Marvin Hagler is, in fact, Marvelous." Or some words to that effect. He had the win in the ring, but he could also have won the moral high ground and been the true victor, by giving Marvin the win, also. It would have cemented both legacies, removed all bitterness, and maybe set the stage for a megabucks rematch. Hindsight, right?
The birth of "dragging him out to deep water". Sugar started out trying to take it to him, realizing how resilient Donny was Sugar knew he had to drain him before taking the attack. Tying up, Dancing, dirty boxing etc thru the middle rds drained Donny then when Sugar saw the wide mouth breathing of hos opponent ; attack and kill
Well didn't Ali invent the deep water game .or am I wrong.. or are you referring to middleweight boxing . (I see the middleweight fights as far away and above better than a heavyweight bout. All day. Dropped off as of late. I blame training focussed on muscle gain. Am I wrong.. something died in middleweight boxing ....all boxing.imhaho
This is great press! Keep up the good job!
Great video and follow up commentary
Even at his advanced age, Leonard was twice the boxer Lalonde was.
My grandfather used to box before WW2 and the violence and evil man can do to one another, get away with, and be fine with made him want to hang up the gloves for good. He was older than Ray but he liked him a lot. I don't think there is much film i haven't seen of Mr. Leonard, lbvs. A guy who was in his late teens or early 20s needed to make some money bcz he had a baby on the way and his father asked my grandfather to help him find work. Grand couldn't, so he hired him to help just being generous and trying help the guy. And he seemed cool enough but one day, I was cutting hedges, he was supposed to be cutting grass, and Grand was picking something to eat for he and Gram and us to eat when our day was done and Gram came home from her doctor's appointment. Grand caught him going in his Lincoln and digging in his coat pockets. I'll never forget this although I was 8 years old and its been 21 years that time period of under 5 minutes stayed with me in every detail. Literally, lol. Grand didn't yell at the guy or threaten him, he just asked why he was in his car. And the guy took of on Grand. I was scared and took of inside to get my knife to help get the guy of my grandfather. Its summer tjme so all the windows in the house were open and I'm hearing grunts and punches. And fear turned to anger and I'm thinking how I'm going to leap off the top front step and stab this big ass overly muscled kid. Not even thinking of the next move or what happens if i miss. Lol. Hearing the punches and grunts...I got madder every second i couldn't find my knife. I was moving so fast and when i heard, "Mr. James stop!" I thought in my mind he was still beating up my Grand and trying snatch his jacket and wallet from him. Got to the front door and flung it open so hard i almost broke the glass (actually still surprised that i didn't, lbvs). Getting ready to leap of the front step aaaand. Grand was beating the dog sh.t out this dude. I was stunned. Lol. The guy pushed him in his stomach to create space and ran like a cheetah was on his ass. Grand was right behind him and so close to catching him but when he crossed the line of the mailbox Grand stopped and i finally snapped out of being shocked and all i could say was, "Grand?! What the heck?!" Of course thinking of the four letter word starting with "F" but Gram and Grand were Christians, and swea-along with a lot of things wasn't allowed. Lol. I couldn't even answer him when he asked me if i was alright. I asked him, "Grand, what did i just see?! You're 74?! Thay guy is like 20!!! What the-" and he cut me off and i still remember every word. "Agh-language! You bet not say it. For one. And for two...never question the last fight of an old man." Picked the hedge clippers and handed them to me, "Go on and finish them hedges. Your aunt will be here after 'while with your Gram. And you know them long doctor appointment days make her tired. Chop chop. I gotta finish this lawn and get dinner made. Move it." And...he did. Til this day bcz of thay experience, i often tend to bet on an older fighter before the younger just bcz of that. Lbvs. I bet on George Foreman, Benard Hopkins, Glover Texeira, Demetrius Johnson in ONE, and more and more times than not, I've seen an old fighter pull something up out of themselves no one thought they still had and do some awesome things. Like Mr. Leonard did in this fight
Your grandad sounds like a tell if a guy. Respect!
Nobody could finish like Leonard My fav of all time . Great fights
Great fight and the last of Sugar Ray Leonard, thanks 👍
It incredible how lalonde made such a successful career besides being so one handed. Did he have a serious injury or something?
I consider this to be one of SRL`s greatest victories. Donny was a very dangerous opponent. He could take out top tier Light Heavyweights with his right hand.
Would have been nice to see him fight Donny at 175
Top Tier?
@@jeffreyferris218 He KO`d Roddy McDonald.
He had a bum left hand and his footwork was definitely not on par with Leonard. Big heart tho.
@@ross_ulbright7779 The only fighter whose footwork was on par with Leonard`s was Wilfredo Benitez;...but the Sugar man eventually outfoxed even him and scored a KO.
Excellent narration thank you
I love boxing 🥊 after dark 💯
wow, a boxer who is/was a vegeterian folkie, and a generally kind person....learn something new every day from YT...thanks.
Got that right . 🙏
I remember watching this fight live.
Oh yes✊🏿☀️🌟🛸🔥💯
I saw this as a kid..but never knew the guys name. I sure knew who Sugar Ray was!
@user-dk3up2nl1m I was 15 when this fight took place. I don't recall all the trash talking Lalonde was doing pre-fight, but the media sure did hype him up.
I just joined this Channel. wOW I totally LOVE IT!!!!!!
Sugar the Legendary man buster!! Thank U !!
The catchweight was the reason Lalonde came unstuck. A very smart and shrewd move by Leonard, he just ran out of gas! A fantastic fight and one that for some reason is often overlooked.
Spot on. In my opinion if he wanted the light heavyweight title then Donny should have been allowed to come in at 175, it made a massive difference and Leonard knew it…. and also the race was on to gain titles in different weight classes, somehow Leonard managed to notch up two in this fight. If Lalonde comes in at 175 I think he finishes the job. I rate Tommy’s wins over Andries and Hill at light heavy much higher than this, no bs deals. Ray was a great fighter and his toughness is underrated, but man could he make a deal to work things in his favour.
@@stevet9938 Hagler wanted 15 rounds, Sugar Ray getting the 12 and Hagler fighting orthodox for the first two rounds, personally in my opinion is the reason he lost.
@@stevet9938even with all that being said Lalonde still was HUGE IN THE RING AND MUCH BIGGER AGAINST RAY IT LOOKED LIKE SIDE SHOW AND HE STILL GOT KNOCKED OUT
Excuses...excuses, Lalonde is a grown azz man who agreed to the catchweight which he didn't have to do, he agreed...enough said!! Sugar Ray was just a better man that day, he wanted it more....GET OVER IT!!!! 💯
@@markeharris6867 Get over what exactly Princess? I’m a SRL fan, I’m talking about facts and boxing ffs. I’d learn how to read and understand people’s comments. 🤡
Leonard was so lucky against Hagler. He got every condition he asked for and spent the fight running. End of the round flurries and showmanship made it look closer than it was. A robbery.
I don't think it was a robbery. Too close to be called a robbery.
Rubbish
Just fell in love with your channel. Blessings to you.
Excellent video!
Donny had a concrete chin to take those shots from Leonard. The guy was strong, but Suger Ray found his rhythm and drove it home for the win. Amazing.
They made Lalonde boil down to super middle so that title was on yhe line as well as the light heavy. Lalonde did well though, just gassed.
'cause everything was constantly tilted in Leonard's favor
Lalonde lost too much Muscle for this Fight. He already had no Fat to lose to make a lower Weight. Leonard's team won the fight before the fight.
Get over it Leonard a Legend
@@kevinmunday6263so is John Cena.
Dude he made 5 million and only had to lose 8 pounds and still was HUGE in the ring against a much smaller Ray and still got knocked out so relax
I had never seen this fight before. Kudos to both fighters. They left it all in the ring.
After getting hit in round four we can see Leonards' "glassy" look in his eyes. He knew he was gonna have to work hard. Great fighter with incredible determination.
Leonard and his team fried Lalonde down to 168 lbs and still almost lost.
No one had a gun to his head to take the fight. Guys nowadays fight at catch weights all the time. No matter how many marathons he ran, the guy was always carrying extra weight. By the time he rehydrated from the weigh-in he was closer to 190.
@@stevewise1656absolutely not. Please name 3 fights at middle weight or heavier where it was champion vs champion and the smaller fighter coming up had the chance to win the belt while competing half a dozen pounds UNDER that belt’s limit. It’s very rare in modern boxing with the weight limits. I said middle weight bc it’s the first time you jump more than 6 pounds. If you’re unaware, the weights are loosely based on the model that tries to limit % change to 5% or less. Smaller guys are mid 3% between weight classes. Once you jump to super middle, statistically it’s in line however HUGE caveat being physically advantages in terms of height and reach drastically fluctuate between LHW and super middle. Eg floyd technically never even did this though initially he did have a stipulation with Juan though he ignored it. Lightweight ranges 140-147 technically.He didn’t use it like Ray did here though. Manny also did it . But obviously that’s also very different. Keep in mind they BOTH had to make the catch weight agreed upon. It’s only going to happen for the mega stars. commissions get paid their cut for sanctioning the title fight of the purse so it’s only going to even cynically make sense for Major A side guys. But you won’t see it for bigger guys even as no one really commands THAT much power anymore with all the promoters hands in the pie. Imagine Canelo fighting Bivol at 171 and if Canelo won he’d be LHW champion hahah no chance in hell. And if Bivol came down to 168, his 175 belt is 100% not on the line which has been confirmed by all parties involved. Two things are true at once though. Ray was NOTORIOUS for fight stipulation negotiations. See Hagler & ring size strategy. He absolutely purposefully lobbied for the catch weight . Which is why that’s not a bonafide splash into LHW. He did it in purpose. Of course he did. But does that make it bad? No. Not if they sign the contract. So while I agree with you when you say he doesn’t have to fight Ray and agree, it’s obviously more complicated than “a gun isn’t to his head” . Tell that to Amir Khan who got starched but made 12 million estimated. More than double he got else where. Still that simple? I mean hell he got ironed out by Bud and Kell is just as many rounds, accounted for a pair of TKOs, and that combined pay from those 2 bouts was short of his sum conservatively even from the same amount of rounds with Canelo. Would you take half the rounds for double the pay? Yeah thought so mate haha. So dan I blame him for fighting Ray depleted? Not really. He dared to be great. And to your point, he signed. But of course he did
@@stevewise1656Meh, it’s bullshit. One guy has to diet heavily and the other guy can train at full nutrition.
@@tonycrabtree3416 Lelonde had to drop all of 7 lbs. Based on your science, Leonard should be slower losing his speed with the weight gain. Lelonde wouldn't lose that much power moving down 7 lbs. Some guys who fought in light heavy only weighed 168 and still won. No matter, it was a reasonable catch weight between middleweight and lightweight heavy.
@@stevewise1656 7lbs more than normal. Leonard didn’t have to add weight, but lalonde had to cut weight. I said he faded, which he did. 168 is natural for those guys that you mention. Anyway, it wasn’t Lalonde challenging Ray, it was Ray challenging and calling for a catchweight. Why would he do that if “all of 7lbs” isn’t a big deal?
Ray was on coke for ten years and everyone forgets that too
🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯
What does that have to do with him beating the hell out of Donny. Stop being a racist sore looser ok.
I watched this live on PPV when I was a kid. Didn't understand anything about boxing but just wanted to see this since my father was into it. I became a boxing fan after this.
I remember this fight as a kid. My brother said Lalonde was Glass Joe from Punch-out. They are both very similar.
Hagler was robbed. Somebody had big bucks on Ray.
I really enjoyed following Ray Leonard's career. He is one of the only fighters that could do what his trainers would tell his to do because it's not easy once the fight starts.
Shoutout to Lalond for helping Down n out former fighters, with much love to you my brother from another Mother. Peace n blessings
Ray won this fight, but he stole that fight from Hagler.
Outpointed Hagler, you saw it.
@@georgehazel8175 Not with those cotton balls he was throwing up he didnt. Every time Sugar Ray knew the camera was on him he threw up a flurry of powerless cottonballs that often didnt even land, yeah I saw the fight. I saw an uninjured Hagler beat him like a stepchild.
Yeah still can't believe that Hagler didn't get the decision even all these years later
Lol. Only in your simple little mind
That's absolutely 100% correct.
That was great happy I subscribed
Great vid-doc
sorry, but he didn't beat HAGLER. he was likeable with the media and judges. HAGLER wasn't.
@MrMferg240, you are absolutely correct..
He beat Hagler though
I looked it up. Sugar beat him. You are wrong.
i know he beat him. the decision was based on LEONARDS personality and being the darling of the boxing media. if you watched the fight you would see he didn't beat the champion.@@davidcook680
Same thing with Canelo vs Lara , but the fact is Ray and Canelo was the winners.
Two great champions I have immense respect for and admire.
thanks for sharing
They robbed Hearns and Hagler
Nah.
Not at all, he beat both hearts and haglar fair and square
I was a youngster when he beat haglar but I'll never forget it. Best fight in the 80s imo..
What a fabulous fight!! Full respect to Donny for standing up against the legend ❤🙏 Sugar Ray Leonard ❤🙏
I never heard of Lalonde, now I'm impressed. Definitely an extraordinary fighter.
Good to hear Lalonde is doing great tidy and helping others.
Much respect to both boxers and two true sportsman
Damn, you try to retire and move on with life - but your competitive spirit just won't let you. Awesome video!
Nothing but Respect for both Fighters....
I love right before the KO @11:49 he does the 3 stooges-esque windup
Lalonde put on a great show. I wish he'd won because in the past Leonard has not shown some boxers the respect they deserved with his showboating antics inside the ring!
Great fight and one of Leonards overlooked fights in his career
I watched this fight live on tv back in the day. 🥊🥊👍👈🏻🤛🏽👊🏽✊🏿
Hell yeah✊🏿☀️🌟🛸🔥💯
I remember Leonard from the days of the 1976 Montreal Olympics and I could see right then that he was destined for greatness.
Ray was one of my favorite boxers EVER !
Superb edit.
Leonard had lightning speed and deadly accuaracy and his movement was second to none. He had the stamina to keep it up too which is where many other boxers usually can't compare. They eventually tire and slow down. Leonard was an absolute savage and definitely the best of his era!.
That was one destructive finish!
Absolute class... nuff said
For me, this is where Sugar Ray showed what he was really made of. We were all used to the dazzling movement, the stunning combinations, the occasional showboating and the "star" persona; but there were moments here when Ray was in serious trouble: Donny was physically stronger by some margin and was able to comfortably manhandle Leonard, and whenever his right hand connected it backed Ray up. But here we see beyond the "flashy image" and see that SRL was as tough and brave as they come. At 11:12 Donny lands a solid right soon followed by a strong uppercut , this could have been the end for Ray, indeed I think most other fighters would have folded; instead Leonard weathers it, rolls with the punches and within seconds turns the fight around to score a stunning KO. Superb display from the Sugar man.
Amazing speed and power, that you almost Never see in an 8th or 9th round, WOWWW!!!😲🎯🍻
What a great story!! Someone should make a movie about this.
Watching Sugar Ray live back in the 80s was quite the experience. He was as fast as a cat and brilliant without peer. One he began to pour it on with a flurry of punches his opponents had no chance.
Right after this fight I met LaLonde in Dominican Republic while vacationing with my family. Gracious dude stopped to say hello👍🏼. Still had swollen eyes from the fight!