The Fastest Boxer in Boxing History - Sugar Ray Leonard - Pt1

[Music] great figures create history no matter the field in which the individuals talents have become famous today we will talk about one of these people Sugar Ray Leonard the new middleweight champion of the world in the single most stunning upset in boxing history he's fighting with the utmost what I call clarity he sees everything he's quick at everything he's a great fighter at the peak of his career Sugar Ray Leonard was one of the world's leading boxers of the 70s and 80s his skill combined with his bright personality and charisma made him a star right when the sport needed a new hero the era of Muhammad Ali was drawing to a close and the young Sugar Ray Leonard wanted to follow in the footsteps of his idol in the heavyweight division extensively about how this man influenced you as a boxer why don't you well there's no big secret that I emulate Muhammad and Shirley Robinson because they brought they transcend his port of Boston which was entertainment to a sport that was highly criticized because was a major sport and I think the time thing always because he made it possible for me and Mike [Applause] chapter 1 birth of a new champion this future boxing legend was born on May 17th 1956 in Rocky Mount North Carolina Leonard was a shy child he often set at home reading comics and playing with his dog at a young age ray revealed his vocal talent which allowed him to sing in the church with his two sisters on weekends ray was always taciturn we could never guess what he was thinking but I never had any problems with him I was never called to the school said Leonard's mother at the age of 14 following his brother's instructions ray started boxing his father and older brother also excelled in this sport but each in their own way at the time ray and his family lived in a poor suburb of Baltimore once two local trainers saw this talented guy and began to train him in his early years as a fighter Leonard showed skills and grace in the rain he fought and excelled against boxers whom he encountered in the rain in the end he received the nickname sugar the same as that of legendary boxer Ray Robinson who was considered one of the most skilled technical boxers of all time [Music] Raye quickly achieved incredible success in the amateur rain leonard held his first amateur fight in 1972 and from 1973 to 1974 he took part in the national welterweight tournament in Golden Gloves and won in 1974 in the final battle of the Golden Gloves tournament he defeated Hill Mercanti the future world champion a year later in 1975 they took part in three national tournaments in the USA and won a gold medal at the pan-american games Montreal Canada 1976 the Olympic Games the pinnacle of his sporting victories was the victory at the 1976 Montreal welterweight Olympics where he easily won a gold medal defeating all of his rivals before the final fight Rey was considered an outsider his rival was the Cuban puncher Andres Aldama even before the start of the battle Leonard had won the hearts of the crowd of spectators and national television audiences with a photograph of his son taped to his sock during the fight Rey himself dramatically overcame a severe pain in both hands in order to win by a unanimous decision 5 to 0 after winning the Olympics with a gold medal Leonard announced his intention to leave boxing claiming that he had fulfilled his old dream but life had other plans Rey originally wanted to go to Harvard to become a lawyer but the plan failed when it turned out that Juanita Wilkinson the mother of his illegitimate son filed a paternity suit in an attempt to obtain alimony from Rey it was also about that time that Leonard's father became very ill and his family was in dire need of money there was no time to wait it was necessary to act in the end the 20-year old ray decided to go professional as a result of his amateur career he already had a record of a hundred and sixty-five victories of which 75 were knockouts and only 5 defeats chapter 2 assent in those years for an American boxer winning a gold medal was an almost guaranteed path to the pros his coach was Angelo Dundee who was known for working only with the most talented boxers of those years including Muhammad Ali Carmen Basilio George Foreman and other superstars everything came together as it should for ray the right time filled with great fighters and the best coach all that was required of him was to win Leonard's debut in the professional ring took place in February 1977 against the sturdy Puerto Rican boxer Luis Vega by a unanimous decision ray won in a landslide victory on points at the very beginning of his journey Leonard performed as part of the first welterweight 260 3.5 kilograms but after a few fights he rose to welterweight he passed opponents of medium caliber without any problems gaining more and more experience with each fight it is worth noting that at any moment many rivals said that they were impressed in the first place by Ray's speed with which they could not cope in any way the beginning of his career was not as simple as many thought in 1978 Leonard in the first round knocked out Javier Moonies [Applause] after a couple weeks Rae defeated the brother of the now famous manager named Bobby Heyman this fight set a record for attendance in the closed arena of Maryland more than 15,000 people came to watch the boxing match the winning procession continued over the next two months where Rey won two victories over Randy Milton and Raphael Rodriguez on July 18 1978 ray scored another victory by unanimous decision over Dicky Eklund Providence USA 1978 Sugar Ray Leonard versus Floyd Mayweather senior the first serious test for Ray after a two-month break was a confrontation with the strong Floyd Mayweather senior at the time sugar was already in the top five of the WBA organization and Mayweather wasn't even in the top ten but he was number six in the welterweight rating from the ring the larger Floyd started to fight in the lead and was bolder than rain in addition he was a strong guy that skillfully combined defense with attacks and therefore it was not easy to get to him Mayweather was betting on his powerful right-handed cross the fight was very intense but in the third round Leonard still shocked his opponent in the last minute of the eighth round he knocked Floyd down twice Mayweather signature shoulder protection did not protect him from the precise left swings ray did just fine [Applause] in the middle of the 10th round Floyd was again shocked and the referee stopped the match [Applause] what table it's given us now it's called the technical knockout Tabor says Mayweather is have enough Leonard's next appearance in the ring was less than a month later ray fought almost every month which allowed him to quickly rise to the top of the world rankings in 1978 he fought 11 fights Springfield USA 1978 Sugar Ray Leonard versus Armando Muniz in late 1978 he was confronted with the formidable Armando Muniz who had previously claimed the welterweight world title four times and recorded his name in the history thanks to his two epic battles with carlos palomino at the time ray was already a contender for the championship title but for this title carlos palomino was in no hurry to give him a chance the fight with meanies went ahead Sugar Ray worked on his moves and knitted a dangerous rival up close ray was faster and more accurate from the very first round which created big problems for his opponent in the second round Muniz accelerated the pace but he still couldn't catch the fast moving leonard from the third round armando managed to make some good combinations up close and the second half of the round showed off a spectacular exchange of blogs [Applause] in round four Leonard began to work mainly over long distances where he felt more confident armando Muniz continued to pursue him and had some small successes but Ray was better at the end of round six he shook meu knees this was one of Ray's hardest fights dealing with muses famous right-handed punches but it still ended in a victory for Sugar Ray [Applause] Rey won several more victories including one in the first middleweight and in April 1979 he met with another strong contender Adolfo Vera wet it was the first left-handed rival he had fought in his career in the fourth round Veera wet missed a right cross and for the first time in his career was knocked down at the end of ten rounds Sugar Ray Leonard celebrated a victory by unanimous decision in May of that year Leonard fought as part of the first middleweight division his opponent was former champion in Mexico from the state of California middleweight champion Marcos Geraldo in Baton Rouge USA 1979 Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Marcos geraldo in a fight for the middleweight title Sugar Ray defeated the much larger geraldo in a spectacular duel by a decision of the judges [Applause] [Music] [Applause] looking a little ahead in 1982 Leonard was diagnosed with a retinal detachment in his 2011 biography the big fight my life and the ring and beyond ray shared the opinion that perhaps this injury was caused by his duel against Marcos Geraldo chapter 3 the new Muhammad Ali at this stage of his career Leonard was already contending for fights with WBC champion Wilfred Benitez as well as with Roberto Duran who had managed to get out of the middleweight and was successful but despite the vivid performances of sugar himself he had his critics he was mainly criticized for his lack of striking power in the ring Sugar Ray Leonard was a boxer without pronounced flaws he was not a hard knockout but he had a pretty strong blow he worked perfectly with his front hand acted very accurately analyzed his opponent well and he could make adjustments to change the course of the battle in his favor sugar could deliver a series of six or more blows in an instant and was widely known for his sharp explosive high-speed attacks his skill combined with a bright personality and charisma made him a star right when the sport needed a new hero the era of Muhammad Ali was trying to a close so comparisons with Ali were inevitable the well-known sports commentator Howard Cosell even called Leonard the new Muhammad Ali as with Ali rays fans split into two camps those who loved him and those who felt like he was arrogant for some the nickname Sugar Ray seemed the height of arrogance Ali's followers defended Leonard calling sugar self-confident because like Ali sugar confirmed his boast in the ring thanks for watching this video part 1 of sugar ray be sure to subscribe to the channel so you won't miss any videos see you soon

Channel: The World of Boxing!

Views: 646,448

Rating: 4.7700953 out of 5

Keywords: Boxing, Sugar Ray Leonard, Round, knockout, Ultimate, Pride, highlight, Mayweather, Fights, Fighter, Floyd, Ray, Leonard, Fastest Boxer, Boxing History

Id: hXvq8P1bgdM

Length: 14min 24sec (864 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 09 2019