Sugar Ray Leonard – Championship Profile: Sugar Ray Leonard is universally recognized as one of the greatest boxers of all time, and not without good reason.
Leonard made his professional debut on February 5, 1977. In less than three years as a professional Sugar Ray compiled an unblemished record of 25-0 with 16 wins coming by way of knockout. In his next bout on November 30, 1979, Leonard got his first opportunity to fight for a major world title when he challenged the undefeated WBC welterweight champion Wilfred Benitez. Leonard triumphed in his bout with Benitez when he scored a 15th round technical knockout. His last championship bout happened on February 9, 1991 when Leonard unsuccessfully challenged Terry Norris for his WBC junior middleweight title in a fight Norris won by decision. But in between, there was a lot of high profile championship match-ups involving Leonard that brought great excitement, thrilling engagements, and several career defining victories for the great Sugar Ray Leonard. Some of the more famous opponents in Leonard’s career included Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, and Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
When all is said and done, Leonard finished his career with 39 victories, 3 defeats, and 1 draw, with 25 victories coming inside the distance. Out of those 43 professional contests, 13 of Leonard’s bouts were championship bouts. In championship matches Leonard finished with an impressive record of 10 victories, 2 defeats, and 1 draw, and 8 of those wins coming by knockout. Leonard also won world titles in five different weight classes (welterweight, junior middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight) putting him in a very exclusive group of boxers in the long rich history of professional boxing.
This edition of Rummy’s Corner will provide a brief chronological recap of all 13 championship contests that featured the one and only Sugar Ray Leonard. This is part 2 of a new ongoing series of Complete Championship Profiles. Please watch and enjoy the video!