5. Sugar Ray Leonard KO 4 Davey Green – 1980
Sugar Ray Leonard made the first defence of the WBC and Lineal world welterweight titles against the # 10 ranked challenger from Britain, Davey ‘Boy’ Green. ‘Sugar Ray’ was able to exhibit his full arsenal and display his marvellous boxer-puncher skillset.
Leonard is often credited with being one of the most naturally gifted practitioners of the sweet science, fluidity and crisp punching technique embodied.
The gulf in class was evident from the get-go, Ray was finding his mark sniping from long range. In the fourth round, he decided to turn up the pressure and he began the round sitting down on his punches more; maximising the power behind them.
‘The Sugar Man’ stunned Green with a crisp right hand on the point of the chin in the fourth round and decided to press a seemingly vulnerable opponent.
A crisp, short, devastating left hook brought the proceedings to an abrupt end in the fourth and left Davey Green out cold and in need of assistance following being given the full count.
4. Sugar Ray Leonard TKO 9 Ayub Kalule – 1981
This was literally the stuff of legend, inside a full two-year calendar period, Ray Leonard amassed victories over boxing immortals such as Wilfred Benitez, Roberto Duran, Ayub Kalule and Tommy Hearns.
Ahead of gearing up for a welterweight world championship showdown of unprecedented magnitude, against ‘The Hitman’ Thomas Hearns. Ray Leonard decided to take a tune-up against the undefeated WBA and Lineal Jr Middleweight world champion, Ayub Kalule.
Ayub Kalule was a skilled operator and had racked up wins over some stellar opposition. Fighters he defeated include fighters such as Sugar Ray Seales and Masashi Kudo.
However, all of his credentials were however dismissed by the brilliance of the 1976 Olympic Gold Medalist as time and time again, Kalule was beaten to the punch by his superior adversary.
Leonard was in total control of the bout for the first six rounds, doing as he pleased. Kalule did stage somewhat of a comeback through the middle rounds, beginning to give a little bit of what he had been receiving and even stunned Leonard at the end of the eighth round.
But the pace of the bout began to tell on the legs of Kalule and in the ninth, a crisp left-right combination left a badly fatigued Kalule on the seat of his pants, he struggled to his feet but later admitted in his post-fight interview he had asked the referee to call a halt to the action.
3. Sugar Ray Leonard TKO 15 Wilfred Benitez – 1979
This bout will be remembered as Sugar Ray Leonard’s acid test; Wilfred Benitez was a 2-weight world champion and the youngest man to have ever won a world title.
Still just a schoolboy at 17, when he conquered the great Antonio Cervantes in 1976. Now at 21, Benitez had already established himself as a seasoned veteran in the fight game.
He also possessed one of the finest defensive skillsets to have ever graced the squared circle. Ray Leonard, himself referred to Benitez as a ‘ghost’ due to his phenomenal anticipation and evasiveness.
Ray had never fought past the 10th round, at this stage of his career. It was clear that both men were in deep waters down the stretch.
Regardless, Ray unveiled the first sighting of the inner drive and dogged determination that always lied inside him.
Leonard stepped inside and turned a powerful left uppercut onto Benitez’s chin and down the champion went, to his knees.
Regaining his feet, but breathing awfully heavy he stepped gingerly into a corner, kicking his legs to get the feeling back.
There was now no escaping the inevitable for ‘El Radar’, he was ripe for the picking and the killer inside Leonard threw two punches more, and referee Carlos Padilla had seen enough and ended the bout.
2. Sugar Ray Leonard TKO 9 Donny Lalonde – 1988
Following making a mind-boggling return to the ring after a 5-year hiatus. Against all the odds Ray Leonard triumphed against middleweight divisional kingpin, Marvin Hagler.
Although many and I include myself in those assumptions, refer to that decision as being somewhat dubious. That is what is written in the history books.
Ray had transcended the sport by this stage of his career, following claiming his third world championship against the most formidable champion of his era. So what was next for him? The answer, Canada’s WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Donny Lalonde.
Lalonde was very brash going into the matchup and even he dismissed Leonard as a ‘fat, old welterweight’. Leonard was severely overmatched in the strength department but once again demonstrated his steely resolve in this battle.
Leonard absorbed a massive right hand early in the fourth round, which caused him to hit the canvas for only the second time in his decorated career.
That is a moment that will live in the memory for a long time because Leonard’s facial expressions signalled what was to come and that Lalonde was going to pay.
In the ninth round, Lalonde buzzed Leonard with another right hand. Lalonde went for the kill but seemingly ran out of gas during his assault which is always a no-go opposite a master like Leonard.
Leonard almost immediately pegged back Lalonde with his own right hand and drove him into the ropes where he unloaded a fusillade of blows.
A hurt Lalonde attempted to tie his man up in an effort to buy precious seconds but a final left hook meant Leonard walked away as a 5-weight world champion.
1. Sugar Ray Leonard TKO 14 Tommy Hearns – 1981
Thomas Hearns boasted a stupendous 32-0 record with 30 victories coming by the way of knockout.
Hearns was quickly garnering a reputation as one of the most deadly one-punch artists in the history of the welterweight division.
This bout had been billed as the matador against the bull. Many experts suggested that if Leonard was going to be successful, he would need to expertly box the dangerous Hearns from a distance.
The action of the ‘The Showdown’ started off seeming to follow the trajectory of a dance, with both men taking turns to take the lead.
Hearns got the best of the early action, piling up points while peppering Leonard with a ramrod left jab. Leonard turned the fight on its head when he caught Hearns with a dynamite left-hook in the sixth round.
That round was pivotal in the course of the fight as the roles of the fighters seemingly reversed. Leonard became the stalker and Hearns took the role of the boxer, trying to evade his opponent.
Hearns used his opponent’s aggression to his advantage, piling up points from a distance. This gave ‘The Hitman’ the opportunity to clear his head and shake off the cobwebs.
A badly fatigued Ray Leonard was down on the cards going into the 12th round. His trainer Angelo Dundee famously bellowed into his ear, “You’re blowing it, son! You’re blowing it!”
Those comments sparked a second wind in Leonard and he came flying out of the corner like a man possessed.
He began to attack a fatiguing Hearns with a fusillade of blows, battering him from pillar to post.
By the fourteenth, Hearns’ legs had visibly begun to weaken and he was essentially a sitting target for Leonard’s blows.
After staggering Tommy with an overhand right, Leonard cornered him on the ropes and unloaded yet another dangerous barrage; prompting referee Davey Pearl to wave off the bout.
READ MORE:
Lennox Lewis: top five knockouts
Our top 10 middleweights of all time