Sugar Ray Leonard, one of the famous ‘Four Kings’, won world titles in five weight classes, cementing himself as a legend of the sport.
Sugar Ray Leonard retired in 1997 with a record of 36-3-1. Leonard’s final loss came against Hector Camacho when Leonard was 40 years old.
Leonard’s only other losses came to Terry Norris in 1991, and Roberto Duran in 1980, a loss he avenged twice, famously instigating Duran’s ‘No Mas’ moment.
Leonard holds wins over Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler, and, in a tense showdown, Wilfred Benitez.
Sugar Ray Leonard intense stare-down with Wilfred Benitez foreshadowed their fight
Ahead of the first bell in 1979, when Leonard was set to face then-unbeaten Wilfred Benitez, who became the youngest champion ever aged 17 years old in 1976, in Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, the pair engaged in an intense stare-down.
The pair locked eyes and remained staring at one another for what seemed like an eternity, but in actuality was less than a minute.
Benitez showed he was not intimidated by Leonard, whilst Leonard’s eyes showed his resolve to hand the Puerto Rican his first loss.
The fight was a defense of Benitez’s WBC welterweight world title, and it was a tense one, as the stare down foreshadowed.
The fight went all the way to the fifteenth and final round, making Benitez the first man to take Leonard, who beat up a waiter once, into deep waters.
He would turn out to be just one of two men, the other being Duran, who said he’d beat Mayweather, in the first fight, to enter the final round.
However, he would not hear the judges’ scorecards, as Leonard stopped Benitez with just six seconds remaining in the final round.
“He was one of my most difficult fights”… Sugar Ray Leonard speaks on Wilfred Benitez war
In a video with GQ, Leonard broke down some of his most iconic fights, and said of the Benitez clash:
“He was one of my most difficult fights. […] I’ve never missed so many punches in my life. […] Out of maybe twelve punches maybe three of them land. He was so elusive.”
Leonard, who, at 68, impressed with his bag work, had nothing but praise for Benitez, and said he believes he was his heart more than his talent that got him the victory.