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Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Durán III

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Boxing match
Uno Mas
DateDecember 7, 1989
VenueThe Mirage, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the lineWBC super middleweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Ray Leonard Roberto Durán
Nickname Sugar Manos de Piedra
("Hands of Stone")
Hometown Palmer Park, Maryland, U.S. Panama City, Panama Province, Panama
Purse $15,000,000 $7,600,000
Pre-fight record 35–1–1 (25 KO) 85–7 (61 KO)
Age 33 years, 6 months 38 years, 5 months
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) 5 ft 7+1⁄2 in (171 cm)
Weight 160 lb (73 kg) 158 lb (72 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition WBC
Super Middleweight Champion
5-division world champion		 WBC
Middleweight Champion
4-division world champion
Result
Leonard wins via 12-round unanimous decision (119-109, 116-111, 120-110)

Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Durán III, billed as Uno Mas, was a professional boxing match contested on December 7, 1989 for the WBC super middleweight title.

Background

Reigning WBC super middleweight champion "Sugar" Ray Leonard had made the first successful defense of his title after fighting Thomas Hearns to a draw. After the Hearns fight, Leonard began negotiations for both a third fight with rival Roberto Durán and a potential third fight with Hearns. Whilst a third Hearns fight never came into fruition, Leonard and Duran would reach an agreement to face one another and the fight was announced at a press conference on July 26, 1989, though the venue in which the fight would take place was still in question. Five days later, the then-yet-to-be-opened Mirage was announced as the venue for the fight. Durán had won the WBC middleweight title after upsetting Iran Barkley in his previous fight, though only Leonard's super middleweight was on the line. Leonard and Durán agreed to a catch-weight of 162 pounds, between the middleweight limit of 160 pounds and the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds. Initial plans called for both Leonard and Duran's titles to be at stake, but Duran's mandatory challenger Lindell Holmes refused to step aside and insisted on Duran making his next defense against him, resulting in Durán's title not being defended.

The fight was billed as "Uno Mas" (one more in Spanish) in reference to Leonard and Duran's second fight against each other in which Duran quit in round eight after apparently telling the referee "No Mas" (no more in Spanish). Leonard was a 9 to 5 favorite.

The fight

In contrast to their first two fights, this was entirely lopsided in Leonard's favor. Using constant movement and counter-punching, Leonard dominated Duran, completely neutralizing Duran's offensive attack. Leonard landed 227 punches, good for 52% of his total thrown punches compared to Duran, who landed a dismal 84 punches at a 14% rate. The fight went the full 12-round distance, with all three judges scoring the fight for Leonard with scores of 120–110, 119–109 and 116–111.

Aftermath

In August 1990, Leonard relinquished the WBC super-middleweight title, saying that he was under the weight for the division. He then offered Hearns a third fight, but Hearns said he could no longer make the weight and moved up to the light heavyweight division.

Fight card

Confirmed bouts:

Weight Class Weight vs. Method Round Notes
Super Middleweight 164 lb Ray Leonard (c) def. Roberto Durán UD 12/12
Heavyweight 190+ lb Ray Mercer def. Ossie Ocasio SD 8/8
Light heavyweight 175 lb Andrew Maynard def. Mike DeVito UD 8/8
Heavyweight 190+ lb Tommy Morrison def Ken Lakusta UD 6/6

^Note 1 For WBC Super Middleweight title

Broadcasting

Country Broadcaster
 United States HBO

See also

References

  1. "Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran (3rd meeting)". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  2. Leonard negotiating with Hearns, Duran, UPI article, 1989-07-20 Retrieved on 2020-02-19
  3. Leonard, Duran: They'll Fight but When? Where?, LA Times article, 1989-07-26 Retrieved on 2020-02-23
  4. When Leonard, Duran Fight, Mirage Will Win, LA Times article, 1989-07-31 Retrieved on 2020-02-23
  5. Uno Mas, Observer-Reporter article, 1989-07-26 Retrieved on 2020-02-23
  6. One for the Ages, Sports Illustrated article, 1989-06-19 Retrieved on 2020-12-18
  7. "Sugar Ray relinquishes WBC crown". The Rock Island Argus. Molline, Illinois. August 28, 1990. Retrieved October 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Berger, Phil (February 8, 1991). "BOXING; Leonard Has Norris at Hand, but Hearns on the Mind". The New York Times. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  9. "BoxRec - event".
Preceded byvs. Thomas Hearns II Sugar Ray Leonard's bouts
7 December 1989 		Succeeded byvs. Terry Norris
Preceded byvs. Iran Barkley Roberto Durán's bouts
7 December 1989 		Succeeded byvs. Pat Lawlor
Sugar Ray Leonard
Fights
Important figures
Roberto Durán
Fights
Trainers
In popular culture
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