Леонард өөрийн карьерын хамгийн чухал ялалтаар Роберто Дураны эсрэг хийсэн хариу тулааныг нэрлэжээ.
1980-аад оны боксын ертөнцийн гол дүрүүд болох Шугар Рэй Леонард, Марвин Хаглер, Томас Хирнс, Роберто Дуран нар хоорондоо олон алдартай тулаан хийсэн билээ. Тэдгээрээс Шугар Рэй Леонард нь нөгөө гурван боксчноо бүгдийг нь ялсан цорын ганц тамирчин болсон түүхтэй.
Леонард 1980 оны зургаадугаар сард Монреаль хотноо болсон тулаанд Роберто Дуранд шүүгчдийн санал нэгтэй шийдвэрээр ялагдаж байв. Гэвч тухайн оны сүүлээр болсон хариу тулаанд Леонард тактикаа өөрчлөн, наймдугаар раундад өрсөлдөгчөө зогсоосноор хариугаа авчээ.
Энэхүү ялалтыг Леонард өөрийн хамгийн дурсамжтай тулаан гэж үздэг. Тэрээр эхний тулаанд сэтгэл зүйн хувьд Дуранд бууж өгч, түүний хэв маягаар тулалдсан нь алдаа болсныг хүлээн зөвшөөрсөн байна. Хариу тулааны өмнө тэрээр боксчин хүн өөрийн давуу тал болох боксын техниктээ тулгуурлах ёстойг ухамсарлаж, бэлтгэлээ эрчимжүүлжээ.
Леонард нийт 40 тулаан хийхдээ 36 ялалт байгуулж, карьераа өндөрлөсөн юм. Түүний бусад ялагдал нь 1989 онд Томас Хирнстэй тэнцсэн, 1991 онд Терри Норрист ялагдсан болон зодог тайлсныхаа дараа 1997 онд Эктор Камачод ялагдсан тулаанууд болно.
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Sugar Ray Leonard has the honour of being the only member of the ‘Four Kings’ to successfully defeat the other three.
Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran were key figures in the sport throughout the 1980s, as the quartet of fighters competed in iconic battles against one another.
While Leonard defeated his three rivals, he did also suffer a loss to Duran, with the Panamanian claiming a unanimous decision win at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal in June 1980.
The pair had an immediate rematch later that year, with Leonard inflicting his revenge as he secured an eighth round stoppage victory.
It is that triumph that Leonard views as his best, after he explained in a resurfaced clip why it meant so much to him.
“Duran the second fight [was my favourite win]. What happened in the first fight was he took me out of my game plan, he got into my head so I tried to beat him at his own game and fight him toe to toe.
“I knew right from the start but it didn’t register hard enough to say ‘Ray, you can’t beat him this way, you’ve got to box him.’ By the time I realised it was the 10th round, 12th round. He hit me so many times so hard, I’m hurting right now just thinking about it.
“I seriously contemplated retirement. I went to Hawaii with my wife to get away from it and I was running on the sand every morning and people would say ‘if you would box him you would beat him.’ I called my trainer and said I want to fight Duran ASAP. We had the fight scheduled five months later, the magnitude of big fights that doesn’t happen for a year or years.”
Leonard ended his career with a record of 36 wins from 40 fights, with his only other blemishes coming when he drew with Hearns in June 1989, before a defeat to Terry Norris in 1991, and a further loss to Hector Camacho after coming out of retirement in 1997.
