NOVEMBER 25h 1980
THAT DAY..............SUGAR RAY LEONARD, who had lost for the first time of his career against ROBERTO DURAN take his revenge in one of the greatest fight in boxing history called “NOS MAS”.
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Durán II, also known as the No Más Fight, is one of the most famous fights in boxing history. It took place on November 25, 1980 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, United States and was the second of three fights between the two champions.
Ray Charles Leonard , best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed from 1977 to 1997, winning world titles in five weight divisions; Ray Leonard was a talented, brash, cocky boxer.
Roberto Durán is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He is a four-weight world champion, having held titles at lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight, and middleweight. His punching power earned him the nickname of "Hands of Stone".
THE story had begun June 20, 1980. A historic face-to-face over the 15 rounds. the two champions fought toe to toe for almost all of the 45 minutes.
Angelo Dundee, Leonard's trainer said: "You never fight to a guy's strength. You try to offset it, and Ray didn't. He tried to outstrong the guy. Duran was being Duran, and Ray was going with him." Leonard chose to stay flat-footed with Duran and slug it out. Duran did exactly what he said he would do in a series of ugly pre-fight confrontations. In the eighth round, Leonard’s wife finally couldn't stand to look anymore. Tears ran down her face. she fainted. Leonard endured seven more rounds. For the first time in his professional life, leonard lost. He said after : "I said I would fight Duran flat-footed and I did. I had no alternative. I wouldn't change if I had to do it all over again Immediately after the fight, Duran called Leonard a "pussy" in Spanish. . "I knew I was going to beat him," Duran told the press. "I'm more of a man than he is." " He hit me hard a couple of times, but I was never in bad shape”.
Leonard considered retirement but it didn't take long for him to recommit himself to the sport while Duran became an immediate international sensation.
Duran, him, changed his lifestyle right after the fight. He spent $100,000 in just a few months by picking up every bar and restaurant tab for an expanding entourage. While the champion ate and drank through the night, Leonard's team started putting the rematch together. " The party for Duran never stopped. In Leonard's camp, intensity was the main word.
The rematch took place November 25, 1980 at the Superdome in New Orleans. Leonard immediately began to display the lateral movement lacking in their first fight. Duran, as hard a puncher and excellent a boxer as he was, seemed flummoxed. Rather than properly cut the ring off, Duran began to follow Leonard, eating jabs and check left hooks as he bounded in. Leonard used his superior speed and movement to outbox and befuddle Durán. "The whole fight, I was moving, I was moving," Leonard said. "And Voom! I snapped his head back with a jab. Voom! I snapped it back again. He tried to get me against the ropes, I'd pivot, spin off and Pow! Come under with a punch." As time passed, however, Duran was simply unable to keep Leonard pinned to the ropes. Leonard's most memorable punch came late in the round 7. Winding up his right hand, as if to throw a bolo punch, Leonard snapped out a left jab and caught Durán flush in the face. In the closing seconds of the eighth round, Durán turned his back to Leonard and quit, waving his glove and apparently saying to referee Octavio Meyran, "No más" ("No more" in Spanish). Leonard was the winner by a technical knockout at 2:44 of Round 8, regaining the WBC Welterweight Championship.
Durán has claimed that he never said the word No mas to anyone following the bout. He blamed the broadcaster Howard Cosell for coming up with it and claiming he said it. He claimed he was only mumbling to himself "No sigo, no sigo, no sigo", which translates to repeatedly saying "I'm not going any further". He has claimed that he quit because of stomach cramps, and during the night, Durán was admitted to a hospital with stomach pains, BUT his manager, Carlos Eleta, said "Durán didn't quit because of stomach cramps," Eleta said. "He quit because he was embarrassed.
He was the man who at 14 had knocked out a horse with one punch to win a bet for two bottles of whisky. He was a beast, an animal, a man who never took a backwards step, a man who embodied what it meant to be a "man". Once, Joe Frazier, was asked by New York Times columnist Dave Anderson if Duran reminded him of anybody"Yeah," Frazier replied. "He reminds me of Charles Manson.
Durán's stature in his home country, Panama, took a dramatic dive after the fight. The immediate reaction was shock, followed by anger. This was the first time a champion had voluntarily surrendered his title since Sonny Liston quit to Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay, in 1964, claiming a shoulder injury.
To know more about the subject:
Pepe, Phil (November 26, 1980). "Roberto Duran quits in 8th, says 'No mas' in 1980 fight vs. Sugar Ray Leonard". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
Andrew Eisele. "Ring Magazine's 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years". About.com Sports.
Roberto Duran tells the real story behind the 'No mas' bout". NY Daily News. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
Snowden, Jonathan (November 25, 2015). "The Men and the Myths: Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and 'No Mas,' 35 Years Later". Bleacher Report. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
Nack, William (26 November 1979). "Sugar Sure Is Sweet". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
Leonard's memories the stuff of legends". espn.go.com. 2007-03-06. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
Nack, William (1980-06-30). "Right on for Roberto". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
