Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Durán, billed as The Brawl in Montreal, was a professional boxing match contested on June 20, 1980 for the WBC and The Ring welterweight championship. The bout took place at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada. The referee was Carlos Padilla Jr.
Background
On May 9, 1980, the highly anticipated fight between the undefeated reigning WBC champion "Sugar" Ray Leonard and former undisputed lightweight champion and the-then number-one ranked welterweight contender Roberto Durán was announced. The bout, which was to take place a little over a month after its official announcement on June 20, took place at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, the site where Leonard had captured the Olympic gold medal four years prior.Leonard Signs for Fight in Montreal, Washington Post article, 1980-05-10 Retrieved on 2020-03-08 Going into the fight, both Leonard and Durán were two of the top fighters in the sport, Leonard was perfect 27–0 and had captured the WBC welterweight title the previous December after knocking out future hall-of-famer Wilfred Benítez and then made a successful first defense against Dave Boy Green in March 1980. Durán had recently completed a six-year run as lightweight champion before moving up to welterweight where he compiled an 8–0 record before facing Leonard. The fight was set to be the highest grossing in boxing historyTitle Bout Is Top Sports Payday, NY Times article, 1980-06-20 Retrieved on 2020-03-08 and both Leonard and Durán were to make the biggest paydays in their careers at $9 million and $1.5 million respectively.Sugar Ray Leonard, People Magazine article, 1980-12-29 Retrieved on 2020-03-08 Leonard was a 9 to 5 favorite.
Just prior to the bout, both Leonard and Durán received health scares. Durán underwent a two-hour heart exam and after his EKG revealed an abnormality in his heartbeat, a cardiologist was called in and determined that the abnormality was common in a well-trained athlete and Durán was cleared to fight. Leonard, meanwhile, claimed that he had been stricken by a "virus", though his trainer stated "If he had a virus, it wasn't that bad or I would have heard of it."Duran's Heart Has 'A' Rating, Washington Post article, 1980-06-18 Retrieved on 2020-03-08
The fight In a hard-fought, back-and-forth contest that went the full 15 rounds, Durán was the aggressor often throughout the fight, and he was able to earn a close unanimous decision victory. Durán both landed and threw more punches for a 35% success rate, while Leonard, who abandoned his usual slick boxing style and went toe-to-toe with Durán, landed 273 of 753 for a 36% rate. Whilst Leonard made adjustments late in the fight, Durán had built a large enough lead by that point in the fight.
When the decision was announced, Durán was incorrectly announced as a winner by majority decision as one judge's scorecard was erroneously tabulated as a 147–147 draw, however the mistake was discovered and Durán won on all three scorecards with scores of; 145–144, 148–147 and 146–144.Remembering Sugar Ray Leonard-Roberto Duran I, ESPN article, 2015-06-20 Retrieved on 2020-02-28
Aftermath Speaking after the bout Duran said "He is the best I have fought. He hit me hard a couple of times, but I was never in bad shape. He was pretty good, but he had to be because he was fighting me."
Fight card Confirmed bouts: Weight Class Weight vs. Method Round NotesWelterweight147 lbs.Roberto Durán def.Ray Leonard (c)UD15/15Light middleweight154 lbs.Roger Leonard def.Clyde GraySD10/10Heavyweight200+ lbs.Trevor Berbickdef.John TateKO9/10Middleweight160 lbs.Fernand Marcottevs.Eddie MeloD10/10Lightweight135 lbs.Gaétan Hartdef.Cleveland DennyTKO10/10
Broadcasting Country Broadcaster Televisa MBS 4 ITV ABC
See also Roberto Durán vs. Sugar Ray Leonard II Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Durán III
References