Did Terry Norris carry Ray Leonard?

No, Ray landed some hard shots towards the end of the round and was still dangerous.

 

His corner probably told him to be cautious. I did see Terry on the receiving end at the end of round 11 but he seems not to have noticed

 

I did have the impression that Norris might’ve eased off in the later rounds - did he say something to that effect after the fight, I can’t recall? It’s true that after a certain point, Ray was looking like he’d rather be anywhere else than in the ring. Very tough beatdown. Tbh, haven’t watched this one in a long time.

 

I remember someone saying that Norris respected Ray and at times that maybe came thru in the fight. Maybe he wanted Ray to have that last moral victory of lasting the distance?
Hard to say.

 

For some reason, in my mind I always remember this fight being a late round stoppage, a TKO in the 11th or something. I only saw it once.
It's only when people discuss it here that I check out the records and see it went the distance.

So, yeah, maybe.

 

Norris was cautious as he knew Leonard was trying to bait him as the fight went on which was his only possible course to victory at that point. Norris was pretty cautious overall really despite his dominance. He knew he had that chin too as did Leonard. He belted Leonard when he was on the canvas and i don't think that's a sign of a guy going to carry somebody. As a matter of fact Leonard could have simply done a Santana and absolutely walked away with a disqualification victory. No dog in that guy.

 

Norris has claimed a couple of times (including quite recently) that at about the half way stage he decided to carry Leonard and just do enough to win without stopping or badly injuring him, as he was facing his idol.

Apparently he was expecting a much better Leonard than the one who showed up, so explained that he came out very aggressively and, as we've all seen, he beat the stuff out of Leonard very heavily in the early rounds. Went on to say that, once he'd realised that Ray didn't have it anymore and wasn't a threat in this fight, he was happy to just keep touching him up and go the full twelve (there was certainly a slackening in Norris' aggression and output as the fight wore on).

Have to be skeptical of any 'carrying' claims, I guess. It might not always be a huge risk, but it's a risk nonetheless and even more so against Leonard, even if it was a badly faded version. Been a while since I watched this fight but from my memory, it did strike me as one where the carrying claims might well have had some truth to them.

 

Leonard never demonstrated that he could handle a mover like Norris

the other 154 pounders were Howard who gave him hell and Kalule, a questionable and very stiff European.

Both went nine but neither hand any defensive skills, and their offense was weak

Norris though, had the power to get Ray in trouble and he did

and should he fail to stop his man, he could box brilliantly, coasting his way to victory without losing a round

The only real question is; WHAT WOULD FLOYD DO IN THIS SITUATION?

 

Yes Norris carried him.

 

This. I don’t blame Norris, since he probably figured it would be Leonard’s last fight, so he didn’t go for the kill.

 

Norris would have destroyed Floyd and Floyd would have beaten Ray at 154 but he wouldn`t have floored him at all.

 

The prime SRL who fought Kalule at 154 absolutely would have beaten Floyd.

 

He might have. It’s been 30 years since I’ve seen that fight. All I can really remember is Leonard being dominated.

 

I think Norris knew he was wining . Why take chances with SRL . Was a sad day for me when the magic ended.