I've seen the Leonard-Lalonde fight many times and it's always struck me how Lalonde seems to be gassed after the 5th round. He was effective in the early going but just didn't hold up. I know he had to come in well below his regular weight for the fight. Was that the reason for his fatigue or was he just not good enough to hang with the superstar? He seemed rather one-dimensional, relying almost exclusively on his right hand. He did have a good record though and was a first class human being, what with his work for abused kids. Any thoughts on Lalonde or his fight with Leonard?
For a guy with no left hand to speak of he really made the best of what he did have which was that right hand. I think Dave Wolf managed him brilliantly as he did with Ray Mancini. as far as the Leonard fight the 167 lb catch weight killed him for sure which is exactly why a faded Leonard insisted on that clause but no matter how faded Ray was I think he would have whipped Lalonde at any weight he was a different level of fighter by far even at that stage.
you are all right. He wasnt good at all and one dimensional that's why Ray was interested. no self respecting fighter would go after someone so suspect
Was with Tommy Gallagher in Vegas when he worked Donnie's corner for the Leonard fight. Got to know Donnie some then, and years after when he trained at Wild Card in L.A. Not only was he well-spoken but very gracious to those he trusted, but he didn't give that easily. Fight-wise he looked ordinary till he landed that heavy right hand. It sent tremors through guys sparring with heavy gloves. It wasn't hype. It was a flat-out game changer in fights. Even though opponents took him lightly as a pretty boy 'n only had to guard against one hand, Donnie still got it home 'n had quite a few walkin' in post holes.
Lalonde wasnt good, but still.... that last combo Leonard finished him with was VINTAGE Leonard. Ray was way past it by then, but in that final flurry he showed flashes of the famed Leonard handspeed.
LaLonde ws pretty good in his title winning bout with Stewart ... Leonard was at his height of manipulation and had LaLonde come down to 168. He was weight drained , gasses out and was crushed by a near sadistic Leonard who would soon get his v.s. Norris ...
I always wanted to see SRL take on Michael Spinks and get bounced off the canvas a few times. (Leonard always tried to find a way to try to "fix" the fights in his favor in the latter part of his career...and it is a shame the opponent bought into it).
What happened is Leonard was getting beaten on for most of the final round, then he wobbled Lalonde with one punch, and quickly showed how deadly he is when he has a man hurt. Shades of the old Leonard with blazing hands and powerful, accurate shots in combination. I'm sure Lalonde being weight-drained didn't help him, but then again Leonard was the much smaller man so it's a fair trade-off IMO.
Draining down 7-8 lb's will do that to you. Not to mention his 175lb title was at stake:verysad Absolutely criminal...
I remember that flurry. I thought it was terrible. Ray missed all his punches until the last one which he hit on the break and Donny went down. Ray did a lot of that in those days hitting on the break. It worked with Lalonde, but his next fight the rematch with Hearns was a different story. Hearns was at that point more experienced than Ray and he got out of the way of Ray's punches easily.
Saw him fight a few times at MSG as I recall.A very limited fighter in terms of skill level,but had a terrific right hand with power.He did very well for himself considering his basic skills.
Not a great boxer but he did have the great equalizer with his right hand. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eagZpM8NNRU[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAf-BSESMas[/ame]