Ray Leonard vs Clinton 'The Sheriff' Jackson (March 1981) - 'Ray Says No'

Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things?
It's hardly a blot on his legacy.

 

Considering he fought Kalule and Hearns the same year, I think it's safe to say No.

 

It seems that Pepe has exhausted his tirade against Ali and has now moved on to Leonard.
By the time he's finished Ali and Leonard will be the two most protected and bent fighters in boxing history!

 

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It was Benitez whom Leonard defeated to become the WBC welterweight champion. That was on Nov. 30, 1979, barely two years ago. In 22 months Leonard fought Benitez, Roberto Duran twice, Ayub Kalule, Hearns, champions all, a combined 177-1-1 record going in against him. Hearns and Kalule had never been knocked down. Leonard knocked them down. Hearns, the WBA welterweight champion, and Kalule, the WBA junior middleweight champ, were unbeaten. Leonard knocked out Kalule in the ninth round in Houston on June 25, 1981 and stopped Hearns in the 14th round in Las Vegas on Sept. 16, 1981. Did any boxer ever have five fights against such diverse and accomplished opponents in such a short period? Damn few.

And, in the end, this 22-month test comes down to the 13th round against Hearns. Leonard has to knock him out to win. Angelo Dundee, Leonard's trainer, is leaning into his ear, nearly shouting, but Leonard is looking, as if transfixed, at Hearns. "I heard every word Angelo said, but—watch the tapes—you won't see me respond," Leonard says, "because I already knew myself what I had to do."

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Wow. I think Pepe has discovered that fighters have people called "managers" that actually "manage" their careers, trying to maximize the income from their fighter's shelf life by navigating opponents and negotiating contracts.

Who of thunk it?

 

This post really made me smile :good

 

Outrageous. He turned down the 9th ranked contender to fight the 10th. What would he do if he had to fight guys in the top 3. Oh but wait a minute..

 

I just really don't see Ray Leonard up through 1981-82 as a fighter worthy of much criticism. People are on here whining about rematches and such when today you can't even get the elite to meet eachother in the ring even once, for any amount of money. And when were these supposed to take place? He was running through one great fighter after another. Are we really going to dispute he had a detached retina discovered in '82? Really?

 

I remember reading somewhere that Clint did have Roger's number as an amateur, though Roger beat Clint in the '78 AAU finals.