Why was Leonard vs Lalonde for World Titles at TWO different weights?

Unfortunately, it's true.

 

It was for two weight classes because Leonard wanted it that way. Plain and simple.

 

To this day it is the most ridiculous thing that was allowed in boxing. It was an insult to the sport and an insult to champions who had to fight for one title and weigh in for the fights and get ranking. Ray was allowed to fight for the 175 pound title against a champion who had to go down to 168 to fight for that vacant title at 168- and neither guy was ranked at 168. So he weakened the 175 pound titlist (Lalonde) and fought for that title and for the 168 pound title where neither guy was ranked. It was a joke. Why did he want two titles? Hearns had won his 4th the year before against Hearns at middleweight against Roldan, and Hearns was going for his 5th against Kinchen for the new WBO title on Nov. 4, 1988 at the Vegas Hilton. Ray's fight against Lalonde was Nov. 7 1988 at Caesars. Ray wanted to match Tommy without putting out the work against someone and getting each title individually. Ray would have had a hard time beating a 175 pound guy at the real weight. So why cheat to do it. I think Ray was great, but this was a joke and an insult. . Tommy was scheduled to fight Fully Obel for the WBA title but Obel got a rib injury. The the WBO was formed and Hearns fought for that title. Hearns vs. Kinchen was the first WBO title fight. .

 

And it is true. Ray had power then, but it shows you power in boxing is not a great thing and Ray did not care about the sport. He cared about Ray's legacy and matching Hearns and Duran who was going for his 4th title the following Feb in 1989. It hurts the sport. I was surprised champions who fought for titles and worked for ranking were not more upset by this fight. And this is why I don't like catchweights for titles either. Why weaken guys? If a title is for a 154 pound title, wanting 152 for the weight seems to disqualify the fight as a title fight. I would think.

 

Though Ray was finished at leite level, he used his name as an established ATG to get what he wanted.

Also I guess the historical perspective - noone respected the SMW division at the time, so noone cared, SMW titles remained trinkets for years to follow as we all know. It remained the haunt of bums for a long time and Leonard surely did more harm than good for its future. SMW titles only began to gain credence in the 90s, except obviously the WBO one which took till 2005 to be recognised.

 

It was the 80s, rules were being made and broken. There were no significant stakeholders at 168 that got their toes stepped on. So they gave Ray what he wanted. Sort of what they do with Floyd Mayweather now; the McGregor fight being an absolute farce.

 

Yeah ... personally, I respect his ring accomplishments (to each his own), but his behavior outside the ring was prima donna all the way. There's nothing wrong with accumulating power and influence, it's inevitable when you're at his level, but using it to dictate terms and conditions that heavily favor you is abusive. Everything from creating terms for the Hagler bout that favored Leonard's strengths and weaknesses (bigger ring, fewer rounds) to the Lalonde nonsense, only weakened his public perception. Boxing fans knew what was going on, but still bought tickets so maybe it didn't matter.

Not sure if the nonsense of Dundee's fee was ever resolved; I'd hope they managed to reconcile before Angelo's death. They saw each other through a lot of years and wars - money shouldn't have been an issue. Leonard had enough to spare. And I'm fully aware of Angelo's contributions, know he usually wasn't there until the last few weeks of camp - still, his influence was needed. Without Angelo, the victories against Hearns and Hagler would have been less certain.

 

Winning titles in multiple weight divisions was a big thing at the time, much more so than today. From the point Fitzsimmons won the LHW title in 1903 through to Hearns beating Roldan in 1987, several fighters had won titles in three weight divisions but no-one did it across four. Some legendary fighters had come very close but just fell short, which added to the mystique.

As explained above, Leonard wanted to trump or at least match Hearns who was gunning for a 5th title (albeit a lightly regarded at the time vacant WBO title). The super-middleweight division was in its infancy, and to be honest a lot of boxing fans didn't at the time see much point in it. It was only a few years previous that it was just the WBA/WBC, and a smaller number of weight divisions. It seemed that there were belts and divisions popping up all over the place, alongside the post-Hagler fall out.

Leonard had stroke, and didn't have any shame in how he used it. The governing bodies at the time had less pretense of any kind of governance or regulation. The end result is an event that is looked back on as something of a farce and a watershed moment for alphabet idiocy. Rather than being what Leonard hoped for as a defining moment in his career, it tends to get overlooked now that he took on a much bigger opponent who could punch, and managed to get off the floor and finish in style.

 

So Leonard could kill two birds with one stone.

He seemed to be in a competition with Hearns to win titles in multiple weight divisions.

Hearns was scheduled to fight Fully Obel for the WBA 168 lb title but Obel pulled out.

Leonard probably didn't want Hearns to one up him so was able to get his fight with Lalonde sanctioned for the WBC 168 lb title.

This was kind of a travesty since Lalonde held only the WBC 175 lb title.

But the real travesty was making Lalonde boil down to 168 lbs, a weight Leonard was comfortable making but which Lalonde was not, yet still having the fight sanctioned as a 175 lb title fight.

Leonard got his cake and ate it too, so to speak.

Lalonde should have not agreed to so many conditions. He should have said okay I'll make 168 lbs but my 175 title should not be on the line, or that if his title was on the line he would only agree to make 175 lbs.
But, I guess he said WTF, I'll take the $$ whatever it takes to get it.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donny_Lalonde#/editor/5

So Teddy Atlas was enraged that LaLonde made 6 million and planned to murder him. What a psycho.

He fired Atlas almost two years before the Leonard fight.

Atlas had no business being Pi$sed. It's not like he trained him when he won the title or that Lalonde fired him right before the Leonard fight

 

Yeah, he could be a dic@, but he was a clutch fighter who not only had great ability, but had the intangibles as well.

 

It's an interesting thing with Leonard on this board...….I'm not a fan of his, and always rooted against him when he fought, but I find myself in the curious position now of defending him to others who froth at the mouth and rage what a despicable creature he was. Usually such histrionics are reserved for Rooster, who has essentially developed a sort of brand in his single-minded campaign spanning lo these many years.

I would only ask this; who among us, given that we had the power and influence to pull those strings, wouldn't? If it meant that we could make more money for ourselves and enhance our situation, you're damn right you would, we all would. Maybe we wouldn't be so obviously artificial as Ray, but inside the ring, he was the goods. The real deal.

And let's not forget what a complete tool the precious Ray Robinson was in dealing with contractual things regarding his own career. Leonard was more of a crossover star, so people picked up on other aspects of his persona, including his business dealings.