{"id":765821,"date":"2026-06-28T13:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T13:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/765821\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T13:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T13:52:11","slug":"sugar-ray-leonard-branded-one-of-the-four-kings-more-intimidating-than-mike-tyson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/765821\/","title":{"rendered":"Sugar Ray Leonard branded one of the Four Kings ‘more intimidating than Mike Tyson’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sugar Ray Leonard<\/a> believes one of his fellow Four Kings was more intimidating than even Mike Tyson<\/a>, who terrorised the heavyweight division in his early 20s.<\/p>\n

The most physically imposing king was surely Thomas \u2018The Hitman\u2019 Hearns, who somehow squeezed his 6ft 1in frame down to 147lbs when he collided with Leonard in 1981.<\/p>\n

Back then, Sugar Ray claimed a hard-fought 14th-round stoppage<\/a> before boxing to a controversial draw in their super-middleweight rematch in 1989.<\/p>\n

Just over two years earlier, the American had arrived at another contentious result against Marvin Hagler, this time edging their middleweight encounter by split decision.<\/p>\n

But while Hearns and Hagler posed enormous threats, Leonard was ultimately most intimidated when he faced Roberto Duran in 1980.<\/p>\n

The Panamanian joined the welterweight scene after becoming a world champion at 135lbs, where he dethroned Ken Buchanan with a controversial 13th-round stoppage in 1972.<\/p>\n

Even as an undersized contender at 147lbs, Duran was considered a dangerous puncher but was made a sizable underdog against Leonard, who had just scored back-to-back stoppages over Wilfred Benitez and Dave \u2018Boy\u2019 Green.<\/p>\n

It then came as a major upset when the skilled technician lost a unanimous decision to \u2018Hands of Stone\u2019<\/a>, whose tenacity proved a decisive factor.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on their rivalry, Leonard admitted in a resurfaced interview<\/a> that there was an element of fear attached to his WBC title defence.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoberto Duran \u2013 he was more intimidating than Mike Tyson. I hate that motherf**ker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the manner in which their first encounter unfolded, Leonard ultimately made the necessary adjustments and won their immediate rematch via an eighth-round stoppage.<\/p>\n