{"id":683273,"date":"2026-07-09T23:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T23:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/683273\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T23:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T23:59:10","slug":"sugar-ray-leonard-names-which-win-out-of-hagler-hearns-and-duran-was-his-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/683273\/","title":{"rendered":"Sugar Ray Leonard names which win out of Hagler, Hearns and Duran was his best"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sugar Ray Leonard<\/a> has the honour of being the only member of the \u2018Four Kings\u2019 to successfully defeat the other three.<\/p>\n

Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran were key figures in the sport<\/a> throughout the 1980s, as the quartet of fighters competed in iconic battles against one another.<\/p>\n

While Leonard defeated his three rivals, he did also suffer a loss to Duran, with the Panamanian claiming a unanimous decision win at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal in June 1980.<\/p>\n

The pair had an immediate rematch later that year, with Leonard inflicting his revenge as he secured an eighth round stoppage victory.<\/p>\n

It is that triumph that Leonard views as his best, after he explained in a resurfaced clip<\/a> why it meant so much to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuran the second fight [was my favourite win]. What happened in the first fight was he took me out of my game plan, he got into my head so I tried to beat him at his own game and fight him toe to toe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew right from the start but it didn\u2019t register hard enough to say \u2018Ray, you can\u2019t beat him this way, you\u2019ve got to box him.\u2019 By the time I realised it was the 10th round, 12th round. He hit me so many times so hard, I\u2019m hurting right now just thinking about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI seriously contemplated retirement. I went to Hawaii with my wife to get away from it and I was running on the sand every morning and people would say \u2018if you would box him you would beat him.\u2019 I called my trainer and said I want to fight Duran ASAP. We had the fight scheduled five months later, the magnitude of big fights that doesn\u2019t happen for a year or years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonard ended his career with a record of 36 wins from 40 fights, with his only other blemishes coming when he drew with Hearns in June 1989, before a defeat to Terry Norris in 1991, and a further loss to Hector Camacho after coming out of retirement in 1997.<\/a><\/p>\n