Leonard-Duran II

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Leonard-Duran II was the second of three boxing matches between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran and took place in the Louisiana Superdome on November 25, 1980. In boxing shorthand, it became known as the No Más Fight after Duran was said to have uttered the infamous words while quitting the fight in the eighth round. Both he and his corner have always denied it, saying that he actually said that "my stomach is hurting too much" and that the press had doctored the quote to create the eye-catching headline. The referee stated that he did not hear Duran's "No Mas" remark. Duran had been partying and otherwise over-indulging for days before the fight.

Contents 1 Pre-fight 2 The fight 3 Post-fight speculation and aftermath 4 Pop culture references

[edit] Pre-fight

In their first fight, held just five months earlier in Montreal, Duran won a unanimous decision by scores of 148-147, 145-144, and 146-144. The bitter words between the two fighters, coupled with the close result of the first fight, virtually guaranteed a return match.

Leonard later said he was aware of Duran's habit of ballooning between fights, so he sought an early re-match, knowing Duran would drain himself trying to lose the weight in time and wouldn't be fully fit. Duran was also offered more money to accept the earlier date. Duran had lured Leonard into a brawl in the Montreal battle, a strategy that played to Duran's strengths.

[edit] The fight

Looking to avoid a similar fate in the rematch, Leonard used his superior speed and movement, while throwing punches from a distance to build a small lead on the judges' scorecards during the first six rounds.

In round seven, Leonard started to taunt Duran, and with about 17 seconds left in the eighth round, Duran turned his back to referee Octavio Meyran. He waved his glove in the air and said "No boxeo con el payaso," (I'm not boxing with this clown). Meyran then waved the bout over and Leonard became the winner officially by a technical knockout in round eight, recovering the WBC world welterweight title that Duran had taken from him in Montreal five months before.

[edit] Post-fight speculation and aftermath

Rumors and speculation about the controversy continue over a quarter-century later. Duran, who gorged himself after the weigh-in, claimed he was suffering from stomach cramps. Between rounds five and six, Duran did tell his corner that his stomach was bothering him, and an icepack was applied to his stomach. However, many feel he quit simply out of frustration.

Duran was subsequently seen as an embarrassment in his country of Panama for a very long time. It took about three years (when he beat Davey Moore to win the WBA world junior middleweight title) for his countrymen to forgive him. He went through a period of soul-searching after the Leonard rematch, because many boxing fans seemed to lose their respect for him. Later on, he came back to win two more world titles and re-establish himself as a super-star and legend.^{[citation needed]}

Leonard, on the other hand, maintained his image as a media superstar for the rest of his career, garnering numerous endorsements and serving as a boxing broadcaster for HBO. He went on to unify the welterweight world championship by defeating WBA champion Tommy Hearns the following year, then came out of retirement to fight Marvin Hagler for the world's middleweight title in April 1987 which he won in a 12 round decision. In November 1988, Leonard defeated Donny Lalonde for the super-middleweight and light-heavyweight belts. This is generally regarded as being a spurious fight since Leonard insisted on unheard of conditions, but made Lalonde an "offer he couldn't refuse". It was not a light-heavyweight fight in any way, and hardly even a super middleweight fight since Leonard insisted that Lalonde, a sturdy 175 lbs, weigh in at the super-middle limit of 168 lbs, utterly weakening him.

Both fighters are enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

[edit] Pop culture references

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Being one of the most infamous fights in the history of boxing, there are many references to the Leonard-Duran II fight in pop culture.

• In the episode Sweet And Sour Victory of the TV show Sabrina: The Teenage Witch there is a scene where Sabrina Spellman fights her biology teacher Mr. Poole and beats him soundly. Forcing him to quit by saying, "No más! No más!"