Roberto Durán vs. Sugar Ray Leonard II: The Infamous ‘No Más’ Showdown
Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard continue to be spoken about as two of the greatest fighters. Duran won the first time they both met, with all judges favouring “El Cholo,” with scores of 148–147, 145–144, and 146–144. Leonard fought Duran’s fight, with the Panamanian fighter getting the deserved victory. Their rematch saw Leonard go back to boxing, and it paid dividends with the action forcing Duran to request “No Más.” Big Fight Weekend are taking you back to fight night on November 25, 1980, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
Sugar Ray Leonard Gets Revenge in New Orleans Against Roberto Durán
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Durán Recap
The rematch saw Leonard return to his best: boxing. He used his speed and movement to frustrate Duran. He picked his shots extremely well and didn’t waste anything. Duran tried to pressure Leonard, but his footwork ensured he could pivot away from danger and fire off his shots.
Read More: Thomas Hearns vs. Roberto Durán: Reliving the Knockout of the Decade
“Sugar” was seemingly on top as he moved and fired out his jab, which he couldn’t miss. During round 7, Leonard began taunting his opponent before landing a heavy flush jab, which seemed to frustrate Duran. The Panamanian fighter expressed his frustrations stunningly in the following round when he turned his back on Leonard – and waved his hands and reportedly said “No más,” awarding “Sugar” the TKO victory in round eight, retaining the WBC welterweight title.
At the time of the TKO, Leonard was in front on all three scorecards, 68–66, 68–66 and 67–66.
No Más Controversy
Regarding the “No más” controversy, Duran denied saying it and said he was saying to himself: “No sigo, no sigo, no sigo,” which translates to “I’m not carrying on”.
Duran also explained he couldn’t continue because of stomach cramps from round five onwards. Controversially his manager Carlos Eleta did not agree with him and said: “He quit because he was embarrassed.”
Read More: Sugar Ray Leonard Became World Champ For First Time
Leonard didn’t seem concerned by how the stoppage came and simply said: “I made him quit.” He continued: “To make a man quit, to make Roberto Durán quit, was better than knocking him out.”
The two met once again on December 7, 1989, with Leonard winning comfortably by unanimous decision.
Freelance Writer and Digital Marketer, spending most of his time waiting for Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk II. Also watches YouTube videos of Lennox Lewis fights on a daily basis.
