This Day in History (November 25, 1980)
By Aaron Tallent November 25th, 2006Today in Boxing History: Sugar Ray Leonard No Mas-es Duran
On this day in 1980, Sugar Ray Leonard successfully regained his WBC Welterweight title when his opponent, Roberto Duran, quit in the eighth round at the Louisiana Superdome. If sports fans were not aware that “no más� means “no more,� in Spanish, they knew after that night.
Leonard had lost his title earlier that year when Duran had lured him into a brawl in their first bout in Montreal. While Leonard was competitive, Duran won a very close decision.
For their rematch, Leonard chose not to trade punches with Duran, and used his superior speed to control the bout. In the seventh round, Leonard began taunting Duran and continued to do so in the eighth. With less than 30 seconds to go in that round, Duran, losing marginally on the judges’ scoreboards, walked away from Leonard’s showboating, saying “No más! No más!� The fight was called at 2:44 in the eighth round.
There are many theories as to why Duran quit, but the general consensus is that he had severely deteriorated himself physically to make the 147 pound weight limit for the bout. By the eighth round, he was so exhausted that he chose not to continue out of fear of serious injury and further embarrassment from Leonard’s ring antics.
Regardless of the reasons, the decision to quit haunted Duran for many years afterward. After a serious career slump following the bout, Duran rebounded to win titles at light middleweight and middleweight. He met Leonard for a rubber match in 1989, under the tag line “Uno Más,� or “one more.� In that bout, Leonard easily out-pointed the 38-year-old Duran.
November 25th, 2006 at 9:30 am
I thought for sure Roberto Duran was thru. Sugar Ray Leonard back then was my favorite fighter bar none. I was very happy to see Leonard avenge his defeat. Too Duran’s credit though he came back.
November 26th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
Duran was a fantastic fighter, but his “No Mas” surrender to Leonard still puts an asterisk next to his legacy. He was a fantatsic fighter with a kill or be killed attitude; a man who was born to fight. However, this attitude apparently counted only when he was able to lay leather on the other guy and had least had a glimmer of hope of turning the tide with his vaunted punching power. He couldn’t do anything against Leonard. He was getting humiliated. He was headed for a defeat that would disgrace his Panamanian fans. So what did he do instead? He turned away and just threw his gloves up, with body language that said Leonard the coward wasn’t worth his time. It was a classic bully move: You can’t let the boys think you’re not in control.
March 24th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Sugar was a good fighter but did he really beat Duran, come on get real. that was the worst fix since Liston lay down for Ali in the second fight. I don’t believe Duran who had beaten Leonard in the first fight, had nothing for the second fight. Foget the hype that taunting was bothering Duran, what was really bothering Duran was all the money he owed after he beat Leonard. If you watch the no mas fiasco Duran was never hurt even when Duran turned his back and Leonard hit him with clean shots, Duran just walked away. Duran sold himself like a three dollar crack hooker.