Today in Boxing History: Terry Norris decisions Sugar Ray Leonard

On this day in 1991, Terry Norris successfully defended his WBC Light Middleweight title with a 12-round decision over Sugar Ray Leonard. For Leonard, it marked the end of an illustrious career.

After returning to the ring in 1987 to win the WBC Middleweight title from Marvin Hagler, Leonard’s focus shifted to mega-fights. His two bouts in 1989 were a draw with Thomas Hearns and a lopsided decision-win over an aging Roberto Duran. Following the Duran fight, Leonard took 14 months off from boxing. He then dropped down to light middleweight to face Norris for his title.

Norris had won the WBC Light Middleweight belt in March of 1990 with a first-round knockout of John Mugabi. He then successfully defended the title once before signing to fight Leonard.

While Norris’s weak chin gave him problems throughout his career, he was one of the most physically gifted fighters of his era, and it definitely showed against a 34-year-old Leonard. Norris dominated the bout, flooring Leonard in both the second and seventh rounds. The final scorecards read 119-113, 120-114, and 116-110, all in favor of Norris.

Leonard announced his retirement following the bout. He did return to the ring in 1997 at the age of 40, was stopped in the fifth round by Hector Camacho, and then retired for good. Norris lost and regained the WBC belt twice between 1990 and 1997.