Thirty Five Years Ago: The Passing of the Torch: "Terrible" Terry Norris beats Sugar Ray Leonard

[elmersalsa]

On a Saturday night of February 9, 1991, the great Sugar Ray Leonard, a five-time world champion in 5 different weight classes, and had not fight in a year, tries to win another world title of the hands of "Terrible" Terry Norris of Lubbock, TX. Norris, 23, was the WBC World Super Welterweight Champion.

Every great fighter has his decade. Leonard dominated the decade and became the #1 fighter of the 80s by beating such great fighters, the other 3 members of the 4 Kings of Boxing of Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvelous Marvin Hagler in historical bouts.

At 34, his best days were behind him. Surprisingly, he only had one defeat in 38 bouts! Since losing to Duran in June 1980, Leonard went undefeated in his next 10 bouts with a record of 9-0-1, with 7 knockouts.

Some of those wins were praised. Some were so-so. And some were spectacular in which put him in the pantheon of the 20 greatest boxers, pound per pound of all-time besides of only winning 36 fights in 38 contests.

The public was tired of Leonard's cherry picking of opponents, especially, after coming back beating Marvelous. For example, Leonard won 2 titles in one night against WBC World Light-Heavyweight Champion Donny Lalonde of Canada. And of course, because he was the cash cow, and the man with lee-way, for some reason, the new created WBC World Super Middleweight crown was also at stake in which Lalonde not only was defending his crown, but had to shed by the demands of Leonard's camp, 7 pounds for the catch-weight fight. How could the WBC let that happen? I don't know. It's called clout, I guess. That happened in November 1988.

In June 1989, Leonard had the long-awaited rematch against Hearns in Las Vegas. Hearns had to wait 8 years for his revenge. Unfortunately for Hearns, the fight ended in a "draw". A fight that the majority saw Hearns win. None of the two were at prime best, but they gave us a fierce hard battle that was erased by the draw.

In December of the same year in Vegas, Duran finally got his shot at Leonard after 9 long years. At 38, Duran wanted revenge of the No Mas. It was a futile and boring contest in which Sugar Ray won clearly in 12 rounds. After that, with no more cherry picking opponents to choose, Leonard took the year 1990 completely off.

But, a new star was rising in the beginning of the decade. A guy that I'm many ways resembled Leonard in style and looks. They could be called brothers if you ask me. Leonard cherry picked Norris for Norris's WBC World Super Welterweight title.

The fight was set in a place that ironically, Leonard has never fought in that arena: Madison Square Garden of New York City. It's incredible to believe that a fighter as famous as Leonard, has never fought at the placed called The Mecca of Boxing. A place where legends fought often: Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jake LaMotta, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Roberto Duran, Alexis Arguello, Salvador Sanchez and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, his nemesis, to name a few. They fought there. That was also very strange. Leonard had never fought at the Garden.

The fight was a mismatch from the second round on. In the second round, Norris dropped Sugar Ray. And he did it again in the 7th round. Leonard was seeing a shadow of himself. Norris was younger, faster, stronger and in his prime. After 12 one-sided rounds, Norris wins and retained his title by a wide margin. A new super star in boxing. It was clear that Leonard passed the torch to the new generation of boxing. Norris became his heir to the throne.

Leonard retired after all this. How many retirements he had and coming back to fight a named fighter took his toll. It caught up with him. He retired for good.

But, six years later, in 1997, Hector Macho Camacho of Puerto Rico knocked him out and Leonard at 40, never again fought again.

[Ambling Alp II]

you are accusing Leonard of cherry picking? wtf?

Leonard comes back after being off for three years and fights Marvin Hagler!
Then fights:
Lalonde
Hearns
Duran

During this time, Duran had 5 fights against:
Victor Claudio
Juan Carlos Gimeno
Rocky Stackhouse
Paul Thorn
Jeff Lanas

And somehow Leonard is the one "cherry picking?

[gilgamesh]

This isn't really a fight that's worth marking the anniversary of. It's a decent fight, and a passing of the torch moment sort of I suppose, but nothing especially memorable in the annals of Boxing history happened here.

[elmersalsa]

This isn't really a fight that's worth marking the anniversary of. It's a decent fight, and a passing of the torch moment sort of I suppose, but nothing especially memorable in the annals of Boxing history happened here.

Sugar Ray Leonard passed the torch to Terrible Terry Norris. It was the 90s decade. Norris's time!

[gilgamesh]

This isn't really a fight that's worth marking the anniversary of. It's a decent fight, and a passing of the torch moment sort of I suppose, but nothing especially memorable in the annals of Boxing history happened here.

Sugar Ray Leonard passed the torch to Terrible Terry Norris. It was the 90s decade. Norris's time!

Norris certainly had a good run for a few years there. I don't think he ever really reached the P4P #1 status, but he was Top 3 or Top 5 for a little while.

I do think it's a little silly how people excuse this loss for Leonard as Leonard just being "past his prime" when we're seeing guys now who are winning some of their biggest fights at an older age than Leonard was here and we saw Archie Moore who was older than Leonard about 40 years before this dominate the Light Heavyweight division for a decade at an older age through his entire reign.

It was a tough night for Ray. A great night for Terry. Not the most memorable fight. The Young Lion vs The Old Lion is a tale as old as time, and we see it play out many, many times in boxing history.

Both Leonard and Duran kinda lost to a younger version of their respective styles in the 90's. For Leonard it was Norris. For Duran it was Pazienza. Norris was up near the Top of the Pound for Pound lists after the Leonard fight, Pazienza had survived a very serious car accident, and never really competed at the top level ever again both coming into, and after the Duran fights.

[Caractacus]

but wouldn't a boxer have to be somewhere in his prime to be able to "Pass a torch" to another boxer tho ?

[Ambling Alp II]

This isn't really a fight that's worth marking the anniversary of. It's a decent fight, and a passing of the torch moment sort of I suppose, but nothing especially memorable in the annals of Boxing history happened here.

Sugar Ray Leonard passed the torch to Terrible Terry Norris. It was the 90s decade. Norris's time!

Norris certainly had a good run for a few years there. I don't think he ever really reached the P4P #1 status, but he was Top 3 or Top 5 for a little while.

I do think it's a little silly how people excuse this loss for Leonard as Leonard just being "past his prime" when we're seeing guys now who are winning some of their biggest fights at an older age than Leonard was here and we saw Archie Moore who was older than Leonard about 40 years before this dominate the Light Heavyweight division for a decade at an older age through his entire reign.

It was a tough night for Ray. A great night for Terry. Not the most memorable fight. The Young Lion vs The Old Lion is a tale as old as time, and we see it play out many, many times in boxing history.

Both Leonard and Duran kinda lost to a younger version of their respective styles in the 90's. For Leonard it was Norris. For Duran it was Pazienza. Norris was up near the Top of the Pound for Pound lists after the Leonard fight, Pazienza had survived a very serious car accident, and never really competed at the top level ever again both coming into, and after the Duran fights.

Leonard was clearly well past his prime. He was 34. He also had not fought for over a year. If you watch the fight you can see he was nowhere near the fighter he once was. Duran was well past it when he fought Pazienza as well. Not silly at all to think this. Yes, it was a young lion vs old lion situation which does happen a lot in boxing history.

Never thought of these fights as changing of the guard.
Archie Moore was a rarity. Very few guys fight that well at his age. He actually lost more when he was younger than you think.

[gilgamesh]

A lot of them guys lost a lot more often than modern fighters because fighting in evenly matched fights wasn't only expected it was outright demanded.

I'm not saying Leonard was prime against Terry Norris, but at 34 he wasn't completely shot either. Ring rust and not staying in peak condition during his layoffs probably played a big part in it. Along with the damage he took in some of his biggest fights.

I agree with you i never thought of the fight as a passing of the torch moment. The most similar career trajectory to Leonard's as far as marketing and matchmaking would be De La Hoya.

[elmersalsa]

I was rooting for Sugar Ray, but, damn! He got a terrible beat down by Terry Norris.

[Ambling Alp II]

You hate Leonard. You weren't rooting for him.

[Jaywheel]

I was rooting for Sugar Ray, but, damn! He got a terrible beat down by Terry Norris.

yeah right

[keithmoonhangover]

On a Saturday night of February 9, 1991, the great Sugar Ray Leonard, a five-time world champion in 5 different weight classes, and had not fight in a year, tries to win another world title of the hands of "Terrible" Terry Norris of Lubbock, TX. Norris, 23, was the WBC World Super Welterweight Champion.

Every great fighter has his decade. Leonard dominated the decade and became the #1 fighter of the 80s by beating such great fighters, the other 3 members of the 4 Kings of Boxing of Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvelous Marvin Hagler in historical bouts.

At 34, his best days were behind him. Surprisingly, he only had one defeat in 38 bouts! Since losing to Duran in June 1980, Leonard went undefeated in his next 10 bouts with a record of 9-0-1, with 7 knockouts.

Some of those wins were praised. Some were so-so. And some were spectacular in which put him in the pantheon of the 20 greatest boxers, pound per pound of all-time besides of only winning 36 fights in 38 contests.

The public was tired of Leonard's cherry picking of opponents, especially, after coming back beating Marvelous. For example, Leonard won 2 titles in one night against WBC World Light-Heavyweight Champion Donny Lalonde of Canada. And of course, because he was the cash cow, and the man with lee-way, for some reason, the new created WBC World Super Middleweight crown was also at stake in which Lalonde not only was defending his crown, but had to shed by the demands of Leonard's camp, 7 pounds for the catch-weight fight. How could the WBC let that happen? I don't know. It's called clout, I guess. That happened in November 1988.

In June 1989, Leonard had the long-awaited rematch against Hearns in Las Vegas. Hearns had to wait 8 years for his revenge. Unfortunately for Hearns, the fight ended in a "draw". A fight that the majority saw Hearns win. None of the two were at prime best, but they gave us a fierce hard battle that was erased by the draw.

In December of the same year in Vegas, Duran finally got his shot at Leonard after 9 long years. At 38, Duran wanted revenge of the No Mas. It was a futile and boring contest in which Sugar Ray won clearly in 12 rounds. After that, with no more cherry picking opponents to choose, Leonard took the year 1990 completely off.

But, a new star was rising in the beginning of the decade. A guy that I'm many ways resembled Leonard in style and looks. They could be called brothers if you ask me. Leonard cherry picked Norris for Norris's WBC World Super Welterweight title.

The fight was set in a place that ironically, Leonard has never fought in that arena: Madison Square Garden of New York City. It's incredible to believe that a fighter as famous as Leonard, has never fought at the placed called The Mecca of Boxing. A place where legends fought often: Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jake LaMotta, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Roberto Duran, Alexis Arguello, Salvador Sanchez and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, his nemesis, to name a few. They fought there. That was also very strange. Leonard had never fought at the Garden.

The fight was a mismatch from the second round on. In the second round, Norris dropped Sugar Ray. And he did it again in the 7th round. Leonard was seeing a shadow of himself. Norris was younger, faster, stronger and in his prime. After 12 one-sided rounds, Norris wins and retained his title by a wide margin. A new super star in boxing. It was clear that Leonard passed the torch to the new generation of boxing. Norris became his heir to the throne.

Leonard retired after all this. How many retirements he had and coming back to fight a named fighter took his toll. It caught up with him. He retired for good.

But, six years later, in 1997, Hector Macho Camacho of Puerto Rico knocked him out and Leonard at 40, never again fought again.

Leonard didn't train properly for the Norris fight, he was carrying a rib injury.

[gilgamesh]

Duran has not 1, but 2 Lossiversaries coming up in March, and he has another coming up this weekend. What a festive time to recall some moments from Duran's long and storied career.

[elmersalsa]

You hate Leonard. You weren't rooting for him.

You don't know me.