Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Pete Ranzany

Ray Leonard 147 lbs beat Pete Ranzany 147 lbs by TKO at 2:41 in round 4 of 12

• Date: 1979-08-12
• Location: Caesars Palace, Sports Pavilion, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• Referee: Joey Curtis
• Judge: Art Lurie
• Judge: Harold Buck
• Judge: Hal Miller

• NABF Welterweight Title (6th defense by Ranzany)
• Fight Photo

Notes

• Leonard was ranked second by the WBC, and Ranzany was ranked third.
• Leonard made $150,000, and Ranzany got $75,000.
• The fight took place at the Caesars Palace Sports Pavilion before a capacity crowd of about 4,500.
• The fight was televised nationally on ABC on Wide World of Sports.
• The Associated Press reported: "Both fighters rarely left the center of the 18-foot ring until Leonard backed Ranzany to the ropes with a flashing series of jabs followed by a half-dozen devastating hooks that put Ranzany down."
• Ranzany was down once in round 4.
• Although Ranzany beat the count and was able to resume the fight, a subsequent barrage of punches from Leonard convinced the referee to call a halt to the fight.
• Ranzany led on all three scorecards going into the 4th round.

Post-Fight Quotes

• Sugar Ray Leonard: "Pete put up a hell of a fight, but he never hurt me, and he didn't throw any punches I wasn't ready for."
• Pete Ranzany: "I feel so disappointed. I don't know what I did wrong. Maybe I was too aggressive. Usually, I'm a slow starter, but today I wanted to be impressive, and I wanted to win this fight so much."

Article

• "Leonard captures first title" By Patrick Arnold, Associated Press, August 13, 1979

Preceded by: Ranzany vs. Gray

NABF Welterweight Title Fight # 14

Succeeded by: Leonard vs. Price