- 6/30/2025
Sugar Ray Leonard defends the WBC/WBA Welterweight Title against Bruce Finch on HBO Boxing.
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00:00Coming up next, Universal Welderweight Champion Sugar Ray Leonard defends his crown against Lighten and Bruce Finch.
00:12See it live on World Championship Boxing.
00:21This is HBO.
00:30We know Nevada plays host to the most celebrated athlete in the world, Sugar Ray Leonard.
00:38On September 16th, Sugar Ray, behind on all three scorecards, scored a courageous knockout of Thomas Hearns to claim the undisputed Welderweight title.
00:47But now, third-ranked WBC contender Bruce Finch would love to spoil the first offense of everyone's champion, Sugar Ray Leonard.
01:00You've got to be quicker than you've got to take it away from it, okay?
01:08Okay.
01:08Undisputed Welderweight Champion Sugar Ray Leonard defends his crown against the third-ranked WBC contender, Bruce Finch.
01:30Live from the Centennial Coliseum in Reno, Nevada, HBO Sports presents World Championship Boxing.
01:44The main event, the undisputed Welderweight Champion of the world, Sugar Ray Leonard, defends his crown against the number three WBC contender, Bruce Finch.
01:55Hello, it's been 72 years since the last one.
01:58Imagine this scenario if you can.
02:02Jerry Cooney defeats Larry Holmes for the heavyweight championship.
02:06Shortly thereafter, James Baldwin, one of America's leading writers, a black man, urges Muhammad Ali to come out of retirement,
02:13whip his tired old fat body into shape, to fight Cooney and restore the heavyweight championship to the black race for its greater glory.
02:21Well, something like that is exactly what happened here in Reno 72 years ago.
02:26The champion in 1910 was Jack Johnson, the first black to hold the title.
02:32It was a time in Ralph Ellison's memorable phrase, when most blacks were invisible.
02:38Johnson's flamboyant lifestyle stirred up racial tensions.
02:41Jack London, one of the most famous writers of his day, pleaded with former champion James Jeffries, now weighing 320 pounds,
02:53to come out of retirement and win back the title for the white race.
02:58Jeffries earned the now infamous nickname, The Great White Hope.
03:01In six months, he lost 90 pounds.
03:04Promoter Tex Rickett guaranteed Johnson an astronomical $120,000, and he built a 20,000-seat stadium in Reno, remembered by Andy Ganaccio.
03:14Well, the day before the fight was quite an excitement.
03:19Everybody in Reno, I think, were talking about.
03:22And we all looked for a great big win, which turned out to be a good fight.
03:27Initially, everybody was rooting for the white man.
03:30They felt as though that he was going to be the winner, including myself.
03:34July 4th, 1910, Jack Johnson and James Jeffries scheduled to fight 45 rounds for the heavyweight championship of the world.
03:45There were 3,000 requests for press credentials, 2,000 of them filled.
03:50Jeffries was the favorite, but by the 15th round, the Great White Hope was bloody and hopeless.
03:57He never had a chance.
03:58On the 15th round, why, Jeffries had to be knocked out, and that was it.
04:05When you see the thing happen, not in your favor, you sort of, you feel like going home from the funeral party.
04:14The heavyweight champion was then widely regarded as the greatest athlete in the world, an important symbolic title.
04:21The loss of this title was threatening to many white people.
04:24After the fight, there was violence and, in a few cases, riots around the country.
04:29And Congress went on to pass an act that forbid the interstate transfer of fight films.
04:35That act wasn't abrogated until 1934.
04:39And it wasn't until a few years after that that a black man was permitted to fight again for the heavyweight championship.
04:46Joe Lewis.
04:46Now, 72 years after the first battle of the century, Reno, Nevada is alive again, anticipating its second title fight.
04:56And this one features a black man who is the most popular athlete in America.
05:00I think that people in all races, in all aspects of life, are able to accept me.
05:08Why?
05:09I don't know.
05:10If I knew, I'll bother and I'll make millions.
05:12Sugar Ray Leonard is as far from being a controversial hero as Johnson was close to it.
05:20He abides by all the unwritten but nevertheless powerful rules of athletic herohood.
05:28Next month, HBO Sports will give you the full story of the life of Jack Johnson on our continuing series, Boxing's Best.
05:35Well, that was 72 years ago.
05:39And here tonight, another championship fight in the city of Reno, Nevada.
05:42Bruce Finch, the upstart against the champion, Sugar Ray Leonard.
05:46And, Larry, I think it's safe to say, what about Sugar Ray Leonard the man?
05:50And even more than that, what about Sugar Ray Leonard the entity?
05:53Success and Ray Leonard are synonymous.
05:56The WBC welterweight champion, Sugar Ray Leonard, introducing Thomas, the Motor City Cobra, earned 15 rounds of boxing.
06:13You've got nine minutes.
06:15You're blowing it now, son.
06:16You're blowing it.
06:18Okay, put the ice just back.
06:19I just wanted to get at him because it was for me.
06:25It was for Ray.
06:29Good right hand by Herc Center.
06:31That's Herc.
06:34Herc has had to tie him up.
06:36Herc now scores for the whole boat.
06:38Herc starts down to square and now goes down to the rope.
06:44I wanted my guy to win those last two rounds.
06:47He can't keep scoring a corner, but I don't like it to be that close.
06:51Hearns is very weak, though.
06:52He's really weak.
06:53He's hurting.
06:53Trying to go downstairs is Ray Leonard.
06:56Hearns just trying to hang on here.
06:58Left hand sends Hearns back against the ropes again.
07:00And that's all.
07:01It's over.
07:02And Ray Leonard is an unsecuted Broadway champion.
07:06Number one.
07:07Sugar Ray Leonard has become the most glorified athlete in the world of sports.
07:11He is everywhere.
07:12President Reagan greeted the new undisputed Broadway champion on Sugar Ray Leonard Day in Washington, D.C.
07:31And on January 4th, Palmer Park dedicated the new Sugar Ray Leonard gymnasium in his honor.
07:41Palmer Park is home for Ray Leonard, and it is a welcome sight for a well-traveled national monument.
07:47I have to say that there is a negative end of it, absentee from my family, you know, from one day to another, from little Ray.
07:54He hasn't been home, I don't think, for more than three or four days, at a stretch since the Hearns fight.
08:00It's a lot out there to be done.
08:03You know, it's a lot he has to do, but I think at this point in time, our life matters more than all that.
08:10And it was because of those sentiments that Ray felt it was necessary to bring little Ray with him when he arrived for his celebrated welcome in Reno, Nevada.
08:20I just miss him so much because I go away and I come back and something's changed about him.
08:26You know, you can only go around once with a kid because next thing you know, he'll be asked for my keys to drive my car.
08:34Unless he has his own.
08:35But for now, it is Ray Leonard who drives himself toward the most lucrative heights in boxing history.
08:42He has grossed approximately $40 million in his last two years in the ring, and while he has collected the cash, we have been treated to one memory after another.
08:52It was November 30th of 1979 when Sugar Ray Leonard took the WBC Wellerweight title from Wilfred Benitez.
09:04The 23-year-old champion earned $1 million in this, his 26th professional fight.
09:10Then, after losing his title to Roberto Duran, they tangled in what is now simply referred to as Nomax.
09:16Ray had avenged the earlier loss by humiliating the hands of Stone, forcing one of the legends of the fight game to quit.
09:24And then there was the one for the record books.
09:26September 16th, 1981 may be remembered in years to come at the date when two of the most gifted welterweights in history met in the same ring.
09:35Thomas Hearns and the new undisputed champion, Sugar Ray Leonard.
09:39I think that I've made my mark pretty much in history, back-to-back.
09:44I fought Benitez, Kaluli, Duran twice, and then Tommy Hearns.
09:49I don't think there's a fighter that really did something like that.
09:54With people to say, pound for pound, he was the best during his era, he pretty much has to fight everybody that's available at that time.
10:01Everybody in the top ten.
10:02I think I'm pretty much making history without really knowing it.
10:06But, modest guy, I don't know.
10:09I will not speak about it.
10:11It seems the only obstacle to Ray Leonard's modest claim as the greatest is middleweight champion Marvin Hagler.
10:17That fight may not happen until 1983.
10:20But this is now, and tonight, Sugar Ray Leonard must face this man, the third-ranked WBC contender, Bruce Finch.
10:28You don't take nobody, Chief.
10:31They're the most dangerous kind of guys, because you cannot reach the same emotional peak you have when you fought at Tommy Hearns, when you fight at Bruce Finch.
10:38You can't have that letdown.
10:40You can't allow for the letdown.
10:41But thank God Ray trains hard.
10:43He's in great shape.
10:45And that's the beauty of it.
10:54Bruce Finch.
10:55Here you have an opportunity to fight for the world, undisputed.
10:59I mean, a welterweight champion of the world.
11:04Again, you will fight for the title.
11:07You won't win.
11:08See you in the ring, pal.
11:15Words of warning.
11:16Of course, is the other half of the performance of which you spoke, Larry.
11:18He is a guy who didn't burst upon the scene, but rather crept upon it rather quietly.
11:23And tonight, a big payday for him.
11:28A 27-year-old contender living in Las Vegas has made his way to Reno for a shot at the undisputed welterweight title.
11:36To many, he is a long shot.
11:38And Bruce Finch will admit he is not a household name.
11:41But after nine years in the ring as a professional, it seems likely that Bruce Finch will make the most of his title shot.
11:47Now, this is the greatest opportunity of his life.
11:52He's aware of that.
11:54I think the people should be very, very cautious judging a fighter before they've seen him in the ring.
11:59Surely, if Bruce Finch is judged by his third round knockoff at the hands of Thomas Hearns back in 1978, then the verdict is unfavorable.
12:09But he did fight on just 10 days' notice, and he fought without a trainer.
12:13I fought in his hometown, and I didn't know too much about him at the time.
12:19I could look back at the mistakes that I made against Thomas Hearns and find out that the mistakes that I did make, I can correct them now since I got different people that's working with me.
12:32I really don't think that the Thomas Hearns debacle, so to speak, was really anything to be concerned about.
12:39I think that if Bruce Finch fought Thomas Hearns today, that we would see a completely different fight.
12:45It's possible. Bruce has won all 11 of his fights since Hearns three years ago, including this convincing 8th round TKO of Zeferino Gonzalez, who had gone 10 rounds with Roberto Durea.
12:55I was very strong for that fight. I just kept the pressure on him, and that took everything away from him. That is something that Durea didn't do.
13:06Speedy Gonzalez represented a step up, as far as I was concerned, and I think every fight that I have selected for Bruce, since we have handled Bruce, has been a step up.
13:20The next step was a shot at the Northern Oregon Welderweight title against Pepe Dominguez.
13:25After 10 brutal rounds, Bruce Finch had taken his crown.
13:28And I was just breathing so bad that they just stopped me, just come to me and stop the fight.
13:33I was underdog for that fight, but I did what I had to do. I took the title from him, and I'm very proud of myself.
13:42And now, this public relations man from a Las Vegas casino hotel is gambling on a proud future.
13:48Tonight, he is hoping to pull a major upset in his quest for the welterweight title.
13:53And his slot machine keeps showing the same combination.
13:57Sugar Ray Leonard.
13:58When I did the ring, I would look at Sugar Ray as another opponent.
14:07So, as far as the reporters and everything want to know who am I, all they got to do is keep their eye on Bruce Finch, watch him closer to the receiver right now.
14:16No matter who the champion is, he's a human being just like the fighter he's fighting.
14:22And if the champion is not completely prepared mentally and physically for the fight, he can be defeated by any contender.
14:30And we just happen to think that Bruce Finch is the best.
14:32Well, Bruce Finch doesn't have to come too far. It is only a walk of maybe a hundred yards, and he is prepared to make that walk into the ring now to take on the likes of Sugar Ray Leonard.
15:00A guy he says he can't wait to get in the ring with.
15:03So, here is Finch making his way out of his dressing room now and down toward the ring here in Reno, Nevada.
15:08Crowd getting its first glimpse of the challenger.
15:11And I think it's interesting that the challenger is getting an awful lot of support from the crowd here in Reno, which, as we mentioned, has literally adopted Sugar Ray Leonard.
15:19Finch looking rather calm right now as he makes his way down toward the ring.
15:23Crowd now just starting to sense his presence.
15:26And it's almost a case of polite applause, if you will, for Bruce Finch.
15:33Finch, a guy who has not lost a fight in three years, remember.
15:38Following that knockout by Tommy Hearns, that he says if he had to do it over again, he and his people, of course, say the results would be very different.
15:46So, Finch now, with very stern-faced handlers, and Finch himself, very quiet young man, he is not one to speak out a great deal.
15:58He is now on his way into the ring.
16:00He, of course, the challenger, historically the first man in the ring, and it is not an unusual ploy for the champion to leave him there for a little while and let him think about what's going to happen.
16:09Here's Bruce Finch.
16:18You look at the record of Bruce Finch, as we mentioned, 33 wins, he's lost three fights.
16:23He has a draw and has knocked out 27 of his opponents.
16:26But, Larry, that sometimes is a misleading number.
16:28We don't know who the opponents were, of course, and if it had been 34-0, you still don't know.
16:36When you go up against a world-class, and really what everyone is coming to recognize is a great fighter in Sugar Ray Leonard.
16:43We mentioned that Ray Leonard might be on the top of his game.
16:46He is a guy who just seems to be getting better with every outing, and even against a guy like Bruce Finch, who he is supposed to beat.
16:52As Finch awaits the presence of Ray Leonard, Angelo Dundee, the first one out, and there is Ray Leonard looking very calm, as usual.
17:00Lou Duval, one of the promoters of this fight, leading his way down.
17:04And again, the crowd just starting to come alive with the thought that the champion, Sugar Ray Leonard, who has taken this town as he has every town that he visits, by storm.
17:14Larry Merchant's point about if he were to fight the mayor of Reno, Sugar Ray Leonard would be the public choice.
17:19He has a quiet, confident kind of look, and that is the kind of look he has in every fight that he fights.
17:27He is all business at a juncture like this, there's no question about it.
17:31Not quite out into the arena yet, and that's why the crowd is not built to the pitch that I'm sure you will hear them as soon as he makes this move here,
17:38and then about another 20 yards before he is actually in to the Centennial Coliseum here.
17:45Sugar Ray surrounded by the people who have been with him for the whole route.
17:49Very few people change.
17:50Now you can hear the crowd start to see him, get their first glimpse of him here.
17:55He has been very much a factor in this city, having been here for a couple of weeks, and he has been very present.
18:00He has been everywhere.
18:02Meanwhile, Bruce Finch in the middle of the ring, just awaiting him, actually kind of ignoring him and ignoring everything around him.
18:10Crowd not quite as electric as I thought it might be.
18:13So much anticipation for this fight in Reno.
18:18And Leonard now coming down toward the ring.
18:21Angelo Dundee will part the ropes to let him in.
18:25And here is Ray Leonard smiling at the crowd.
18:29And he will be all business when he gets in that 19 by 7 inch square ring.
18:33Vows to the crowd.
18:34Now we'll see if there are any psychological games to be played here.
18:46Interesting that he's wearing a very simple black robe with a simple name on the back.
18:51Leonard comes from the old story.
18:54When you have the story, just tell it.
18:56When you don't, you've got to write it.
18:57And he goes over and shakes the hand of Bruce Finch.
19:01No staring, no show business here, just simply business.
19:05There is Juanita Leonard, Sugar Ray's wife.
19:07She too has been very calm, and that is not characteristic of Juanita prior to a fight of her husband Ray's.
19:14Ray Jr. is also in the crowd here.
19:17In fact, the entire Leonard family.
19:18And there is Ray Leonard Jr.
19:20And you can see he's ready for action himself.
19:22That is the definitive chip off the block right there.
19:25Well, Bruce Finch has a son here also, a three-year-old son, Mark Marco.
19:31Here is the tale of the tape.
19:32Quite comparable, actually.
19:33Finch, two years the senior of Sugar Ray Leonard.
19:35Leonard has an inch and a half height advantage and a pound and a quarter weight advantage.
19:39Pound and three quarters.
19:40Make that three quarters.
19:41I never was very good at math.
19:42The reach advantage goes to Finch.
19:44And again, I can't really think that that would be a great factor.
19:47So that is pretty much the tale of the tape.
19:49They have fought four people of the same, the same people, four different folks.
19:54And, of course, you can see the results.
19:57That's right.
19:58Sugar Ray Leonard has knocked out the three men who have stopped Finch.
20:02But we should point out again, without making excuses for Finch, who he is,
20:07that he was an opponent in those days.
20:10Someone who was picked out to make someone look good.
20:13Someone who was not training regularly or fighting regularly.
20:16All right.
20:16Nothing left to do but to get to it.
20:18Let's go to the ring announcer, the inevitable, Jimmy Lennon, for the introductions.
20:24Ladies and gentlemen, here we go for the big showdown in Reno, 15 rounds of boxing for
20:32the undisputed Rutherway Boxing Championship of the World.
20:38Presenting to you on my right, out of the red corner, the challenger wearing white trunks
20:43with a blue trim, formerly of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada.
20:50At 145 and a quarter pounds, 24 wins by knockout in his 30 great wins, the North American Boxing
21:00Federation weatherweight champion, rated number three contender in the world, here is lightning
21:08and Bruce Finch.
21:15So Finch does have some crowd support here in Reno.
21:18Well, fans, his opponent, out of the red corner wearing black trunks with a gold stripe,
21:23and he really needing no introduction the world over, hailing from Palmer Park, Maryland,
21:30hand, weighing in at a trim and ready, even 146 pounds, 22 great knockouts and 31 sensational
21:40wins, here, the undisputed world's welterweight boxing champion, the classy Sugar Ray Leonard.
21:51Referee now giving instructions, Mills Lane.
22:01Okay, a few seconds, I want you to go light on the grease, okay? Light on the grease.
22:05Now, you've had your instruction, any questions from Mr. Finch's corner?
22:09Any questions from Mr. Leonard's corner?
22:11Shake hands, let's get it on, boys.
22:13Well, Mills Lane said it all, let's get it on, let's get it on.
22:19I look, Barry, for Ray Leonard to try some body punching early in the fight, he's been
22:24working on that a great deal in his training.
22:27Let's see if he can put it to effective use.
22:29Ready here? Ready? All right.
22:31Ray looks very calm, and Bruce Finch, the challenger, on his behalf, also looking very calm.
22:35Round one, 15 rounds, it's for the undisputed welterweight championship of the world in Reno,
22:39Nevada, first time in 72 years.
22:43Finch, a lunging right hand for his punch of the fight, harmless.
22:52Finch wears the white trunks, blue trim, and Sugar Ray Leonard wearing the black trunks with the gold trim.
23:03Sugar Ray starts off with his back to the ropes here against Finch,
23:06and almost a let's see what you got kid kind of attitude.
23:09Finch does get a couple of punches through.
23:11Ray still seems to be kind of shaking out the cobwebs here.
23:23Finch is the number three ranked contender, remember.
23:26He is not somebody that is found under a rock, and in fact, has really only been fighting
23:29on a full-time basis for about the past three years.
23:32Finch has a reputation more as a stinging puncher, rather than a heavy puncher.
23:40We've seen Leonard knock people out with one punch.
23:44Now, Davey Boyd-Green will attest to that.
23:48That is the thing about Ray Leonard.
23:49The left hand, left hook, did score on the cheek of Sugar Ray Leonard, did not do any damage.
23:54This is a little uncharacteristic of Leonard, even if he's sizing up his opponent.
24:04In most fights I've seen him in, he's tried to win almost every round of every fight.
24:08Did score with the right hand to the side of the hand.
24:09Every minute of every round, that is.
24:15Leonard looking sharp here in the first round, although not throwing a lot of punches.
24:19And Finch, to his credit, has not missed a great deal either.
24:30Leonard does look all business.
24:35Right to the head and right to the body by Finch.
24:37He does have quick hands, and that is one of the things that people say about him.
24:42In fact, people say that he does a lot of the things that Leonard does.
24:45He just does not do them quite as well as Leonard.
24:49But Leonard is the fighter that comes along once a decade, if that.
24:55Right hand again, scoring on the top of the head of Finch.
24:58Thrown by Leonard, another right hand.
24:59That might have been the best punch of the fight.
25:02Finch does not take a backward step, however.
25:09And Finch is pretty much throwing caution to the wind.
25:12He has not been on his bicycle.
25:13This is not Larry Bonds that Sugar Ray Leonard is fighting.
25:16That round was Bruce Finch's.
25:40Ray Leonard was not doing much business, just trying to size him up.
25:44Let's see what we can hear.
25:45Let him slide in on you, Ray.
25:57Don't lay on the ropes at all, but he butted you already on top of your head.
26:01You know what I mean?
26:01Yeah.
26:02Okay, son.
26:03Don't take no gamble.
26:04Don't go on the risk.
26:06Let your shots go.
26:07Outside, inside.
26:08Make it be your case.
26:09Go please, you got it?
26:10Don't let him leave tape on you like that.
26:13He's all stiff.
26:14This one's your nail.
26:15Go downstairs.
26:15You're going to his pace.
26:16Pick it up.
26:18Go your thing, because this kid will fall apart.
26:21Go your own thing.
26:23When they rub Ray Leonard down, it's almost like they're polishing a diamond.
26:27David, get some of the water on.
26:28And in fact, they are.
26:32Take me, Ray.
26:33Well, I think Angela Dundee told you everything, certainly, that we can tell you between rounds.
26:37Don't get on the ropes.
26:39He says he butted you on top of the head one time.
26:41Don't take any chances with this guy.
26:43Jax Morton, his other trainer, saying the man is stiff.
26:46Go downstairs now.
26:57That right hand to the ribs definitely smarts.
27:00Strange lack of passion and excitement in the crowd here.
27:19That's very true, especially for a fight that has been anticipated like this one has.
27:27I guess after 72 years, they're out of practice.
27:30Not to mention out of breath.
27:34Finch forcing the action again, but unable to really score with anything substantial on Sugar Ray Leonard.
27:39Leonard, as his corner has said, is going downstairs here in round two.
27:44Counter punch by Finch.
27:45Score to the face of Sugar Ray Leonard.
27:47And Leonard staying off the ropes.
27:51Left hand.
27:52And another left hand.
27:53And that one could have stung Sugar Ray.
27:56And the crowd comes alive for maybe the first time tonight on behalf of the challenger, Bruce Finch.
28:02Punch away free.
28:03Come on.
28:03You got a two-hander free.
28:06Not really a serious punch, but nonetheless, a punch that I'm sure stung.
28:13And another left hand.
28:14And a right hand to the top of the head.
28:15Almost a rabbit punch.
28:17And Leonard is doing what his corner told him don't do.
28:21And that is get off the ropes.
28:24There's a right hand and Finch is staggered.
28:26So right back.
28:27Now, Ray had a chance that time, I think, to follow up.
28:30Decided not to.
28:31Another right hand.
28:32And there is a booming right hand that puts Bruce Finch down.
28:35Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.
28:42Okay?
28:43And Leonard is back at him.
28:50And Leonard is not fooling around with this guy.
28:51Finch goes down again at the ankle.
28:53And may not make it up this time.
28:56Bleeding inside the mouth.
28:57Four, four, six, seven, seven, seven, seven, seven.
29:02He is up and wobbly.
29:05Says, yes, I'm okay.
29:06There's about 25 seconds left in the round.
29:11We'll see if he can weather this.
29:13And another right hand sends him back against the ropes.
29:16Sugar Ray Leonard is not waiting.
29:19Finch bails out of there.
29:21It was a right hand with Leonard back to the ropes that caused the first amount of damage.
29:26Five seconds remaining in the round.
29:27Finch is still very much hurt.
29:30He's just hanging on.
29:31The legs are like rubber, but he is doing the right thing, and he does get through the round.
29:41That was a booming right hand.
29:43Ray actually hit him with three right hands and a left hand.
29:47The right hand had moved him back off the ropes.
29:49And then after that, three more punches with the right hand being the biggest.
29:55We will have the knockdown here momentarily.
30:00It was preceded by a good body punch.
30:04And Leonard was almost sizing him up like a piece of meat that he was waiting to see how he could cut him down.
30:12Caught a right, and there is the right right back.
30:15Earlier, I spoke about how the clarity with which he's fighting.
30:20Here's another view of that punch right there.
30:23Take him south.
30:24Come on, get the water up.
30:25Get the water up here.
30:27By that clarity, I mean that even when a fighter is very much on top of him,
30:31he sees everything coming, and he has the quickness to deal with it, as you saw there.
30:36This is the third round.
30:37Bruce Finch's legs will tell a story here, and they are still a little bit wobbly.
30:42I think Finch might have possibly hurt Leonard a little bit, and Sugar Ray said enough for this.
30:47Finch scores with a right hand, but it is a marshmallow right hand, and Leonard comes back with a left jab.
30:58And another.
30:58And a right hand again, and the knees buckle on Bruce Finch.
31:04A left hand in the head by Leonard.
31:07I thought there for a moment, Leonard hit him with a terrible hard right hand, and I think he expected Finch to just fall when he backed away, and he was a little surprised that he didn't.
31:16And so am I.
31:18Leonard's punches have been very crisp.
31:20Very crisp.
31:21He has not wasted any punches.
31:23He does not want to do that.
31:28Larry Merchant has talked time and again about the eyes of Sugar Ray Leonard, and you can see a good study of it right here.
31:34Watch how intently he watches his man.
31:36He misses nothing that goes on in the ring.
31:38Finch is supposed to have the capability to move, which he should be doing some of, but he's staying right inside of Leonard.
31:47That's why we probably will have a much shorter fight than we would have against someone like a Larry Bonds, who was just trying to live in there as long as he could.
31:56Finch is holding on, and he is on rubber legs.
31:58There is no question about that.
32:00But he has not taken a backward step.
32:01There's a right hand again to the side of the head, but Finch stays up.
32:04And another right hand, and a left hand sends it backwards, and the legs are gone on Bruce Finch.
32:08Finch is just trying to get some air, get some breath.
32:22It's all over.
32:23It is all over, and wisely so.
32:26Mills Lane calls a halt to things here in the third round, and I don't think he can question that at all.
32:31The man was hurt, and in fact he got a couple of extra seconds on that knockdown
32:35simply because Sugar Ray did not go to the farthest neutral corner.
32:40So Sugar Ray Leonard is the winner by a technical knockout here in the third round,
32:44and it was very impressive regardless of the competition.
32:49Sugar Ray Leonard is just getting better with every fight.
32:52It's just that simple.
32:53Let's take another look at the end of the fight.
32:55That left hand just buckled the knees, and you can see, look at the knees of Bruce Finch.
33:00He just had nothing left at that point, and almost any other punch would have put him down.
33:04In fact, Ray did not really hit him with a solid punch after that left hook buckled the knees.
33:08Let's take another look at it.
33:09Watch the left hook.
33:11The right hand set him up, and the left hand brought him back.
33:14You didn't quite see it because it was behind you, and you could see the dance that Bruce Finch is doing at that time.
33:18He was out at that juncture.
33:20Interesting shot here.
33:24This is from up in the rafters of Centennial Coliseum.
33:26It was the right hand, really, that did do most damage, not so much to the left, but there is the left, and that was the final punch.
33:31Sugar Ray taking a step back from it and really just waiting for Bruce Finch to fall.
33:35The legs are the first to go, and they went on Bruce Finch.
33:39And after that, it was merely a question of how long it took the challenger to fall down.
33:43Sugar Ray did not really hit him with a solid punch after that.
33:45It was the right hand that set him up, a left hand coming back behind it,
33:48and you could see Sugar Ray Leonard.
33:50If he's going to be on television, he's going to look good, folks.
33:55So he retains his undisputed possession of the Welderweight title,
33:58and right now, let's go up to Jimmy Lennon for the official decision.
34:02Jimmy.
34:05Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have the time of the knockout.
34:09One minute and 50 seconds in round number three.
34:13Referee in charge, Mills Lane, stopping the bout.
34:17The winner by way of knockout, remaining the undisputed Welderweight boxing champion of the world,
34:26Sugar Ray Leonard.
34:29And really, there was never a question about it almost from midway through the first round.
34:34Bruce Finch had to go after his man.
34:36There was really no other way.
34:37He could not do what mistakes Larry Bonds did in his encounter with Sugar Ray at Syracuse.
34:42He tried to backpedal, tried to stay away from him,
34:44and then it was only a question of time until Sugar Ray Leonard caught up with him.
34:48And now, let's go up to Larry Merchant right now.
34:51Larry Merchant is going to be with Sugar Ray Leonard in just a moment.
34:53I'll hold it here for just a second until we get a camera around to talk with the winner,
34:57Sugar Ray Leonard, still the Welderweight champion of the world.
35:00There really was never a doubt about it.
35:01Once that right hand in the second round was the one,
35:04Leonard had his back to the ropes,
35:06jumped off of the right hand,
35:07and from that point on, it was downhill for Bruce Finch.
35:09Let's go to Larry Merchant with the winner.
35:12Ray, you've done a lot of color commentary on boxing.
35:15Would you give us your commentary on this fight?
35:18Well, I'll tell you, Larry, I came into the ring.
35:19I was a little cold, although I warmed up quite well in the back.
35:22I came out just a little too cold.
35:24It took me about a round or two really to warm up.
35:27Bruce, quite natural, knew he would come and try to take control a little early.
35:31I had to fight him against the ropes a couple of times
35:32to pretty much loosen myself up, and that was the case.
35:35I knew fully well he was vulnerable for a left hook,
35:38and I set him up for him.
35:39How did you know that he was vulnerable for a left hook?
35:41Well, he kept dropping his hands,
35:43and he would throw punches, and they were very stiff punches,
35:46and I would go to the body to make him drop his hands even further.
35:49Let's take a look at the knockout here in one second.
35:52Okay, would you describe it for us, Ray?
35:54Well, here I came across with the overhand right.
35:56You know, normally I go to the body.
35:57That left uppercut to the chin dazed him.
36:00I knew I had him in trouble, so it was pretty much a waiting process.
36:04And here, Mills Lane stopped in.
36:06Stepped in, rather.
36:09All right, in one moment, we're going to take a look right here
36:13at the knockdown in the second round.
36:15Describe that for us.
36:16Well, again, I was inside, and the left uppercut
36:18that we saw earlier put to the number on him.
36:24Were you just basically toying with him until you got your opening, Ray?
36:29Well, I knew fully well that as the rounds were parked,
36:33well, it's quite natural I get stronger.
36:35My punches land more accurate, and I knew that Finch would come out
36:38and try to do damage early.
36:40We collided heads a couple of times, and I noticed Angelo and Jenks were yelling,
36:45watch out for the headbutts.
36:46Did he sting you at all?
36:47Never really struck me, although I felt his punches.
36:50Bruce Finch has the kind of punch that's very stiff.
36:52He pushes with the punch.
36:54He reminds me of one of my local guys, Warren Fortune.
36:57Is this a good fight for you, Ray, after the epic Hearns battle
37:01to come in against someone like this and to just try your stuff on him?
37:06I think it was a great fight.
37:07I think it was a great mental fight, mainly because coming off
37:09such a big and impressive victory over Tommy Hearns
37:12to come down to, as boxing players call, an insignificant fight.
37:17A fourth finish I got up for him.
37:18I was prepared for him mentally and physically.
37:20All right, we're going to take a look at some more action here in one second.
37:23Would you describe what you see?
37:25Well, I missed there with an overhand right and was tying up here.
37:29That left hook there and the body shots, along with the uppercuts, did damage.
37:32That left hook and the right hand, put him down.
37:36You were working on the body shots.
37:38Somehow you seemed to think that you're not as good a body puncher as you should be.
37:41Well, no, I know fully well.
37:42I do quite a lot of damage to the body.
37:45The body shots was hurt and Finch, although a lot of times he connected there.
37:48I could not really get in good spotty shots, although the uppercuts pretty much did a lot of damage.
37:54Ray, thank you very, very much.
37:56This was the anticipated fight.
37:58Where do we go from here?
38:00I really don't know.
38:01I'm going home, take a rest, and I'll get back with HBO later on.
38:06Thank you very much.
38:07We're going to go back to ringside, and we're going to have some big boxing news for you in a little while.
38:12All right, thank you very much, Larry Merchant.
38:14Also, he works longer hours when he works for HBO.
38:16That's another factor.
38:17So, Sugar Ray Leonard is the winner.
38:19And, you know, I think every sports fan now is interested in the future of Sugar Ray Leonard.
38:23We're all anxiously awaiting the next multi-million dollar spectacle, and there are all kinds.
38:27Larry Merchant is also going to tell us about a little bit of news, and he's also with a guy very important to the future of Sugar Ray Leonard.
38:34Larry?
38:34All right, first we're with Angelo Dundee.
38:37Angelo, were you at all concerned about this fella?
38:40Well, I was, because he was awkward, converted softball.
38:43I was afraid of Ray laying on the ropes.
38:45In fact, we got on him, Jenks and I, when he came back.
38:47Watch his guy's head, because this guy's a bit of a goat, and he can bust you wide open.
38:52We're going to have some replays of the knockdowns in this fight, and we'd like for you to describe them.
38:58From your point of view as a trainer and a boxing man, how you see it?
39:00Well, the way I see it, Ray set these punches up, because he went to the outside, he went to the inside.
39:06And Ray's devastating when he lets that left hook go, because that's his best shot.
39:10That's a shot he knocked beneath his downward, and he keeps getting better with it.
39:14Here's the same knockdown from another angle.
39:17He goes inside, over, then he goes inside again, and then over.
39:22See, he sets them up.
39:24And this guy doesn't expect to get nailed with those kind of punches.
39:26Just like you wrote the book.
39:28Angelo, a question about Sugar Ray's future.
39:32I am under the impression that he's really, or you're really, not that much interested in him going up to fight middleweight champion Hagler at this time.
39:41Well, I see his body will dictate that.
39:43Ray's a welterweight very easily, no problem.
39:46Makes the weight while even, you know, trying.
39:48He's a welterweight, pure and simple.
39:50Let everybody who wants to fight him as a welterweight come and chase him out and try to get him out of that welterweight division.
39:54When Ray's body dictates, he'll be a middleweight when his body tells me.
39:59All right.
39:59Thank you very much, Angelo.
40:01I do have some news.
40:02All right.
40:03Thank you very much, Larry Merchant.
40:04And the man on my right here is Roger Stafford.
40:06Now, we talked about what's next for Sugar Ray Leonard, and the first name you saw come up was Roger Stafford.
40:11So, Roger, let me ask you, first of all, what have you learned from tonight's fight with Bruce Finch?
40:15Nothing, really.
40:16You know, he looked scared to death.
40:19I couldn't understand it.
40:20How do you fight a guy like Sugar Ray Leonard?
40:22Now, we saw Larry Bonds was a guy who, you might make that comparison, Bruce Finch to Larry Bonds.
40:26Bonds was on his bicycle.
40:27Finch tried to take the fight to Sugar Ray Leonard.
40:29Neither one of those things worked.
40:30How does Roger Stafford fight a guy like this?
40:32Well, Roger Stafford's going to take the fight, too.
40:34He's going to definitely fight.
40:36There's not going to be any, you know, pretty pat and tapping ray.
40:40You saw the fight that this man had against Pepino Cuevas.
40:42It was a very big win for you.
40:44I think perhaps even bigger than the fact that you did win it and it looks good in the win column is a good psychological fight for you.
40:49You know that you could beat a guy who has been in there against guys like Sugar Ray Leonard.
40:54That's very true.
40:57I just can't wait for you to fight myself.
40:59How close is it now?
40:59Is it the kind of thing that has been talked about?
41:01Is it a fight that's going to happen, in fact?
41:03I'm pretty sure it is going to happen.
41:04But first of all, I have a fight next month, March 2nd, against David Madrid, former Mexican champion.
41:10Let me ask you about that.
41:11Now, that's a situation that many fighters have fallen into a trap there.
41:15You look forward to a fight against a guy like Sugar Ray Leonard,
41:17and now you're going to fight a guy who you have to figure you should beat.
41:20Do you worry about mental letdowns?
41:22Yes, I do.
41:23I mean, I ran into that problem before.
41:26But I'm not worried about Sugar.
41:27I'm just glad I had the opportunity to fight Sugar Ray Leonard.
41:30I'm going to fight David Madrid next month.
41:32After that, I'll start thinking about Ray.
41:35You know, everybody talks about fighters from the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
41:38Roger Stafford is from Philadelphia.
41:40And just to start naming names, Joe Frazier, Jimmy Young.
41:42There's been a whole bunch of guys come out of there.
41:44You come from a boxing community, to be sure.
41:46Yes, I have. Yes, I have.
41:47People say, in fact, that you have to fight so many tough fights in the gyms
41:51that fighting guys like Sugar Ray Leonard doesn't mean anything to Roger.
41:53Very true. Very true.
41:54Philadelphia is number one in boxing time.
41:56All right, we're going to take a look at the last round of the fight that you just saw.
42:00And, Roger, let's talk through this fight.
42:02Let's talk about some of the things that you saw,
42:03some of the things that you might or might not,
42:05were you in Bruce Mitch's position.
42:07So this will just be the last round, the third round.
42:10And here it is right now from beginning to end.
42:12Ray Leonard, at this point, you would have to think had the fight well in hand.
42:14Yes, he had.
42:16Ray Leonard was very calm, you know, taking his time.
42:20Bruce Mitch, he can't hit at all.
42:21I don't understand it.
42:22To me, I mean, he was hitting Ray.
42:24And he hurt Ray if you saw him.
42:26You know, you hit him with the right hand, I guess.
42:27And he stung Ray a little bit.
42:29Well, in fact, we said that in our call of the fight.
42:31We thought maybe Finch might have stung Ray.
42:32I don't think it would have hurt him.
42:33But he might have stung him.
42:35And I kind of think that maybe that's what he said to Ray.
42:38Enough of this.
42:38I'm not going to fool around with this guy.
42:39I just hope Ray come out like he did on Finch.
42:41Come out on me.
42:42You're the type of fighter, you like to dictate the tempo of the fight.
42:46Of course.
42:47I like to get physical.
42:48That's what it's all about.
42:51I just hope he comes in the ring when he fights me, just like the chairman is for this fight.
42:55Well, especially.
42:56In fact, Ray's corner, Angelo Dundee, Jack Sporton said, you've got to stay off the ropes.
42:59You've got to stay off the ropes.
43:01And yet, Ray went right back to the ropes.
43:02I hope he get on the ropes for me.
43:04That's all I'm saying.
43:05Can Ray Leonard, I mean, every fighter, of course, that fights Ray Leonard figures the man can be beat.
43:09Can Ray Leonard be knocked out?
43:11Let me ask you that.
43:12Anybody can.
43:13All it takes is one punch to turn the fight around.
43:15So you have to, I guess, just not so much read the newspaper clippings.
43:18And if you do, then everybody is saying Ray Leonard is the greatest fighter maybe of the century.
43:23I guess you just have to avoid all of that and worry about Roger Stafford.
43:25Exactly.
43:26Exactly.
43:26So once again, we are watching the third round of the Bruce Finch-Ray Leonard fight.
43:31By this time, Finch is really looking the part of a beaten man.
43:33Seems to me he didn't want to play.
43:35I mean, from the very first round, you know, he came out looking, you know, down.
43:40Knowing that he was going to hit the ground.
43:42Right there, that's the kind of dance that any opponent likes to see his man do.
43:47Because you know he's going at some point.
43:49And at this point, there was virtually nothing left for Bruce Finch.
43:53He wanted to quit.
43:54You can see it in his face.
43:56You know, his mouth wide open.
43:57And in fact, we mentioned he actually had about a count of 12 because Sugar Ray Leonard didn't go to the neutral corner immediately.
44:02And so he had a little bit more time.
44:04But he was a beaten man by that time.
44:05He didn't have a chance at all.
44:07So now, again, you have got to start thinking about Sugar Ray Leonard.
44:10But even more so, you have to start thinking about a fight before that.
44:13What about the guy you're fighting?
44:14David Madrid.
44:14I don't know anything about David Madrid.
44:16All I know is that he was a former Mexican champion.
44:19Do you fight the same fight no matter who you're fighting?
44:22In other words, do you just say, this is the way I fight and you're going to have to fight my fight?
44:26Yes, exactly.
44:27Yes.
44:28So what do you do with a guy like Sugar Ray Leonard?
44:30You have to force the fight, I take it.
44:31That's it.
44:32You have to fight him.
44:33You can't.
44:34I mean, you're going there afraid of him.
44:36If I may interject something, Michael Spinks said one thing.
44:39All you have to do is take it away from him.
44:41Whatever he has, take it away from him.
44:43And can you do that?
44:44Yes, I can.
44:45We'll see, June, whenever he fights.
44:47But, Larry Merchant, you've had an opportunity to see Roger Stafford fight.
44:50And we've been sitting here speculating how Roger Stafford would fight the likes of Sugar Ray Leonard on a night like tonight.
44:55Let me put you in Roger Stafford's shoes for just a minute, if not physically, mentally, and say, how do you do this?
45:02Well, I know this, that Roger Stafford comes from Philadelphia.
45:05And if he has survived the gym wars of Philadelphia, then he's tough enough to fight anybody.
45:11And the Philadelphia fighter speaks for itself.
45:14We won't see a repeat of what we saw here tonight.
45:16But he will give Sugar Ray Leonard more of a test.
45:19And that's what we just spoke about.
45:21Roger, I want to wish you the very best not only in your next fight, but certainly in your challenge of the champion, Sugar Ray Leonard.
45:25That's Roger Stafford, and he's the guy you're going to be hearing an awful lot about in professional boxing over the next year or so.
45:31So he very likely will be the next candidate for the man you saw tonight, Sugar Ray Leonard.
45:35And there's no question about just how impressive Ray Leonard was on this night.
45:39Ray Leonard a very impressive sighted in the second round.
45:41It was when Ray looked like he might have been in just a little bit of trouble being on the ropes that the fight really turned around just that quickly.
45:48This is second round action, and you'll see that it looked to me at least.
45:53Now, I know Ray, when he spoke with you, said, no, he didn't hurt me at all.
45:56I thought perhaps that Bruce Finch might have stung him a little bit here.
46:01It's interesting how well he takes his corner's advice.
46:06He's at a stage in his career where he could plan and plot his own fights, and he's smart enough to do what he feels he can do.
46:14And when Angelo Dundee said, son, son, you pick up the pace, don't slow down to his pace, he did exactly what was ordered.
46:25Well, I think Ray, in fact, by his own admission, said that he learned a lesson in the first Roberto Durant fight where he had something to prove that he was a tough guy, that he could go toe-to-toe with a puncher.
46:34And, of course, I know a lot of people who thought that simply because he's Ray Leonard, and this is on television, and he's making some pretty good bucks for fighting an inferior opponent,
46:46that he would carry the fight for six rounds, eight rounds, whatever.
46:51And carrying a fight is not a dirty term in boxing.
46:55Some very noble warriors have done that for one reason or another.
47:01But when he saw his opportunity, I guess even if he wanted to, his instincts and reflexes are so fast that he couldn't keep himself from it.
47:10I thought right there was where Ray might have been stung by Bruce Finch, and he just said, enough of this.
47:14Now watch the right hand up coming here, and it is a brilliant right hand.
47:17Come on, the other two hands are free.
47:18That bell, incidentally, you heard, is another fight going on now.
47:21You're looking at earlier action of the Sugar Ray Leonard-Bruce Finch fight.
47:24Now he will come up with a right hand that just knocks Finch all the way back to the middle of the ring.
47:28And this is what Dundee was afraid of, that somehow he'd get cut inside there.
47:35That left hand slowed him up.
47:38And there's the right.
47:39A booming right hand.
47:43And I mean it was a booming right hand.
47:45I think from that point on the fight was over.
47:47Chris Finch was very much a beaten man right here.
47:57Bill's Lane asking if he's okay, and he says yes, and that I think was pretty much instinctual.
48:01So at this point, Bruce Finch is trying to get the cobwebs out.
48:19He managed to get through the second round here, but it was only a matter of time after that.
48:23And into the third round, he went down again on rubber legs.
48:26And you can see he's on rubber legs right here.
48:28And that was all she wrote.
48:29So Sugar Ray Leonard retaining his championship with a third round technical knockout over Bruce Finch.
48:34And Leonard not missing a lot of punches, staying sharp, getting a pretty good workout.
48:39Mills Lane tells him to break here, but you can see the way Finch went back against the ropes.
48:42Then he just held on.
48:44Wise thing to do.
48:45And that was the end of the second round.
48:49The fight, of course, went on a little bit further into the third round.
48:52But the bigger he becomes, the more people that want at him and want to shout at him and want to have a piece of that.
48:58So there's always a new challenge.
48:59I think that professionally, after you defeat a monster like Tommy Hearns, people turn around and say, well, gosh, who are you going to fight next?
49:09All indications are that Ray Leonard's next opponent may be this man, Roger Stafford, in the spring.
49:16Currently, Roger Stafford is ranked fourth for the WBC.
49:19And he has earned his shot by decisioning former champion, Pepino Cueva.
49:26After Stafford, the next man up may be WBC lightweight champion, Alexis Arguello.
49:31Right now, there's a 12-pound weight difference.
49:33Rod Arguello is confident that he can step up and earn a big payday with Ray Leonard.
49:39A man who has possibly earned a rematch with Sugar Ray is Wilfred Benitez.
49:47He did so by scoring a unanimous decision over the legendary Roberto Duran.
49:51Currently, Benitez holds the WBC's super well-to-weight crown.
49:56I love to fight Benitez.
50:00Because this time around, I feel like I'm a much more mature fighter.
50:05Far more experienced.
50:07Far more intelligent fighter than I am.
50:08A lot stronger, without question.
50:11I would love the fight Wilfred Benitez.
50:14The problem with that fight is that there is no public clamor for another Leonard Benitez fight.
50:19There are enough people that Leonard has not fought once that it seems silly to go back and fight people twice.
50:26Someone at Ray has already beat.
50:27Where is the mystique there?
50:28Where is the interest?
50:29One past opponent who still has mystique is Thomas Hearns.
50:33The public would love a rematch.
50:35That fight pretty much brought the best out of Sugar Ray.
50:40I guess mainly because of the condition I was in.
50:42I would never even think about giving Thomas Hearns a rematch.
50:47Although, without question, he deserves a rematch.
50:52It could happen.
50:53When?
50:54I couldn't say.
50:55From a business standpoint, a second Hearns fight is great.
50:58And we could get more money than we made the first time and the rest of it.
51:01But, from a boxing standpoint, whether you can fight someone who's almost 6'3 and outweighs your fighter by 10 to 15 pounds, that's a strategic question.
51:15And I'm not so sure that's one that's going to be answered in the affirmative.
51:18And, of course, the biggest dream match of all would be with Marvin Hagler.
51:23Right now, both camps are bickering over the weight difference.
51:25It would probably be the largest person in history.
51:28But, for now, there is optimism and doubt.
51:32First of all, he hasn't fought Marvin before.
51:34So, it's not a...
51:35It's more of an exciting thing from Ray's standpoint.
51:38There's somebody new on the block.
51:40And I think that he's been trying to get pretty excited about things like that.
51:45It's like a new challenge.
51:45And I can tell you that we have never discussed a fight between Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler since the Hampshire fight.
51:55And my phone's still here.
51:57I'm waiting for the call.
51:58If he wants to call us down and talk about it.
52:00I am already making plans for Ray through the rest of this year of 82.
52:05So, it would seem to me that it would be unlikely that it's going to happen this year.
52:10If it happens at all, it would probably be in the first half of 83.
52:14I have the desire to fight Marvin Hagler.
52:18I would love it to be the middleweight champion of the world.
52:22But, unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't make me out to be a bigger guy.
52:27So, if we are able to reach a deal, whether we fight at 154, fine.
52:34I would love to face him.
52:35I would love to fight him.
52:36I think the public would love that.
52:38Mainly because Hagler is a superior athlete and, without question, one of the greatest middleweights I've seen.
52:45He's paid his dues.
52:47He was able to get the title.
52:51And he's held on to it for a long period of time.
52:54The two of us, it would be a natural fight.
52:59It would be a fight that would take a great deal of wit, experience, power, speed.
53:07We'd be a good one.
53:07This show was produced by Ross Greenberg.
53:37Directed by Mark Payton.
53:40The associate producer was Linda Jackson.
53:44Assistant to the producer, Rick Bernstein.
53:46The .
53:48The .
53:51The End
54:21This has been a presentation of HBO Sports, the network of champions.
54:35Coming up next, Robert De Niro gives his Oscar-winning portrayal of former middleweight champ Jake LaMotta in Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull. Next.
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