Word: middleweights
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...thing. Now that the Sugar Ray Leonard-Thomas Hearns showdown is a reality, all the talk centers on what will happen after the fight. The New York Times reports that there will be three Leonard-Hearns fights. The Boston Globe promises that after he beats Hearns, Leonard will give middleweight champ Marvin Hagler a well-deserved payday. The New York Post claims that Leonard will retire after the September bout--win, lose or draw...
...fighters shared top billing last Thursday night as Hearns defended his title against Pablo Baez and Leonard went for the WBA junior middleweight crown held by, Ayub Kalule. What happened in the ring that evening is a good indication of what we can expect from their September showdown...
Leonard had a much tougher time of it. It was Sugar Ray's first venture into the junior middleweight division, and the usually quick-footed boxer looked rather ordinary; the added weight definitely slowed Ray down. For his part, Kalule seemed an unwilling opponent. Like the boxing light-heavyweight champ, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Kalule threw only about ten punches per round. Still, his awkward southpaw style gave Leonard trouble, and in the seventh round, a straight right jab put Leonard on queer street...
...with a good right hand. He has tagged about a dozen times by Duran's right lead in their Montreal fight, and two of these rights almost put Leonard down. And last Thursday Kalule connected repeatedly with his right jab. Hearns's right hand is a middleweight's right. When it connects it invariably stuns. Leonard can be hurt, and he won't be able to avoid the Hearns right for more than a few rounds...
DIED. Mickey Walker, 79, the pugnacious "Toy Bulldog" who held the welterweight World Boxing Championship from 1922 to 1926, and went on to hold the middleweight title for five years before relinquishing it in 1931 to make an unsuccessful bid for the crown as a light heavyweight; of Parkinson's disease; in Freehold, N.J. A colorful, aggressive fighter who often took on bigger and heavier opponents, Walker scored 58 knockouts in a total of 148 bouts, winning an estimated $3 million over 17 years. After retiring from the ring in 1935, he took up painting, gaining some prominence...