Although no single boxing champion dominated the 1980s as Muhammad Ali did the 1970s, the era witnessed the emergence of several extraordinarily talented and charismatic fighters and many noteworthy bouts. In retrospect, professional boxing in the decade appears to have experienced one of its periodic heroic cycles. Larry Holmes, Roberto Duran, Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, and Mike Tyson provided fight fans with many inspired and courageous displays of boxing prowess. Yet in surveying the boxing world of the 1980s, one fighter stands apart for his skill, style, and longevity: Sugar Ray Leonard. Three years after winning a gold medal at the 1976 Olympics, the twenty-three-year-old Leonard relieved Wilfred Benitez of the World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight title. On 20 June 1980, however, Leonard lost a fifteen-round decision and his title to the hard-hitting Duran in Montreal. It would be Leonard's only defeat in the decade......
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