When Ray Leonard Confronted Trash Talking Lalonde 

Met Sugar Ray Leonard in a Miami Airport. I was heading home with my family from a trip at Disney, just before Covid hit. I've been lucky to have met several people in my lifetime just by happenstance. I thanked him for all the years of his boxing and his accomplishments. He ended up allowing me to take a picture with him with both of our fists up. Thank you champ. I'll never forget that moment. My younger son said. Who was that?! LOL!

Incomparable era in boxing. Leonard, Hearns, Hagler and Duran. Just incredible. Sugar Ray coming back after the detached retina was monumental and scary for true boxing fans. Sugar Ray was absolutely brilliant. And, an elite finisher.

This is why I love this channel. This was a great fight that's been pretty much forgotten about until this channel brings it back.

Guts, determination and grit, the great Sugar Ray Leonard.

He called Ray an overweight has been, but got knocked cold for his troubles. Don't mess with one of the fabulous four. Great video.

People either forget or never knew, Ray maintained an 80+ percent knockout ratio for his career; his punches were cat-quick and delivered with devastating speed which more often than not, resulted in an opponent's visiting the canvas....

Sugar Ray was one of my fav’s. He fought a lot of great battles. One of the greats.

That fight was everything I was hoping for. Leonard was amazing.

That's a glorious mullet on Lalonde, thank you for documenting it. 😂

Father Time certainly taught Donny a lesson he will never forget.

Sugar Ray Leonard is a special athlete. He was classy and mixed with Hollywood elite, an astute self promoter, and he could fight. He could box and be flashy but at the end of the day he was a dog. He didn’t have any quit in him. True warrior, through and through.

Great coverage of the fight. Keep it up man, i love rewatching these forgotten classics

Wow! That looked like one of the best boxing matches ever!

Boxing in the 70s/80s will never be matched.

People like Leonard, Lalonde...they created the Golden Age of boxing; along with the few others like Hearns, Hagler, Norris and Duran. Some of the best who even now, have not been surpassed.

I don't think you could call Lalonde as trash talking but it was a more competitive fight than expected and Leonard definitly demonstrated why he is such a legend.

Sugar man!!!! Seeing Ray fight was always a spectacle. When he made that full conversion from nice guy into a pitbull with boxing gloves, in was a sight to behold. Picture Mayweather with a real killer side to his craft. Wear em down, pepper the opponent….and when the time is right the beast emerges. Few boxers in history could do it quite like Ray Leonard. Thanks for the memories Sugar man!!!!

Spectacular video,amazing, great work 🎉🎉🎉🎉

This is the greatest fight I had never seen until now. Wow. Thanks for creating this.

Great video! Well done. Great fight!! A classic.👏👏

First-class video. Thank you!

Very good, exciting high level fight. Thanks for posting. I was a big Sugar Ray fan back in the day.

This is when boxing was great! It was so fun to watch. Sugar Ray one of the best ever. His skills, his will power, just a pleasure to watch. I watched every fight of his over the years. He was simply incredible.

Sugar Ray Leonard would lure you to the deep end and drown you with a smile on his face.

Phenomenal video and your commentary was excellent!

Now that was a fight. Respect to both for their courage

Great job on this vid. Very fair and compelling. Fine editing.

I remember this fight from 88. It was a tough fight for both fighters. There are some comments I've read here about how much weight Lalonde had to give to come down to meet Leonard, and thus muscle/power. They're correct in stating that but must remember Leonard also came up to meet him. The biggest thing to remember, and consider in weight class jumping or any fight is that the fighters don't have to fight. They don't have to accept the challenges that are offered. I agree with other comments here that the title of this video is a wrong description of Donny Lalonde. Both of these fighters demonstrated classy sportsmanship not only in this fight, but throughout their venerable careers. Well done gentlemen, you were a pleasure to watch, and thank you. C A

Wow, I haven't seen this since it was televised back in the day. Thanks for uploading this.

Leonard was so lucky against Hagler. He got every condition he asked for and spent the fight running. End of the round flurries and showmanship made it look closer than it was. A robbery.

9:52 Love the way the ref does the skip-to-m'loo between the fighters, to prevent any extra-curricular activities

After getting hit in round four we can see Leonards' "glassy" look in his eyes. He knew he was gonna have to work hard. Great fighter with incredible determination.

Thanks for this!

Sugar was one of the best ever. I was privileged, to watch all those great boxing matches of the 80's.

I remember watching this fight live.

I'm watching and cheering like I'm seeing this live 😂 Great content!

My favorite Ray Leonard Fight!

Great editing, stories and commentary.

Brilliant video ,thank you

That was a great fight. I had forgotten about this fight. Good editing.

wow, a boxer who is/was a vegeterian folkie, and a generally kind person....learn something new every day from YT...thanks.

Donny was such a nice caring and respectful guy, I think the title calling him trash talking is wrong. He just shown confidence, was magnanimous in defeat and an all round great guy.

WOW! That was an awesome fight! Also VERY nice to see the respect they each had for each other. GREAT SPORTSMANSHIP!!

I was a youngster when he beat haglar but I'll never forget it. Best fight in the 80s imo..

Lalonde favorite movie was definitely rocky, tuff ass dude tho

The birth of "dragging him out to deep water". Sugar started out trying to take it to him, realizing how resilient Donny was Sugar knew he had to drain him before taking the attack. Tying up, Dancing, dirty boxing etc thru the middle rds drained Donny then when Sugar saw the wide mouth breathing of hos opponent ; attack and kill

Excellent narration thank you

This video had super great background music! Good, not too loud, very subtle!

My grandfather used to box before WW2 and the violence and evil man can do to one another, get away with, and be fine with made him want to hang up the gloves for good. He was older than Ray but he liked him a lot. I don't think there is much film i haven't seen of Mr. Leonard, lbvs. A guy who was in his late teens or early 20s needed to make some money bcz he had a baby on the way and his father asked my grandfather to help him find work. Grand couldn't, so he hired him to help just being generous and trying help the guy. And he seemed cool enough but one day, I was cutting hedges, he was supposed to be cutting grass, and Grand was picking something to eat for he and Gram and us to eat when our day was done and Gram came home from her doctor's appointment. Grand caught him going in his Lincoln and digging in his coat pockets. I'll never forget this although I was 8 years old and its been 21 years that time period of under 5 minutes stayed with me in every detail. Literally, lol. Grand didn't yell at the guy or threaten him, he just asked why he was in his car. And the guy took of on Grand. I was scared and took of inside to get my knife to help get the guy of my grandfather. Its summer tjme so all the windows in the house were open and I'm hearing grunts and punches. And fear turned to anger and I'm thinking how I'm going to leap off the top front step and stab this big ass overly muscled kid. Not even thinking of the next move or what happens if i miss. Lol. Hearing the punches and grunts...I got madder every second i couldn't find my knife. I was moving so fast and when i heard, "Mr. James stop!" I thought in my mind he was still beating up my Grand and trying snatch his jacket and wallet from him. Got to the front door and flung it open so hard i almost broke the glass (actually still surprised that i didn't, lbvs). Getting ready to leap of the front step aaaand. Grand was beating the dog sh.t out this dude. I was stunned. Lol. The guy pushed him in his stomach to create space and ran like a cheetah was on his ass. Grand was right behind him and so close to catching him but when he crossed the line of the mailbox Grand stopped and i finally snapped out of being shocked and all i could say was, "Grand?! What the heck?!" Of course thinking of the four letter word starting with "F" but Gram and Grand were Christians, and swea-along with a lot of things wasn't allowed. Lol. I couldn't even answer him when he asked me if i was alright. I asked him, "Grand, what did i just see?! You're 74?! Thay guy is like 20!!! What the-" and he cut me off and i still remember every word. "Agh-language! You bet not say it. For one. And for two...never question the last fight of an old man." Picked the hedge clippers and handed them to me, "Go on and finish them hedges. Your aunt will be here after 'while with your Gram. And you know them long doctor appointment days make her tired. Chop chop. I gotta finish this lawn and get dinner made. Move it." And...he did. Til this day bcz of thay experience, i often tend to bet on an older fighter before the younger just bcz of that. Lbvs. I bet on George Foreman, Benard Hopkins, Glover Texeira, Demetrius Johnson in ONE, and more and more times than not, I've seen an old fighter pull something up out of themselves no one thought they still had and do some awesome things. Like Mr. Leonard did in this fight

I consider this to be one of SRL`s greatest victories. Donny was a very dangerous opponent. He could take out top tier Light Heavyweights with his right hand.

11:31 beautiful flurry by Leonard.

Suger Ray is poetry in motion, and a master class in boxing.

Shoutout to Lalond for helping Down n out former fighters, with much love to you my brother from another Mother. Peace n blessings

I was Leonard fan before the Olympics. His fight with Wilfredo was a master class. But I thought he got beat by Hagler. When he stepped up to Lalonde, he *fought*. I'll always admire his grit in that fight, just like the first Hearns fight.

What a flashback thank you😮

I liked Leonard and Hagler. They were both great fighters but, Hagler won the fight. Leonard would throw a flurry at the end of a round and stole the point. I’m sure there was some favoritism involved.

I was in the house that night. Seeing this video brought back so many memories. Sugar Ray Lenard put on one heck of a show. The Stars were out that night it was a great time to be in Las Vegas!!

What an awesome finish to this battle! SR with a wind up punch!!! love it.

Gotta remember, Sugar Ray had a detached retina repaired with stitches, before lasers existed, in 1982. He retired, healed up, risked his eyesight again. Fans worried about his eye every fight.

The catchweight was the reason Lalonde came unstuck. A very smart and shrewd move by Leonard, he just ran out of gas! A fantastic fight and one that for some reason is often overlooked.

It incredible how lalonde made such a successful career besides being so one handed. Did he have a serious injury or something?

I actually remember watching this as a very young kid. Sugar left a lasting impression on me.

In my life, I’ve never seen a more impressive performance in this sport, of which I am an absolute fan.

Camacho would have never beaten a prime Sugar Ray Leonard

If Aaron Rodgers was a boxer

Excellent video!

Great video and follow up commentary

Ray was one of the best!

They made Lalonde boil down to super middle so that title was on yhe line as well as the light heavy. Lalonde did well though, just gassed.

I love right before the KO @11:49 he does the 3 stooges-esque windup

Right after this fight I met LaLonde in Dominican Republic while vacationing with my family. Gracious dude stopped to say hello👍🏼. Still had swollen eyes from the fight!

Donny had a concrete chin to take those shots from Leonard. The guy was strong, but Suger Ray found his rhythm and drove it home for the win. Amazing.

Even at his advanced age, Leonard was twice the boxer Lalonde was.

I watched this live on PPV when I was a kid. Didn't understand anything about boxing but just wanted to see this since my father was into it. I became a boxing fan after this.

Good to hear Lalonde is doing great tidy and helping others.

Leonard and his team fried Lalonde down to 168 lbs and still almost lost.

Hagler was robbed. Somebody had big bucks on Ray.

Nobody could finish like Leonard My fav of all time . Great fights

I had never seen this fight before. Kudos to both fighters. They left it all in the ring.

Ray was on coke for ten years and everyone forgets that too

Damn, you try to retire and move on with life - but your competitive spirit just won't let you. Awesome video!

This is great press! Keep up the good job!

Ray won this fight, but he stole that fight from Hagler.

“Get around the ring not ready for marriage” 🤣🤣 classic

I remember this one. Donny "the blonde" Lalonde vs. "Sugar" Ray Leonard. This re-cap was pretty good and accurate as well. There wasn't much trash-talking recorded, but then again, "trash-talking" is really just marketing promotion for the fights, probably written for them by managing staff.

sorry, but he didn't beat HAGLER. he was likeable with the media and judges. HAGLER wasn't.

I just joined this Channel. wOW I totally LOVE IT!!!!!!

Just fell in love with your channel. Blessings to you.

They robbed Hearns and Hagler

I was a little kid at the time and followed boxing closely As a Canadian I was pulling for LaLonde, but it was obvious that there was a significant skill difference and Leonard picked him wisely

For me, this is where Sugar Ray showed what he was really made of. We were all used to the dazzling movement, the stunning combinations, the occasional showboating and the "star" persona; but there were moments here when Ray was in serious trouble: Donny was physically stronger by some margin and was able to comfortably manhandle Leonard, and whenever his right hand connected it backed Ray up. But here we see beyond the "flashy image" and see that SRL was as tough and brave as they come. At 11:12 Donny lands a solid right soon followed by a strong uppercut , this could have been the end for Ray, indeed I think most other fighters would have folded; instead Leonard weathers it, rolls with the punches and within seconds turns the fight around to score a stunning KO. Superb display from the Sugar man.

I never heard of Lalonde, now I'm impressed. Definitely an extraordinary fighter.

Two great champions I have immense respect for and admire.

I really enjoyed following Ray Leonard's career. He is one of the only fighters that could do what his trainers would tell his to do because it's not easy once the fight starts.

A short right bang on the chin at 11.27 did it - it reminded me of the short right that knocked Foreman's head back and softened him up just before the famous Ali flurry that knocked him out in 1974.

USA had a great boxing team in those olympics. ‘76 if I remember right. I’ll never forget that fantastic team. Leonard, the Spinks bros Randolf, Davis jr. watched the fights at grampa’s house.

Ray was one of my favorite boxers EVER !

I remember this fight as a kid. My brother said Lalonde was Glass Joe from Punch-out. They are both very similar.

Lots of guys are smart in the ring, as SRL was. But he was also smart outside it, as he showed when he demanded a bigger ring when he fought Hagler. He handpicked Lalonde, knowing he was slow and had technical flaws that would make him prime picking. And he got him to come down in weight, which was mad important. Also, I don't know that you could call Lalonde much of a trash talker. He predicted he'd win, but hell, most folks do that.

I love boxing 🥊 after dark 💯