@ClonesCyclone Was it Hugh, at a press conference after the Ali Bugner fight, Bugner went on a bit of a rant saying he’d fight anyone including Jesus, Hugh said” your only saying that because you know he has bad hands”
@ClonesCyclone Hugh's piece in the Guardian for the Johnny Owen Vs Lupe Pintor bout closes with, in my opinion not just the greatest line in sports journalism, but the greatest line ever put down on paper.
"It is his tragedy that he found himself articulate in such a dangerous language."
@ClonesCyclone Was it Hugh, at a press conference after the Ali Bugner fight, Bugner went on a bit of a rant saying he’d fight anyone including Jesus, Hugh said” your only saying that because you know he has bad hands”
True but it’s difficult to sit through an interview with someone (McIlvanney was and remains one of the all time great boxing jorno’s) who has a completely opposite opinion of how one of the most important and defining fights of your career ends. SRL got up shook hands and left.
@ClonesCyclone The second fight was fairly close at the time of the stoppage. "When the second fight (the famous "No Más" bout) between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Durán was stopped in the eighth round, Leonard was leading on all three judges' scorecards:68–66 (Two judges)67–66 (One judge)"
I agree with you that it was cheeky of McIlvanney but you can’t loose respect for one of the greatest boxing journalists of all time Robert. Hugh McIlvanney’s was a legend of sports writing along with the Donald McRae they are two of the all time great boxing writers #GOAT
@ClonesCyclone I remember Hugh’s interview very well & he was bang out of order to have his little dig at Ray , I lost all respect I had for Hugh after that
Well Mick, there are those who will say just that, Leonard ran away but as I said previously SRL showed he could stand in the trenches Duran but it didn’t work so second time around, he was going use his skills. In terms of excitement the first fight was much better.
@ClonesCyclone I bow to your wisdom Barry but to this uneducated mind the 2nd fight isn’t that impressive to me.
Duran in a heap 2 months before having partied like mad for 5 months previous. SRL tip toeing his way through the fight like a circus act. Big asterisk on that one.
I won the fight but didn’t get the decision, it was that simple, however I set the record straight a few months later stopping Eubank in a return in Belfast.
You know when Hugh said that to Leonard, Ray stood up and shook his hand and walk off. But McIlvanney was clever though, he knew not to say that to SRL until the interview was almost finished.
@ClonesCyclone Hugh McIllvanney interviewed Sugar Ray 30 years ago and said he thought Hagler won clearly. I've watched the fight many times since and have tried to make the case for Hagler. It was close and if Hagler had got the nod I wouldn't have objected, but I still think Ray won.
@ClonesCyclone What people often overlook is that, regardless of the decision, Ray's performance - as a natural welter, who had been out of the ring for a long time - was spectacular. Even if Marvin had received the nod, Ray had proven his quality.
It wasn’t AngeloDundee, it was Sugar Ray who desperately wanted to show Duran that he could beat him at his own game and NOBODY was going convince him otherwise BUT Duran got the upper hand in the first fight so Leonard not surprisingly got up on his toes to outbox & frustrate RD
@ACarter86946242@ClonesCyclone The greatest fail of Angelo Dundee career IMO besides not convincing Ali to not fight Larry Holmes was allowing Leonard to play right into Duran’s hands that night.
Yes but the point I’m making is that whilst it was an admiral quality to try to beat Duran at his own game it ultimately didn’t work and he had to get back on his bike and out box Duran from a distance and frustrate him which he did of course and led to the famous “No Mas” quote
@ClonesCyclone I can assume, Mr. M, that you understand fighter psychology enough to know that Ray was not just a fancy Dan, that he had the aggressive tendencies and pride to take Duran's bait.
@ClonesCyclone Big SR fan but Marvin wuda been in total beast mode like he was for Hearns-dont see him going distance with that version.Apparently Ray talked prime Don Curry outta fighthin MM then jumped in himself due to noticing him slowing down
@ClonesCyclone Barry, do you remember advertising Milk? I had stickers of you as a kid on my wardrobe advertising milk! First fight i remember as a kid was you and Pedrosa. Still a fan today.
Agreed it was an unbelievable fight, great pace great upper body movement from both fighters and as I say the jewel in the crown was that amazing infighting and the constant back and forth for 15 rounds. It was and remains one of the All Time Great Fights 🔥
@ClonesCyclone Leonard won. Hagler adopted the wrong tactics and you don’t score by going forward and missing with a lot of punches. Hagler still arguably one of the greatest middleweights of all time though.