On September 9, 1978, Sugar Ray Leonard was an up-and-coming boxer in the welterweight division of professional boxing…..who had KO’d 7 out of 13 prior opponents…..and was facing a seasoned fighter in Floyd Mayweather Sr….who was an American former professional boxer and current boxing trainer….as Floyd Sr. was known for his defensive ability and overall knowledge of boxing strategy….who is the father and trainer of five-division boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr….and is credited for teaching his son the defensive skills that made him a champion.
Younger brother Roger was WBC super featherweight and super lightweight champion….who was also known for his defensive skills….with their youngest brother Jeff having held the IBO super featherweight title. Floyd Mayweather Sr. is known for his outspokenness…..who frequently recites poetry about his opponent….and still does today for his fighter’s opponent…..as some boxing folks refer to him as the “poet laureate of boxing.” He is a flamboyant dresser who wears colorful suits, ties and shoes to news conferences….as Mayweather Sr.’s boxing record was 28–6–1 with 18 KOs.
This fight presented a really good test for the young Sugar Ray Leonard…..for this was the start of Sugar’s march to the WBC world welterweight championship fight against Wilfred Benitez…..as he would go through the likes of Randy Shields, Armando Muniz, Adolpho Viruet, Johnny Gant, Marcos Geraldo….and Pete Ranzany on his way to his 1st of 16 world title fights that he would win in his illustrious career.
