The Leonard Vs. Duran II rematch took place November 25, 1980, at the Superdome in New Orleans…..when Leonard used his superior speed and movement to outbox and befuddle Durán…..saying “The whole fight, I was moving, I was moving….and Voom! I snapped his head back with a jab. Voom! I snapped it back again. He tried to get me against the ropes….when I’d pivot, spin off and Pow! Come under with a punch.”…..then in round 7, Leonard started to taunt Durán…..when late in the round, winding up his right hand, as if to throw a bolo punch….that is when Leonard snapped out a left jab and caught Durán flush in the face. In the closing seconds of the eighth round…..Durán turned his back to Leonard and quit, waving his glove and apparently saying to referee Octavio Meyran, “NO MAS! NO MAS!!” ….which means “no more” in Spanish…..and Leonard was the winner by a technical knockout (TKO) at 2:44 of round 8….thus regaining the WBC Welterweight Championship….as Leonard led by a small margin of 68–66, 68–66, and 67–66 on the judges scorecards at the time of the TKO. Durán has said that he never said the words NO MAS to anyone following the bout…..while he blamed the broadcaster Howard Cosell for coming up with it and claimed he had said it. He said he was only mumbling to myself “No sigo, no sigo, no sigo”, meaning “I’m not carrying on”. He has said that he quit because of stomach cramps…..which started to bother him in the 5th round…..while saying the cramps occurred because he took off weight too quickly….then ate too much after the morning weigh-in….but his manager, Carlos Eleta, said Durán always ate that way before a fight. “Durán didn’t quit because of stomach cramps”, Eleta said. “He quit because he was embarrassed.” Leonard claimed credit for having forced Durán to give up, and took great satisfaction in it. “I made him quit”, Leonard said. “To make a man quit, to make Roberto Durán quit, was better than knocking him out.”…..and our viewers get to see it all unfold as Sugar Ray talks with Howard Cosell in the ABC Studio a week after the fight.
Sugar Ray Leonard: 1980 Boxing World Welterweight Title Post-Fight In Studio Interview w/ Howard Cosell After Duran II “NO MAS! NO MAS!!” Fight
