Date: 7th December 1989
Venue: Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Title: WBC World Super-middleweight Title
Promoter: Top Rank & Victory Promotions
Tv: HBO
Ray Leonard
(
35
-
1
-
1
)
Weight: 160 lbs
Roberto Duran
(
85
-
7
-
0
)
Weight: 158 lbs
The third meeting between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran was held on Thursday 7th December 1989 at the Mirage Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. This highly anticipated fight was for the WBC World Super-middleweight Title, with Leonard defending his title for the second time. Both fighters had impressive records going into the fight, with Duran's record standing at 85-7-0 and Leonard's at 35-1-0.
The fight was promoted by Top Rank and officiated by Richard Steele, with a contracted weight limit of 162 pounds. The fight was shown live on closed-circuit television at around 1,200 locations and on pay-per-view, which was available to an estimated 13 million homes in the United States. HBO paid $3 million for the delayed rights.
The sellout crowd of 16,305 produced a gate of $9 million. Ticket prices ranged from $100 to $800. Leonard made at least $15 million and Duran $7.6 million. Leonard's purse from this fight made him the first boxer to earn over $100 million in his career.
Leonard was the favorite going into the fight at odds of 9 to 5. The match was billed as "Uno Mas," meaning "one more" in Spanish, a reference to the second fight between Leonard and Duran, the "No Mas" fight, in which Duran quit.
Despite suffering three cuts during the fight, Leonard dominated Duran from start to finish. He used constant movement and counter-punching to neutralize Duran's offensive attack. Leonard landed 227 punches, good for 52% of his total thrown punches, compared to Duran, who landed only 84 punches at a 14% rate.
The fight went the full 12-round distance, with all three judges scoring the fight for Leonard. Joe Cortez scored the fight 116-111, Bob Logist 120-110, and Jerry Roth 119-109. Leonard's victory was completely lopsided, in contrast to their first two fights.
In the fourth round, Leonard suffered a cut on his lower lip from a headbutt that required 10 stitches. In the 11th round, he suffered a cut on his right eyebrow from a right that required 30 stitches. And in the 12th round, he suffered a cut on his left eyelid from a left that required 20 stitches.