5 Greatest Boxing trilogies of all time

#4 Sugar Ray Leonard vs Roberto Duran

Sugar Ray was an intelligent boxer, relying primarily on his speed and beautiful footwork while Duran was aptly called the ‘Hands of stone’

The 80's was an epic era for middleweight boxing when four all-time greats, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Haggler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran, ruled the roost.

Sugar Ray was an intelligent boxer, relying primarily on his speed and beautiful footwork while Duran was aptly called the ‘Hands of stone’.

Going into the fight, Sugar Ray was the favorite due to his technical finesse, but what happened shocked everyone. Duran fought like a man possessed and caught Sugar Ray off-guard many times.

His continuous combinations and incredible stamina put Leonard on the defensive and for the majority of the fight, he was busy clinching and tying Duran’s arms. Duran won by majority decision.

In the second fight, Leonard came prepared and fought in his element- maintaining distance and using his superior footwork.

Duran had no choice but to swing wildly in frustration as Leonard had the advantage in range. Duran was totally outclassed by a technically-superior Leonard, so much that he quit in the eighth round which is infamously known as ‘no mas’, meaning ‘no more’.

Both of these warriors met for one last time in 1989, both past their prime, just to finish the chapter forever.

The third fight was just like the second one and Duran spends most of his time chasing Leonard while he was punching him in and out. It was a classic brawler vs boxer fight and all judges unanimously voted for Leonard after 12 rounds.