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Sugar Ray Leonard, a 1976 Olympic gold medalist who won world titles in five weight classes as one of the great fighters in the 1980s, has announced that he will attend the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame’s inaugural induction gala on Saturday, Aug. 10 at the Monte Carlo Resort in Las Vegas.
A member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Leonard was chosen in the non-Nevada boxer category. He was 36-3-1 with 25 knockouts overall, but was 11-0-1 with eight knockouts in 12 fights in Nevada.
Among those were epic victories over Thomas Hearns, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Wilfred Benitez, all of whom are, like Leonard, members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Leonard stopped Hearns in the 14th round of a Sept. 16, 1981 welterweight title unification bout at Caesars Palace. After the 12th round, Leonard’s trainer, Angelo Dundee, recognized that Leonard was hopelessly behind.
“You’re blowing it, son,” Dundee said to Leonard. “You’re blowing it.” Motivated by Dundee, Leonard stopped the previously unbeaten Hearns in the 14th round.
He famously moved up to middleweight in 1987 to challenge the great Hagler. Leonard outboxed Hagler and won a very close split decision to capture the 160-pound belt.
In 1988 at Caesars Palace, Leonard defeated Donnie Lalonde to win both the super middleweight and light heavyweight belts, his fourth and fifth weight class titles.
Other major boxers who have announced they will intend the induction ceremony are former heavyweight champions Mike Tyson and Larry Holmes and former multi-division champions Julio Cesar Chavez and Mike McCallum.
Also expected are legendary referees Mills Lane and Joe Cortez. They are among 19 inductees in eight categories who will be honored at the much anticipated gala dinner.
The Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame is an IRS 501-c-3 non-profit organization that was founded in 2012 by noted broadcaster Rich Marotta. Tickets for the gala and donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Tickets in the $250 category are sold out, but tickets at $150 and $50 are still available. The $150 tickets include dinner, but the $50 tickets do not.
For more information on the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame and its mission, visit its website at http://www.nvbhof.com. The Hall also has a social media presence on Twitter at @nvbhof and on Facebook at Facebook.com/nvbhof.
For more information on the dinner or any of the Hall’s activities, phone 775-384-1903.
