Sugar Ray Leonard names hardest puncher among Duran, Hagler and Hearns

Sugar Ray Leonard has no doubts about the hardest blow he has ever received in a boxing ring.

Leonard is widely considered one of the greatest fighters of all time.competing for 20 years between 1977 and 1997 and becoming a five-weight world champion in the process.

He was also one of the legendary “Four Kings”. alongside greats Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran, as the iconic quartet of fighters clashed numerous times throughout the 1980s.

Leonard’s final record stood at 36 wins in 40 fights, with his only defeat coming via stoppage in his last fight when he was defeated in five rounds by Hector Camacho.

Leonard believes another man deserves the distinction of being the biggest puncher he’s ever faced, revealing in a resurfaced interview on YouTube that Duran takes this recognition.

“I came face to face with this guy, but I knew at the end of the 12 rounds it wasn’t smart, because Duran, they call him manos de piedra or hands of stone. He hit me so hard that I said ‘Who else is here with me?, but I knew that because fighters know when they lost, so when they called the decision, I knew I lost.’

Leonard and Duran met three times, the first in June 1980 when the Panamanian great won by unanimous decision, handing “Sugar Ray” the first defeat of his professional career. Leonard later told Ring Magazine that he had hurt him “several times” by calling him the biggest puncher he faced.

A rematch took place four months later, and was the infamous “No Mas” fight, as Duran indicated he could no longer continue as Leonard claimed an eighth-round stoppage victory.

Their third and final meeting took place almost a decade later, in December 1989, when Leonard won by unanimous decision. Duran would record 70 knockout wins out of his 103 victories, his great power helping him become a four-weight world champion.