The legendary ‘Four Kings’ took the sport by storm during the 1980s, producing some of the most memorable moments in boxing history, and now Teddy Atlas has weighed in with his verdict.
The iconic quartet was made up of Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns, who are all widely considered to be four of the greatest fighters of all time.
They shared the ring on at least one occasion each throughout the course of their respective professional careers, producing a number of memorable encounters which will live long in the memory of fans around the world.
Perhaps the most memorable match-up involving ‘The Four Kings’ came in November of 1980 when Leonard sensationally forced Duran to quit in the eighth round of the infamous ‘No Mas fight’ at the Superdome in New Orleans.
Legendary trainer-turned-analyst Teddy Atlas spoke fondly of Leonard when naming his top ten greatest fighters of all time, ranking ‘Sugar Ray’ just ahead of Duran at number 9 in his list.
“If you can take the “Sugar Ray” name and get away with it, without embarrassing the name, and he did. He made us think of another Sugar Ray.”
It’s clear to see why Atlas feels that way, as Leonard became a world champion in five weight classes during his glittering 20-year professional career, including a reign as the undisputed welterweight champion which he captured in 1981 when he defeated Tommy Hearns.
‘Sugar Ray’ would later become a world title holder at middleweight and super-middleweight respectively, racking up yet another victory over Duran in December of 1989 to retain his WBC title at 168lbs.
