Sugar Ray Leonard Names The Only Fighter More Intimidating Than Mike Tyson

Sugar Ray Leonard believes there is just one fighter who is more intimidating than heavyweight icon Mike Tyson.

At the peak of his powers, ‘Iron’ Mike was the most formidable fighter to walk the planet. He burst onto the scene in 1985, and it took him just over 12-months to capture the world heavyweight championship when he blasted out Trevor Berbick inside just two rounds to become the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history.

Tyson would eventually add the WBA and IBF titles to his collection with victories over James Smith and Tony Tucker respectively, achieving undisputed status just one month after his 21st birthday.

Although he would go on to suffer a shock defeat to Buster Douglas in 1990, Tyson remains one of the most feared and ferocious fighters ever, but Leonard believes there is one man who was even more fearsome.

In a resurfaced Youtube interview, Leonard named former rival Roberto Duran as the only fighter who was more intimidating as he reminisced on the build-up to his historic battles with ‘Hands Of Stone’.

“Roberto Duran, he was more intimidating than Mike Tyson. Like at the press conference he was staring me down, he pushed me, he shoved me, he kicked me, he cursed me, he cursed my wife, although it was in Spanish no translation was really necessary. When I first met him he was so nice and then all of a sudden I said ‘who is this guy?'”

Duran defeated Leonard in their first bout back in June 1980 to capture the American’s WBC welterweight title. ‘Sugar Ray’ would bounce back in their rematch just 5-months later, stopping the Panamanian in the 8th-round of the infamous ‘No Mas’ fight.

Their third and final encounter took place in December 1989, with Leonard defeating Duran via unanimous decision to retain his WBC super-middleweight title and put their intense rivalry to bed.