Los Angeles — American boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard says that while the sport may not be the national obsession it was during his prime, it is still healthy, an assertion disputed by longtime rival-turned-friend Roberto Duran. In a joint interview to promote a new film on the Panamanian’s career, entitled I Am Duran, the former enemies traded barbs — and laughs — about the state of the sport as well as the nature of their historic battles that captivated the sporting world in the 1980s. “Boxing is not dead like some say it is,” said Leonard, who lost his WBC Welterweight title to Duran in the “Brawl in Montreal” in 1980 before winning it back in an infamous rematch later that same year. “But the sport itself has to fix itself. Don’t just say you’re the best — show the people or the fans that you are the best by fighting the best and let them be the judge,” he said. Duran, 67, made it clear he did not think much of the current crop of fighters. “No respect,” he said through an inte...
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