Sugar Ray Flashback.....

Juy Juy''s back?? Awww man!! LOL I cannot keep track of his new names...he's like a stealth bomber poster.....who is JUY JUY NOW??

Knowing big Roy it is so funny to me that he has that video somewhere and probably never even looks at it or cares to. He's seen Roy box so many people its no big deal to him. One man's "no big deal" is another's treasure. Also, for the record, I definitely remember hearing back in the late 1980's that Ray had a fight coming up that he was staring training camp for and they opted not to use Gerald at that point in camp for sparring because of his power, etc. That may sound unrealistic to some but its the reality of boxing...it's like once when I had a training partner of Hagler's tell me how Marvin was huffing and puffing during sparring with some amateur kid at Goody's gym and I WAS LIKE, "WHAT?? NO WAY!" And he was saying to me, "What? You dont think Marvin ever gets tired? You think he's always ready on a moments notice to fight Tommy Hearns?" Of course he wasn't

(FROM MY BOOK) FLASHBACK, June 1988 at New Carrolton, Maryland: One day after training a bunch of us got together to go to a seafood restaurant not far from the gym. There was about ten of us in the group and I had no idea that night what a big deal it would be years later to say I sat at a table and ate dinner while sitting next to, among others, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones Sr., Roy Jones Jr., and Gerald McClellan. One funny thing that came from that night was the fact that I was one month shy of my 21st birthday and this was my very first time ever eating seafood (not counting Starkist brand tuna out of a can). So they bring the food and I am looking at it trying to figure out what these things are and what to do with them. I look around after some studying and I see Ray and Roy and Roy's dad eating them but I cannot even figure out how they got the meat out of these things. I had a butter knife in my hand and I am trying to pry it open at the top when Big Roy looks at me and says "Boy, WHAT are you doing?" I tell him how I have no idea what I am doing or how to get these things open to eat them. He looks at me with surprise on his face and everybody laughs out loud when he tells me "You're from New England and you've never seen a crab leg before??" (I honestly hadn't). Then when we were leaving the place I saw first hand what kind of power fame wields. As usual when Sugar Ray Leonard or anybody that is a star of that magnitude walks somewhere he will draw attention. These two ladies coming from the restaurant with their two babies in carriages see us all walking with Ray through the parking lot and immediately come over to meet him. Ray says Hello and bends down to pick up one of the babies and hold him. As he is standing there his brother Roger laughs and says "Ray, babies just love being held by you don't they?" The babies mother, without missing a beat, looks at Ray with a seductive smile and says "Yeah, their Mothers do, too." Good read thanks.

Good post again Scully. I have heard about that sparring session between Leonard and Jones. I believe I read where Ray stated that he didnt know what got into him, but he was drinking several beers, and he was over Roys house trying to get him under contract to fight for his promotional company. It appears that Roy initially was surprising Ray, then ray got a bit more serious and evened things out. However this is hear say. Ray has stated and I heard this, that he hagler, hearns and duran are all very lucky they didnt come up when Roy did, as his combination of speed, power, size and unorthodox style would pose major problems for those 4 great fighters that dominated the 80's. What are your thoughts. Finally Ju Ju, I highly doubt that there was any serious sparring going on between Leonard and McCllelan. There probably was some sparring that happened, but nothing that you can point to that either was getting the best of the other with any meaning. Just like Duran vs Benn, good sparring but no meaning. McCllelan came up when Roy did as amateaurs. He boxed mostly out of the Kronk Gym. Leonard was pretty much out of boxing for a large part of the 80's with a detatched retina. He did make several comebacks, but his sparring was not in the kronk gym locations. Also, leonard was very very vain, he would not allow himself to get caught up in sparring sessions at the kronk gym when he was probably 70% of himself. When Ray came back and outboxed Hagler, he was nowhere near a peak leonard. Many people dont know that leading up to that he was getting his ass handed to him (well let me correct this, he was catching straight lefts down the pipe by southpaws all during camp) in fact he was damm near ko'd by a quincy taylor. Many don't know about his cause ray's sparrign was in closed session matches. He would not go to the open area, highly competitive and hostile (for him since he had beaten Hearns) kronk to sparr compettivly with a upcoming McCllelan. What would he have to gain.

Nice story, Leonard must've been very popular at that time, not long after beating Hagler. I would love to see the sparring session between Jones and Leonard.

Good days :)

Yeah I am sure it is real good stuff. I have tape of RJ sparring with Me, Lindell Holmes, Jesse Lanton and another guy whose name I never got ICE

SRL vs RJ JR on video.... PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok more weird than funny

I was thinking looking at your sig that never mind the count that fight would have been stopped nowadays after like 3 unanswered punches to save Benn from permanent damage. Instead it would have saved Maclellan. Funny, isn't it?

Yeah I think I also heard about that, definately remember something to do with McClellan getting pissed with Hearns and Hearns throwing a big right hand that came naturally for survival and McClellan walking straight through it or some shit!

I was posting after McKay1 was saying how McClellan would kill Jones Jr and other stuff, but his posts have disappeared. ok sorry I wonder why it disappeared, but I read it and we did not miss too much

In the book 'War, Baby', Manny Steward says that McClellan easily out-boxed Sugar Ray Leonard and Michael Moorer in the same evening, but he didn't want to have McClellan and Hearns spar because he was scared that it would get too violent in there.. actually I read something (by manny steward i guess) about maclellan and hearns sparring with no headgear (cos the youngster pissed off the champ and then there was an argument, and gman took off his headgear to prove a point) and hearns trying to take gman out... and gman taking it. I also read his chin was so good it costed him obviously against benn but he already had some problems after the 1st jackson fight. anyone confirm this? juy, scully?

juy, that's not an answer to what I wrote, right? because i am talking about the post-manny version of gman. I think I stated it several times. I have no problem seeing the fight would have been quite different if it took place in 92 or 95. but it was in the talks for 95, right? I was posting after McKay1 was saying how McClellan would kill Jones Jr and other stuff, but his posts have disappeared.

JUY JUY, for what it is worth... the gym means NOTHING and, 2, Manny has a way of hyping things up and adding a little something to his stories. Even IF Gerald had done well with Ray, even if they sparred with Manny present(I highly doubt it), it would have come YEARS after Ray was at the top of his game.

juy, that's not an answer to what I wrote, right? because i am talking about the post-manny version of gman. I think I stated it several times. I have no problem seeing the fight would have been quite different if it took place in 92 or 95. but it was in the talks for 95, right?

In the book 'War, Baby', Manny Steward says that McClellan easily out-boxed Sugar Ray Leonard and Michael Moorer in the same evening, but he didn't want to have McClellan and Hearns spar because he was scared that it would get too violent in there..

McClellan is just to tough, to skilled, to relentless for Jones to deal with. Face it, Roy Jones fought as a pussy his entire career. Always staying on the outside, on his bicyle against any kind of decent opponent and pock shoting his way to pathetically fashioned victores. McClellan just steamrolls him.

Gerald McClellan would have killed Roy Jones. Roy Jones had a decent punch at 160 but not enough to deter McClellan's offensive montage, Jones' has a very so so chin that was only exposes late in his career. McClellan would stop him early with typical relentless early round attack. Gerlad stopped most of the opponents he fought within 3 and over 20 within 1.

Yeah I think when McClellan left Manny he wasn't using his jab as much or body-punching as much, similar to when Tyson left Rooney he wasn't moving his head as much or throwing combinations as much. see my point is by the time gman and rj would have fought (95?) gman would have not been quite enough disciplined to beat him. Roy by that time was in the prime of his physical abilities and with a "boxing IQ", which was already special, he was "in control" most of the time (even against hopkins, and juy you know better than yelling "hopkins was green", right?). It takes lots of tactics to neutralize that, not just an alltime punching power. I don't think the "killer version" of gman would have been the right fighter to do that.