Leonard Provides 60 Good Reasons for Not Going Inside With Duran

LAS VEGAS —  Sugar Ray Leonard, who was criticized for boxing instead of brawling against Roberto Duran, met the media Friday behind dark glasses hiding cuts that required 60 stitches.

“I looked in the mirror this morning and thought it’s nothing makeup won’t help,” Leonard said.

While he was marked like a loser, Leonard won a unanimous decision over Duran Thursday night.

“This fight was for me,” Leonard, 33, said. “I feel good about my performance, about the way things went.”

The fans, however, wanted a repeat of the first Leonard-Duran fight, when the two went toe-to-toe for 15 rounds with Duran winning a close but unanimous decision in 1980 at Montreal.

What they got was a repeat of the New Orleans fight nine years ago, but with a different ending. On that night, Duran quit in frustration. The Panamanian, 38, was equally frustrated Thursday night, but he plodded on to the final bell.

“I got these cuts when I went inside to accommodate the public’s demand (for action),” Leonard said.

He took 30 stitches in the right eyebrow, 20 in the left eyelid and 10 in his lower lip.

Leonard acknowledged that he tried to make his “no mas” victory over Duran in New Orleans nine years earlier a factor.

“When I taunted him, I’m sure it brought back memories (of New Orleans),” Leonard said.