All Norris Needs Is a Challenger

Nine hundred ninety-nine out of 1,000 television viewers tuned in to Terry Norris’ fight with Sugar Ray Leonard last Saturday night undoubtedly thought they were tuned in to Sugar Ray Leonard’s fight with Terry Norris.

They could, of course, be excused for this lapse.

Any fight involving Sugar Ray would be a Sugar Ray fight. That was the way it had seemingly been since the “other” Sugar Ray retired. Anyone else in the ring would be a bit player or a straight man or a Dan Quayle, there but insignificant.

Terry Norris was perceived as an accessory to the occasion, as noticeable as Cher’s purse.

After all those years, indeed, Sugar Ray was making his debut at Madison Square Garden. That was who Norris was. He was the guy Leonard was fighting in his Garden debut.

In reality, a whole lot of this was skewed. It was skewed going in and it was skewed coming out.

Sugar Ray Leonard was not defending anything, except maybe his sense of pride. Terry Norris was champion of the World Boxing Council’s junior middleweight division. Sugar Ray was the challenger.

You might have been able to win a bet on that fact from half of the people filing into the Garden itself.

Norris, a 23-year-old who lives in Alpine and trains in Campo, was quite mindful of how this match was perceived. He knew he was stepping into the ring against a legend. And he knew he was much more of a candidate for a “Who’s He?” than a “Who’s Who.”

“I was unknown,” he said Tuesday before a session with San Diego media. “At least, sort of. A lot of people knew me . . . Mainly the boxing public. But people who didn’t really follow boxing didn’t know me.”

Folks who follow boxing knew that Terry Norris had won the WBC’s junior middleweight championship with a first-round knockout March 31 of John (The Beast) Mugabi. In truth, he probably did himself a disservice by so rapidly dispatching The Beast. Given a chance at a bit of network television exposure, poor Terry was back in his locker room before the first commercial. Ali would have milked that one into the fifth or sixth round.

Given the championship belt, Norris successfully defended it for the first time against Rene Jacquot. This did little to enhance his reputation beyond the loyal legions of The Ring magazine subscribers. The general public, if noting this occasion at all, might have thought Rene Jacquot was what he drank in celebration. It did not help that this fight transpired in Paris.

Thus, Terry Norris continued to labor at Joe Sayatovich’s outpost in Campo. Sayatovich, his manager, had a man with a title, but not a name. Norris needed a spot . . . a break.

Terry Norris needed to mix it up with a household name. He would be nothing more than just another champion of just another division of just another of boxing’s ruling bodies. It would do him no good to go to London and drub some lorry driver from Yorkshire.

Beating Mugabi had been a turning point, but now he had to fight somebody who would turn heads.

Sugar turned out to be his cup of tea. When Sugar Ray Leonard fights, folks take note. People who watch one or two boxing matches a year make it a point to watch Sugar Ray.

Terry Norris was the “other” guy in the ring, even if he was the champion.

And Terry Norris came out of that ring the champion. There was absolutely no doubt in anyone’s mind. You generally figure Leonard might get a little “sympathy scoring” in his favor, but the cards for this fight were lopsided to the point of making it astonishing that Leonard was even able to stand up until the finish.

“They probably should have stopped it,” Norris said Tuesday, “but Ray has a big heart. He wouldn’t have wanted that.”

And I suspect Terry Norris did not press the point of finishing his overmatched foe. While he himself fought for respect, he did not forget the respect he had for the legend he was fighting.

“Ray was my idol,” he said, “and he’s still my idol. He gave me a chance to prove myself and I’m grateful for that. I was the champion walking into the ring, but I had something to prove to the public. This fight gave me credibility.”

Terry Norris came out of that fight with the title he took into it . . . and much more. He impressed people with with his graciousness, sincerity and concern. He has qualities so many boxing champions have been lacking.

Bigger fights are hopefully ahead for him, though none more important to the advancement of his career and his image.

His problem now is that, unlike Leonard, he has no contemporaries who loom as megabucks opponents. He has no Hagler or Duran. For now, though, he will take some time to enjoy the victory over the opponent he did have.

Sugar Ray Leonard, unsuccessful challenger to the champ everyone knows. Now.