Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 9, 1991 TAG: 9102090099
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Norris likes the stage. It's the script he plans to change.
Norris, 23, was at home in Campo, Calif., when he got a call from manager Joe Sayatovich, who told him he might have a chance of fighting Leonard.
"I thought it wouldn't happen," said Norris, who will be defending the World Boxing Council super welterweight title in the scheduled 12-round match. "I'm surprised Leonard is taking me - the best super welterweight out there.
"He needed someone who was going to help him prove himself. Beating me would prove he's not losing anything. It's a test. He just took the wrong test."
Leonard, who will be 35 on May 17, sees Norris as a measuring stick to gauge where he is as a fighter at this stage of his career. The man who won world titles in five weight classes has looked sharp and relaxed in training.
His sparring sessions over the past two weeks would seem to indicate that Leonard is going to try to get Norris early.
"I don't expect it to last too long if Ray stands in there," Norris said. "With my power, I'll knock him out. [John] Mugabi found out."
Leonard was made a 12-5 favorite by Las Vegas bookmakers.
"When people say, `Who the hell is Terry Norris,' I say that he beat John `The Beast' Mugabi," Leonard said.
Norris won a share of the 154-pound championship by knocking out Mugabi in the first round last March 31 at Tampa, Fla. He had made one defense, getting a 12-round decision over Rene Jacquot on July 13 in France.
Norris has a 26-3-0 record, with 15 knockouts. Leonard is 36-1-1, with 25 knockouts.
Norris tried to win the World Boxing Association 154-pound title July 30, 1989, at Atlantic City, N.J., but was knocked out in the second round by Julian Jackson, who is considered to be one of the hardest punchers from 140 to 160 pounds in the world.
"I got a little too cocky," Norris said. "He caught me with a good shot. It was a lesson. I rebounded and I'm a champion."
Norris had battered Jackson in the first round.
"He was doing well in the second round," Sayatovich said. "Then he went to the ropes, put his hands down, made some fancy moves and got nailed. He got hit with a right hand and three more shots."
Norris got up at the count of five, but Sayatovich stopped the fight.
Leonard weighed 154 pounds at Friday's weigh-in. Norris tipped the scales at 152 1/2.
A victory would make Leonard a world 154-pound champion for the second time. He stopped Ayub Kalule in the ninth round for the WBA title June 25, 1981.
Leonard won the undisputed welterweight (147 pounds) title from Thomas Hearns in 1981. He weighed 158 when he came out of retirement to beat Marvelous Marvin Hagler for the undisputed middleweight (160) title in 1987 and he weighed 165 when he stopped Donny Lalonde for the WBC super middleweight (168) and light heavyweight (175) titles in 1988. The contract limit for the Lalonde fight was 168 pounds.
by CNB