ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 2, 1997 TAG: 9703040019
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTIC CITY, N J.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Sugar Ray Leonard came back to the ring the same way he left it six years ago - a battered and beaten man.
Hector Camacho knocked down Leonard in the fifth round, then stopped him with a barrage of 11 punches early this morning at the Convention Center.
Leonard, a 40-year-old grandfather, was floored about 50 seconds into the fifth round when Camacho landed a right and three left uppercuts to the head.
Leonard tried to get up at the count of three, but fell again and struggled back to his feet.
Camacho, 34, then leaped to the attack and landed 10 punches to the head before referee Joe Cortez jumped in to save Leonard from further punishment.
The crushing defeat certainly will send Leonard into retirement for good. He had said he was coming back now because he was running out of time to make a return to the ring.
``My career is definitely over,'' said Leonard, who was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in January. He will be inducted in June.
With the victory, Camacho retained the International Boxing Council middleweight championship. Before the fight, Camacho said, ``It's the first time I'll be fighting a scientific fighter, but he's fighting the Macho Man. I'm not Ray-struck.''
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines KEYWORDS: BOXINGby CNB