On January 11, 1979 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland future multi champion Sugar Ray Leonard fought Johnny Gant in the featured bout. Leonard stopped Gant in the 8th round. Leonard and Gant fought before a sellout crowd of 19,773. The fight was billed as the Mid-Atlantic Welterweight Championship.
Leonard was ranked third by The Ring, tenth by the WBC and fourth by the WBA. Gant was ranked fourth by The Ring and eighth by the WBC, but he was not ranked by the WBA. Leonard knocked Gant down late in the eighth round. Gant got up on unsteady legs and nodded when the referee asked him if he was okay. Leonard then moved in and hit Gant with a hard right hand, prompting the referee to stop the fight. The fight was scored on the five-point must system. All three officials had Leonard ahead. Referee Joe Bunsa and judge Larry Barrett each scored the fight 34-31, and judge Terry Moore had it 35-28. Moore did not give Gant a single round. Bunsa gave Gant the fifth and called the fourth and sixth even. Barrett gave Gant the seventh and called the first and sixth even. Offered here is an original, official program for this event.
FULL DESCRIPTION: This is a rare, original, official program picturing both fighters on the cover and consisting of 4 pages complete. Tight binding. Not scored or written on. Minor cover soiling. Not creased or torn, but has a compression on the front cover from handling. 5 1/2" x 8 1/2." A rare and early pre title program of Sugar Ray Leonard.
