Willard Lewis VS Donnie Lalonde

Donnie Lalonde on the comeback trail


Donnie Lalonde walked into a seminar at a Colorado Springs hotel in 1998 and learned about a natural treatment called Active Release Technique that could cure his ailing shoulder and hand.


This Friday, just two days after his 43rd birthday, Lalonde, 40-4-1 with 33 KOs, takes on Willard Lewis (17-6-2), a blown up super middleweight at the Winnipeg Convention Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.


He credits this technique and a holistic lifestyle for giving him another chance at a world title.


Before Lalonde was a fighter he separated his shoulder playing hockey. The surgery resulted in his left arm being compromised. He was unable to fully use his left arm. In the ring he was unable to throw hard lefts, and at home he couldn't raise his arm to wash his hair or put his arms around his children.

Later in his career he broke the second metacarpal in his right hand and after years of inadequate treatment he felt the integrity of his hand was compromised.


I had a vulnerable left shoulder and a susceptible right hand," Lalonde said. "Other injuries spun off of those so I tried alternative treatments."

Lalonde interrupted the seminar and the speaker, Mike Leahy, who knew of Lalonde and his condition. Leahy asked Lalonde if he'd be his guinea pig for a demonstration. After a few minutes, Leahy had released the restricted muscle.


After 19 years of not being used, the muscle was pretty weak," Lalonde said. "Leahy freed it up and I have full mobility."


Active Release Techniques treatment is a hands-on touch and case-management system that allows a practitioner to diagnose and treat soft-tissue injuries. Soft tissue refers primarily to muscle, tendon, and nerves. Specific injuries that apply are repetitive strains, adhesions, and joint dysfunction.

Despite his age the former World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion, now campaigning as a cruiserweight, says he has never felt better.

He credits his good health with the holistic lifestyle he lives. For the most part he eats a natural diet. Seafood that he catches himself and free-range poultry are the only animals he partakes in.

After losing to Sugar Ray Leonard in 1988, Lalonde moved his wife and children to Vancouver Island in British Columbia where he could escape the high-profile lifestyle he was living. He came back to fight in the early 1990s, losing a unanimous decision in May 1992 to Bobby Czyz for the World Boxing Association cruiserweight title. He resurfaced again in late 1996 and fought through mid-1998. With his kids grown, Lalonde talked to his wife about making another comeback.

Last October he embarked on his mission, winning a unanimous eight-round decision over Tony Menefee in Winnipeg.


The one thing that's different now is I'm healthier now than ever in the ring," Lalonde said. "I'm fighting better now than I ever have in my lifetime. It's a lot better fighting now with two hands."

Lalonde stayed away from the glaciated plains of Winnipeg until last Saturday, opting for the 70-ish degree weather of Southern California. He has split his time between Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym in Hollywood and the La Habra Boxing Club in nearby Orange County, Calif.

He worked under the watchful eye of Roach at Wild Card and sparred with light heavyweight contender Julio Gonzalez at La Habra.

I worked with one of the best in Freddie and I got first class sparring with Julio," he said. "Besides, the weather is so much better for training."

Lalonde has a goal of being the oldest fighter to ever win a world title.

George Foreman was 44 years-10 months when he knocked out Michael Moorer for the heavyweight title. Lalonde still has two years, and like fine wine, he says he'll only get better with age.

I want to do the improbable and be the oldest guy to win a championship," he said. "I want to educate and inspire people to live a healthy life, and reach their dreams.

People need to get off their butts. In these troubled times, people live in fear and they need a vehicle to get beyond all of this and that is living well."
After his fight with Lewis, Lalonde said he has a fight with former International Boxing Federation and WBA light heavyweight champ Virgil Hill.


The day we know, everybody will know," he said. "Virgil and I have committed to this."

Lalonde hopes to win a world title and launch a public speaking career to show the benefits of a holistic lifestyle.

The United States has an enormous obesity rate and disease is at an all-time high," he said. "If you go back to nature and to the garden you'll find it works pretty good. If you get closer to nature, you'll be able dream dreams."

Getting closer to nature has not only allowed Lalonde to dream dreams, but it's given him a chance to do the improbable.

referee: Bill Turner | judge: Robert Tapper 98-92 | judge: Rick Saul 98-92 | judge: Brian Shane 99-92

Donny Lalonde verses Virgil Hill

A few odds and ends from Virgil Hill's dismantling of Donny Lalonde Saturday night.

Virgil Hill, left, fighting Donny Lalonde in 2003 has 49-4 record.

n People have been making the same tired "over the Hill" jokes at his expense for years now. But even though Hill obviously doesn't have the incredible speed he had during his prime, on Saturday he showed the difference between a world class fighter who has lost a step and one that has just lost it.

It was startling.

Though they were both former world champions, Lalonde never has been truly up to Hill's level. The ESPN graphic which showed the difference in championship round experience between the two (268 for Hill, 28 for Lalonde) displayed that. But Lalonde had a nice career, winning a title and giving Sugar Ray Leonard some trouble in his most famous battle.

Yet Hill made the hometown hero look every bit of his 43 years and then some. He landed his jab at will and with power, staggering Lalonde with it several times.

What might have been more impressive was how elusive a target Hill presented. Although stats were not provided at ringside, according to ESPN, Lalonde actually threw more punches in the first five rounds - which were completely dominated by Hill - yet landed just 23 blows.

As Lalonde's trainer, Freddie Roach noted, Hill no longer has the best legs in boxing, but he can still move.

n Hill's current trainer, Mike Hall, was peeved that his fighter didn't score a knockout, but he also saw some things he liked.

"What I saw is what we see in the gym: He's still efficient, still fast, still quick," Hall said. "The jab is still hard. … If he can stay busy and keep the rust off, he can win the title."

n Manager Bill Sorensen said the next target for Hill is WBA cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck, who upset Hill for that title last year. The catch is that Mormeck is in Don King's stable, and Hill and King have a long and unpleasant history.

"Virgil would like that fight, but I don't have to tell you guys that it has its own set of problems," Sorensen said. "But they are very interested in doing this. We've had several conversations at this time."

"We're fighting champions and Mother Nature and Father Time," Sorensen added. "We want to get it done soon."

n Aside from Mormeck, Sorensen tossed out the names of two of the other three fighters that have scored wins over Hill - Dariusz Michalczewski and Roy Jones - as possibilities down the road, as well as James Toney.

"There's a lot of things happening all of a sudden in the cruiserweight division right now," Sorensen said. "Michalczewski is talking about fighting at cruiserweight. Jones - we'd obviously like to fight him at heavyweight, or Toney.

"It's gone from the nothing division to one of the hottest divisions in boxing," Sorensen said. "We'd like to take advantage of that quick. Hopefully we're in the right place at the right time."

Fighting Jones again sounds like a really bad idea, even for big money. But a matchup with Toney could be very interesting.

n Much was made of the developing friendship between Hill and Lalonde, and the truth is, Lalonde is a hard guy not to like. He comes across as intelligent, genuine and self-aware enough to realize the odds are against him in his comeback, even as he remains optimistic.

"This was an experiment," Lalonde said. "I wanted to show myself where I was at. I certainly know that I'm not prepared to be in the top two or three in the world at this point. But I certainly don't feel that far off."

n The undercard bout between Billy Irwin and Mark Riggs deserves a brief mention. When Irwin blasted Riggs with a second left hook, finishing their fight at 1:44 of the first round, Riggs toppled like he was taken a Nestea plunge.

But there was nothing funny about his landing. When Riggs' head hit the ring, it sounded like somebody cracking a pair of 2x4s together. I've never heard anything like it at a boxing match. Luckily, all that was hurt was Riggs' pride and his previously unbeaten record.

LaLonde vs Leonard

LaLonde vs. Leonard nov 7-88 weigh in... Manager Dave Wolf bottom left...and my forehead at his shoulder:) — with SUGAR RAY LEONARD

Monday, November 7, 1988
Location:
Las Vegas, NV
Rounds Scheduled:
12
Contracted Weight:
168
Titles at Stake:
WBC 175, WBC 168
Referee:
Steele
Official Judging
Giampa 74 - 77
Kirshenbaum 76 - 75
Marti 75 - 77



The fight was contracted at 168 lbs. so Leonard would have a shot to win both the newly created WBC Super Middleweight title and Lalonde's WBC Light Heavyweight title in the same night. His dramatic knockout victory enabled Leonard to win his fourth and fifth titles in different weight classes.

Flashback Friday: Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Donny Lalonde By Tony Calcara Posted: July 4, 2014 2 Photo by The Ring/Getty Images It was a mild and breezy Monday night in the desert. As the November darkness began to fall in Las Vegas, an event billed as “For All the Gold” was about to rock the outdoor arena at Caesars Palace. Already recognized as a ring great and future hall of famer, 32-year-old Sugar Ray Leonard (34-1, 24 KOs) was moving up in weight to challenge the WBC Light Heavyweight champion. His opponent was 28-year-old titleholder Donny “The Golden Boy” Lalonde (31-2, 26 KOs). Leonard was the former Welterweight, Super Welterweight and Middleweight Champion of the world. If an athlete was every riding high, it was Leonard. Coming off one of the greatest upsets in history in April of 1987, Leonard had done what many deemed impossible by beating the undisputed Middleweight Champion, Marvelous Marvin Hagler. In Lalonde, he was facing a younger, stronger and bigger man. He was also faced with 18 months of inactivity. No one, however, need remind us that this was Sugar Ray Leonard. Layoffs, inactivity and retirement were as much a part of Leonard’s career as were his many brilliant performances. It was all part of the formula that made him what many call the greatest fighter of his generation. The matchup took part under a very unique backdrop. Two titles were on the line, both the WBC Light Heavyweight Championship, owned by Lalonde, and the vacant WBC Super Middleweight title. A catch weight of 168 pounds was also agreed to. In essence, Leonard was moving from 160 to 168 and Lalonde from 175 to 168. At the weigh in on the morning of the fight, Lalonde tipped the scale at 167 pounds, while Leonard weighed in at 165. Annoyed at Leonard, who seemingly ignored him, Lalonde quipped, “Ray weighed in at 165. Now I’m not only fighting an old Welterweight, I’m fighting a fat old Welterweight.” Not a bad one liner for a guy deemed as the unknown fighting a legend. Against Leonard, Lalonde was defending his title for the second time. From Winnipeg, Canada, he had shown his determination and toughness time-and-time again. He had evident power in his right hand, however, many questioned the use or lack thereof in his left. A result of a hockey injury to his left shoulder, Lalonde was often criticized for being a one handed fighter. Throughout his career he had limited mobility and pain in that shoulder though he had still managed to win 31 fights, 26 by knockout, and win the Light Heavyweight crown. The fight was broadcast live on closed circuit television and later replayed on HBO. The action was called by Larry Merchant, Jim Lampley and Kevin Rooney, trainer of then Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson. Prior to the opening bell, Merchant opined, “This is a fight between a Ferrari and a pickup truck. And the pickup truck is trying to make it a demolition derby and the Ferrari is trying to make it a foot race.” After Ring announcer Chuck Hull made the official introductions of the fighters and the referee, Richard Steele, both fighters stood ready in their corner. Leonard was wearing black trunks with “SUGAR” embossed on the front in gold. Lalonde, also in black trunks, had “LALONDE” imprinted in gold across the front of his trunks. In a bout scheduled for 12 rounds, Round 1 was, in every sense of the word, a boxing match. Leonard, much more flat footed than we were used to seeing him, was circling Lalonde and trying to use his jab. Looking cool and confident, Lalonde worked his left hand, his left hand! This was huge news given the pre-fight chatter around the Lalonde left. As the two took turns moving forward, and then backing up, Lalonde continued to fire the left jab and an occasional left hook. This was surprising to the team calling the fight as well. Lampley indicated, simply, “He’s throwing it.” Immediately on cue, Rooney shouted, “And landing it!” With 10 seconds to go in the opening chapter, the two mixed it up, throwing a flurry of punches. Leonard, on his bicycle, moved smoothly away as Lalonde was in pursuit. As the bell sounded and both men began to walk to their corners, there was a subtle yet noticeable shoulder bump landed by each man. Neither man was willing to give an inch. As round two began, Lalonde continued to keep his promise, being aggressive and trying to press the action. He believed if he could keep Leonard busy, he would tire in the late stages of the fight. It was becoming apparent that Leonard was content to remain more flat footed than ever before in his career. With that flat footedness came more action. At the half-way point of the round, Lalonde landed a swift right hand that impaled on the side of Leonard’s face. Rooney shouted, “He hurt Leonard, I think he hurt him!” Lampley added, “Leonard holding on!” Leonard, openly rubbing the top of his head, seemed to shake it off quickly. Bouncing on his toes, he began landing his own clean punches to close the round. Round 3 saw Lalonde scoring to the body and Leonard looking to stalk his taller opponent. Again, the two took turns moving backward, and then forward. Leonard was, much to his dismay, being kept at arm’s length by the Lalonde jab. With his confidence building in Round 4, Lalonde cemented his name in history by landing a thudding overhand right that sent Sugar to the canvas. Merchant exclaimed, “The right hand!” As the Golden Boy stood in a neutral corner, Leonard took the eight count from Steele. As the action resumed, Lalonde stormed after Leonard landing hard punches as Leonard held on. Blood was now flowing along the left side of Leonards’ nose. As the bell sounded to end the fireworks, Lalonde walked back to his corner as only the second man to ever send Leonard to the canvas. Round five began and looked like a round out of a “Rocky” movie. Leonard began stepping inside, with blood flowing, taking risks and firing punches at the head and body. Lalonde, who was happy to fight Leonard inside a proverbial phone booth, stood toe-to-toe and fired right back. The ebb and flow continued and, with 30 seconds to go in the round, Leonard landed a furious combination hurting Lalonde. As the bell rang to end the action, Merchant reminisced, “Leonard had to come back. And he did. That’s why he’s a great fighter.” As the middle rounds unfolded, the taller Lalonde was standing straight up looking now to measure Leonard for power right hands. Leonard continued to take risks, grinning at Lalonde, and began landing his left hand almost at will. With a minute to go in Round 6, Lalonde again hurt Leonard with a punishing right hand. He was succeeding at getting Leonard to fight and expend energy. In the seventh and eighth round, the action continued to sizzle. Lampley pointed out, “Both fighters are getting a little wild.” Merchant concurred, “He’s [Lalonde] trying to turn it into a pier six brawl now.” Lalonde was in fact swinging wildly, attacking Leonard. He had the fight he wanted, could he win it? Photo by The Ring/Getty Images Leonard, cool as a cucumber, bravely stood in the pocket and gave every bit as good as he got. He was now doing more of the pursuing. Lalonde was wobbled in the seventh, but fought back and again became the aggressor in the eighth. As both fighters met in center ring for the ninth round, Harold Letterman had the fight 76-75 for Lalonde. Rooney chimed in, adding he had it five rounds to three in favor of Lalonde. As Leonard’s right eye began to swell, Lalonde landed a sensational right hand. The crowd rose as Lalonde went in for the kill. Leonard, moving and slipping, countered with his own right hurting Lalonde and driving him into the ropes. With one minute remaining in the round, a Leonard left dropped Lalonde. The crowd at Caesars was going nuts. As Lalonde rose, he gave Leonard a quick nod and a smile as if to say, you got me. As Steele finished the standing eight count, Leonard attacked as Lalonde had in the fourth round. Unfortunately for Lalonde, he was not able to survive as Leonard did earlier. Leonard then landed a pulverizing right hand immediately followed by a crushing left. Lalonde crashed to the canvas. Rooney cried, “They’re stopping the bout!” Lampley added, “I don’t think he’ll get up anymore.” Leonard would go on to fight just four more times including a second fight with Thomas Hearns and a third with Roberto Duran. He then attempted two more ill-fated comebacks, losing both badly, to Terry Norris and Hector Camacho though those losses did little to tarnish his storied career. Lalonde went on to fight 13 more times, largely against unheralded competition. His only two losses were against the “name” fighters he met, Bobby Czyz and Virgil Hill. On the night he met Leonard, few thought he could be anything more than an opponent. Instead, he rose to the occasion and etched his name into the memory of boxing fans everywhere. On that night in the desert, Sugar struck Gold. Leonard again proved his greatness by leaving the Ferrari at home. In a twist few saw coming, he was the pickup truck and won the demolition derby in nine rounds of drama.

Donny Lalonde -VS- Mustafa Hamsho

In his first fight with Gallagher and Cassidy, he outpointed Mustafa Hamsho on 1987-05-07 Felt Forum, New York, New York, USA >>>his next fight was for a world title. On November 27, 198

Other than winning the world title, the Hamsho fight is my all time personal favorite. As you mentioned he had beaten good fighters, world class, and had fought well against Hagler [in the first fight], an all time great so beating him, in the Garden, in a full house, in NYC, his back yard, was a HUGE confidence builder and really helped me with confidence and launched my career. It was a brutally physical fight. I loved every minute of it. I loved the physicality of that fight and getting the decision was so fulfilling.

Funny side note: Just previous to that time I had 6 different injuries that independently the “specialist” said were ‘career ending injuries’ as medicine did not have a solution for them that could allow for me to fight after “fixing” them through surgery. Anyone that knew about these injuries felt I had no chance in the Hamsho fight but they didn’t know I had a guy come from Denmark who helped my injuries heal themselves through a body work he called psycho-nero-myafacial-integration. It is better known now as Active Release Technique from the physical point of view but this guy incorporated the psychological aspects to his healing and helped me deal with the cause of the symptoms as well as the symptoms. Through his work within 6 weeks I was mainly healthy in all those areas, not completely but mainly, enough to box. The winner got a shot at a world title, at the newly created super middleweight [the weight we fought at] or light heavy as Spinks was giving up his belts to fight Holmes. I won and got Eddie Davis as he was #1 and with the Hamsho fight I was #2.

You can see this on the tape, Hamsho was told I had a really bad left shoulder and if he twisted it I wouldn’t be able to use it. You can see at one point in the fight in a clinch him trying. I grabbed him, pulled him closer and said, that’s the wrong shoulder it was the right one actually. You can see him step back and look to see. I laughed, it was funny. Great fight, loved it. Made me. Teddy Atlas thinks in the 11 months he trained me out of 27 years of boxing that he “made me” but that fight more than anything else did for me what no other one person did except maybe Dave Wolf my manager.

intro

Donny Lalonde born March 12, 1960 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada is a retired professional boxer. His nickname is "Golden Boy," after the Golden Boy statue atop the Manitoba Legislative Building in his boxing home town of Winnipeg. Lalonde held the WBC Light Heavyweight Championship from 1987 to 1988.