Sugar Ray stays in neutral corner

LAS VEGAS – Whenever he finds time, Sugar Ray Leonard would be at ringside for a big fight when many years ago he was the one in there, drawing the crowds and winning most of the time.

On Saturday, the former world champion in five different weight divisions should be among the thousands who will pack the MGM Grand for perhaps the fight of the year.

Leonard, who in the 1980s became the first boxer to book $100 million in earnings, is already in town, and there couldn’t be anything that would keep him from staying.

It’s just a couple of days before Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez collide for the fourth time, and Leonard has already made his presence felt.

Wednesday he was at the MGM Grand media center where he spoke of the coming fight.

Leonard said he expects a battle that could go either way, and that fight fans who will watch the bout live and from all over the world must not blink an eye.

“This will be an incredible fight. The first three fights met the expectations. These guys know each other,” he said in a brief chat with boxing man Hermie Rivera.

“I think it’s going to be a wonderful fight. But we won’t know until the first bell rings and the first punches are thrown. But I’m excited.

“It’s going to be an incredible fight,” said Leonard, who fought some of boxing’s great battles against Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler.

But he said he hasn’t made up his mind on the winner.

“I’m not picking either one because both of these guys are incredible fighters. I consider both guys clever fighters. May the best man win,” Leonard said.

The 1976 Olympics gold medalist isn’t even betting on the fight.

“I don’t put my money (there),” Leonard said.

Well, he’s just trying to stay neutral.