Hearns vs Barkley. How in the world did Iran pull of a KO? cut, and a beaten man?

As Tommy was havin his way with him for three rounds Barkley was missin big time with that huge leaping lead left and evertime he threw it and missed (which I dont think he landed not one of them to Tommys head)..Hearns made it pay for it, And when Iran finally did throw a big right hand he put The Hitman down for good...with one shot..This may have been one of the biggest upsets in the WW or MW division of the 80's.

 

Disagree.

Tommy posed after punching. Always did. Threw big combos and stopped and posed admiring his work. Barkley had already been through about 10 tough fights and that was 1 thing Iran did was to fire back after getting hit a good shot in a nanosecond. Lots of guys don't do that, but Barkley always did.

The other big factor was Iran was a tall guy himself in there. So his punches could reach a Hearns. This wasn't one of those welter matchups where Tommy would fire away from the outside and the opponents couldn't reach him. Barkley had the size and punch to do it.

Hearns was only a 3-1 favorite in the fight. A guy with no chance is 8-1 and Hearns by far was the more popular fighter. Lots of folks liked Iran's chances for the upset though. Those were closer odds than many of the Hearns opponents above welter and a tall gunslinger was going to be an interesting matchup.

 

Well when you watch the fight you can see Barkley is trying to time him for something big...And he did.

 

Barkley threw the best right hand that ever did.

Hearns had been neutralizing his left hook with movement but that one time he moved right into Barkley's right hand while avoiding the left. It was a blindside punch that very few people would've been able to recover from. I suppose nobody told Hearns that this guy could hit with the right also.

 

I honestly cant believe Tommy got back up in the first place...If you watch it he is planted on the canvis..

 

Barkley was a true, natural middleweight, very strong, had a heck of a chin, was very tough, could take a beating and keep on throwing hard punches. He landed a perfect counter punch right on the jaw and Hearns did not see it coming at all. Then as Tommy was going down in an already semi-unconscious state, Barkley nailed him another shot.

Hey, when you fight a durable guy who can punch, you can get caught and taken out. Plus I think Tommy was beating him so bad that I think Tom failed to adequately consider defense and show sufficient fear/respect for what could potentially come back.

Still, in the rematch, Barkley once again showed he was just too strong and physical and tough for a diminished Hearns.

 

IF you want a good laugh at the blatant corruption in boxing watch this stoppage and Chavez Taylor back to back.

 

I agree it just wasnt Tommy's time anymore, and I wasnt sure if they rematched or not.

 

Anytime you put someone outa the ring it cant be good!..Its just such a horid right hand

 

Worse than Pac vs Bradley!?..

 

It pointed out the defensive/punch taking liabilities of Hearns as much as it did any assets of Barkley.

 

The definition of "5 run home run" punch that Larry Merchant used to talk about.

Barkley was a tough sonofabitch, that is for sure.

 

Barkley was the total package..very fun fighter to watch..And BTW does anyone understand this jibberish from Boxed Ears thread...Im so confused

 

Barkley was a monster and very dangerous. I do think Hearns was the better fighter who was carelessly caught in the first fight.A good question to ask is How come Barkley could'nt knock out an over the Hill Hearns in the rematch? An intresting thing would have been if they rematched a year or so afterthe first one.(Remember how motivated the hitman was in the Leonard rematch? Tommy keep that guard up)