Hagler v Hearns is one of the most overrated fights ever.

Ahhhh, the casual boxing fans mind at work.

Of course those who really are students of the game knew that there was a vast difference between Hagler a full blown middleweight and Duran a natural lightweight. Then you take factors like Hagler being southpaw and having a much better reach than Duran.
......but yeah, the casual mind at work which includes many boxing scribes dont factor in alot of things and emphasize way to much punching power and knockouts..

 

another fascinating aspect; all the variables. One of the posters mentioned it, that he loved Marvin but that the Hitman was feared. Nobody really knew the limits of what the Hitman could do. Many even felt that Marvin should not face him and after it was over, it was like Marvin had just killed the wicked witch of the East. The masses were euphoric and Marvin, much to the dislike of the sports columnists, had become a public hero

 

HBO had done a great job of marketing Marvin as the blue-collar champion who came to work with a hard hat and was a hard man who had worked his way to the top while the champions and many contenders were ducking him and now he was going to hold onto what he had with a vice grip … which was pretty accurate.

He definitely grew to have a big following. Leonard and Hearns and Duran were all flashier, bigger personalities (maybe not Tommy so much but he had a type of charisma that came through in the ring with that wicked power, as you noted) while Marvin was the working-class hero type who walked softly and carried a big stick. They played up his secluded training camps and work ethic.

He was contrasted with the silver spoon types (not that Ray or Hearns or Roberto actually took an easy route if you look at their records and how hey became stars by beating good fighters, by they were making big purses while he was fighting for a few thousand against the toughest competition his handlers could get to fight him) as a fellow who toiled in obscurity and that gave him a definite appeal to the masses.

 

Marvin was hated by the media. They were hoping Tommy would beat him and expose him as an overacted fighter. but he had a fan following that went up little by little and by the time Hitman tore off Duran's head, I could tell that the public was pulling for Marvin to trounce Hitman even though Marvin put in a poor performance against Duran. He looked uncharacteristically docile whereas Thomas did not hold anything back and unleashed his full fury on Duran to which Duran could survive only 5 minutes

I wouldnt label Hagler as 'blue collar working class type'. that is just a label the media stuck on him but it really doesnt do him justice

 

Here is a commercial I found.

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As you could see, the buildup to the fight was nothing great. it was more of a fantasy fight that didn't require it but as I said, the media took an attitude towards Marvin as if to say "you're on the big stage now, but you are not really worthy of it"

However, I remember an issue of KO magazine that was very insightful as to how the public viewed this fight. I remember the person in charge sports programming at HBO saying "it is one of those fights that has the magic" but that many couldnt put their finger as to why

I had always been curious as to how other people anticipated this fight and as it turned out, were just as fanatical. There will never be another like it again.

 

Imagine the excitement watching that 1st round live. Wish I was around then.

 

When i went into a pretty prestigious military academy ... ( left for a foolhardy athletic career ) To demonstrate courage and fear they introduced us to this fight. first day.

 

Hearns was capable of putting any fighter out with one shot, thats not an exaggeration. The Cuevas and Duran KO's those were two tough fighters Hearns layed down face first to the canvas. Not many fighters in history can deliver and land with that type of punching power.
Going into the Hagler fight it was thought by many boxing writers that Hearns was getting better as he moved up in weight, the feeling was that Hearns frame was better suited as a middleweight than it had been at Welterweight.
The feeling by many was that no way Hagler could outbox Hearns and that if Hagler forced the fight he'd have to open himself up to the point he'd leave himself vulnerable to Hearns power.

 

Hearns was only ever a superstar when their was a superstar in the other corner, Hagler became a superstar when he beat Duran, Hearns demolition of Duran didn`t have the same effect with casuals, Hagler was used in adverts Hearns wasn`t, Tommy wa more like a charismatic baddie forom a Rocky movie rather than the main star of the show, more a supporting act than the main guy, he never crossed over to the casuals, his main claim to fame where I live in the UK was making the front page of newspapers after being knocked out by Hagler.

 

I didn`t see it live as the fight wasn`t televisedc live in the UK where I live, but they showed it the following day and I watched with my dad, it was awesome and made the front page of British newspapers.

 

Which fights contained Reg Gutteridge`s best commentary?
Reg was a brilliant commentator even though he didn`t know much about boxing ... I loved his commentary on the Hagler v Hearns classic war

 

In the UK the fight was shown on ITV with Reg Gutteridge and Donald Curry commentating.
Hagler, normally a slow starter, stormed Hearns from the opening bell, landing with several brutal right hands eventually pinning him to the ropes. Hearns threw his devastating right hand to Hagler's chin, stunning Hagler for a moment before Hagler was able to tie him up in a clinch. Seconds later, however, the two were trading power punches, with Hagler trying to get inside and to pin Hearns to the ropes again. In the process, he succeeded in stunning Hearns with a hard left hand. Hearns tied up Hagler again and tried to slow the pace by boxing rather than trading power punches with Hagler, who was still the aggressor. This lasted for only a moment, however. Before long the two once again started to trade power punches. (During these exchanges Hearns broke his right hand.) The slugfest continued for the better part of the next two and a half minutes as both fighters traded heavy blows with little regard for defense or pacing. Hagler developed a cut on his forehead but didn't slow as he pinned Hearns to the ropes and meted out more punishment, eventually hurting Hearns at the end of the round. Sportscaster Barry Tompkins, doing the blow-by-blow commentary for HBO's broadcast of the fight, yelled out, "This is still only the first round!" as the fighters traded heavy shots at round's end. Al Bernstein remarked, "Perhaps one of the best opening rounds in middleweight history!" It is considered by The Ring magazine to be the greatest round in boxing history, and it won round of the year honors for 1985. In a subsequent HBO broadcast featuring both Hagler and Hearns in studio commenting on the fight, Hearns revealed, "that first round took everything I had, man." When asked in the ring after the bout if he was hurt by Hearns' first right hand, a blow that caused him to step back and then fall into a clinch, Hagler commented, "He definitely tried to put the bomb on me... . He can punch... ." The scorecards were split with Reno judge Herb Santos scoring the round 10-9 for Hagler, along with U.K judge Harry Gibbs while Dick Young of California had Hearns ahead 10–9. It was described as a war zone for both fighters.

 

By the beginning of the second round, it looked as though Hearns had no legs under him, as he slowed the pace by boxing Hagler. Hearns stumbled several times as he attempted to move around the ring and change direction, prompting HBO commentator Sugar Ray Leonard to note, "I don't like the way Tommy's moving...a little rubbery-legged." In the studio broadcast of the fight, Hearns commented, "My legs were gone, man. Even before I came out to fight, my legs felt weak." Hagler experimented by switching to orthodox style for a moment, but switched back to southpaw, as he found more success countering Hearns' jab. By the end of the round, Hagler pinned Hearns to the ropes, successfully landing a volley of punches. The action in round two had slowed from the blistering pace of round one. Judges Herb Santos and Harry Gibbs again scored the round 10-9 for Hagler while judge Dick Young scored the round 10-9 for Hearns.

 

In round three, Hearns again tried to set the pace. About a minute into the round, the cut on Hagler's forehead inflicted in the first round opened up, resulting in a tremendous flow of blood down the middleweight champion's face.

Referee Richard Steele halted the action to have the ringside physician examine Hagler. He informed Steele, "No the cut's not bothering his sight, let him go." Facing the new threat of losing the fight via stoppage on cuts, Hagler attacked Hearns with the aggression of the first round. A tremendous overhand left to the head drove Hearns back to the ropes. Hearns backed away, smiling so as to suggest the punch had not hurt him. Hagler landed a hard right hook high on Hearns' head. The blow staggered Hearns, who awkwardly stumbled backwards into the ropes, Hagler running after him in hot pursuit. The champion smashed a vicious right hand to Hearns' chin. Hearns went limp and fell forward, as Hagler landed two uppercuts. As Hearns fell face first to the canvas, Sugar Ray Leonard yelled into his microphone "He's gone...he's gone!"

Hearns staggered to his feet at the count of nine, but he was unable to continue. Referee Steele stopped the bout as he held Hearns upright. The image of a blood-soaked Hagler being carried around the ring in victory by his handlers and Hearns being carried back to his corner in semi-consciousness remains to this day a graphic testimony of the intensity of "The War." It was widely regarded as the pinnacle of Marvin Hagler's career and cemented his legacy as one of the greatest middleweights of all time. At the time of the stoppage, judges Herb Santos and Harry Gibbs had Hagler ahead 20-18 while judge Dick Young had Hearns ahead 20–18.