Anyone think Leonard won/drew Hearns 2 fight?

Ray said himself on camera that their rematch belonged to Tommy. Maybe this was an easy admission for SRL because he knew that Hearns would've failed for a second time to reach the final bell over another Championship Distance bout.

 

My scorecard and write up from last year.

Leonard vs Hearns 2

1 Even
2 Hearns
3 Hearns 10-8 knockdown
4 Leonard
5 Leonard
6 Hearns
7 Hearns
8 Hearns
9 Leonard
10 Leonard
11 Hearns 10-8 knockdown
12 Leonard

115-112 Hearns

I felt 1st round was close Hearns was able to keep the fight on the outside with his jab, but there wasn't actually many clean punches scored. The two clean right hands from Leonard later in the round caught my eye, and i felt them two right hands were enough to make it an even round, even though Hearns was able to control the distance for 2 minutes of the round, Hearns still didn't land many effective punches apart from a few jabs.

Rounds 2-5 were pretty easy rounds to score, and i think two for Leonard and two for Hearns. Is pretty much only score you could have here.

Round 6 is another round which was kind of close, Leonard was able to be competitive in this round. But Hearns just landed too many jabs, and even though Leonard was able to jab with Hearns in this 2nd half of this round, and land a few nice punches in the last part of the round. Hearns for me controlled the round with his jab.

Round 7 Hearns hurt Leonard early on, but Leonard was able to mount a comeback in the 2nd half of the round. This is another round which was kind of close, but i don't think Leonard did enough to win it. Hearns did too much damage and too much work early on, for the tide to be turned for Leonard.

Rounds 8-12 were easy to score, and i think 3 Leonard and 2 for Hearns is the only score you could have here.

Overall i felt i was pretty fair to Leonard with my scoring in this fight, and i still can't see a draw for Leonard. The 2 knockdowns were too much of a deficit, and even though Leonard had big rounds in 5 and 12, they were not dominant enough rounds to warrant a 10-8 round.

At worst for Hearns without being biased, i could possibly see 114-112 for Hearns. But i really can't see how the judges came up with a draw, they must of scored the close 1st round to Leonard, and had Leonard winning rounds 6 or 7 just because he was competitive in those rounds.

 

Hearns' knockdowns clinched the victory for him. Aside from that factor,I feel that a draw would have been fair.

 

Parallells with Ali-Norton III when Muhammad admitted that he thought that Ken deserved the nod.

 

I really felt Hearns won and years later Leonard said so himself. I will say however I had the fight closer than some do.

 

Nothing really new to say.

I thought Hearns clearly won but still a fairly close fight.

As mentioned, Ray has said he thought Tommy won also - but he further qualified - “Tommy kicked my butt!”

I felt bad for Tommy - and a bit sad also, since one of his chief goals besides winning was also to prove that he could last the distance vs Ray.

Despite the draw, Hearns was very elated just for the fact that he did see the final bell - in contrast to their first fight. So a redemption of sorts.

I wouldn’t have minded seeing Hearns sound off a bit more after the fight re the poor decision.

The fight also had shades of Ali v Frazier 3. Two ATGS, past prime arch rivals still putting on a great fight.

It also compared in so far as Ali thought Frazier was shot also and that he might be easier pickings - only to find out that Joe came to fight the fight of his life - as Ray found out very quickly against a Hearns he thought was shot.

It was still a very important fight at the respective points of their career points - not least for their H2H ledger and imo, the official outcome really should read as W for Tommy.

The big difference from Manila was that the guy that was supposedly “shot” actually won the fight.

 

I scored it for Hearns by a point a couple years ago for the What Fights Did You Watch/Score Today thread. My account in its entirety:

Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns II on June 12, 1989, scheduled for 12 rounds in front of a crowd of 15,300 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for the WBC super middleweight crown.

Leonard, age 33, entered 35-1 (25) and weighs 160. He is guaranteed $13M.

Hearns, 30, enters 46-3 (38) and weighs 162 1/2. His guarantee is $11M.

Leonard is a 3-1 favorite at the sports books. Odds on a draw are 15-1.

Interestingly, this is Ray’s fifth fight since their first meeting in 1981. Hearns has had 15 fights since that fight

This time, Hearns wears the gold Kronk trunks while Leonard is clad in red and white striped attire.

Round 1: Hearns 10-9 — Leonard moves around as in the first fight for about a minute and then settles down to hold his ground; He lands one good right whereas Hearns controls things with is jab and lands a few others blows to take it

Round 2: Hearns 10-9 — Tommy keeps working the jab and lands a solid right when Ray turns southpaw for a moment; Leonard throwing one shot at a time

Round 3: Hearns 10-8 — The Hit man lands a right that stuns Sugar Ray and puts him down with a glancing follow-up to the top of the head; Hearns rakes him along the ropes as he goes for the KO

Round 4: Hearns 10-9 — Several good exchanges, with Leonard starting to take over late in the round, but by that time Hearns has done enough to nip it

Round 5: Leonard 10-8 — Ray stuns Tommy with a right hand followed by a big hook and batters him the rest of the round

Round 6: Hearns 10-9 — Ray takes off the first 2 minutes, doing basically nothing after expending so much energy going for the stoppage the round before; Hearns wins the round by being busier

Round 7: Leonard 10-9 — Hearns comes on strong in the final minute but Leonard did more, especially to the body, over the first two minutes to put this one in his pocket

Round 8: Leonard 10-9 — Close round, not much happening but Ray is a tad busier

Round 9: Leonard 10-9 — This one is close until he last 30 seconds, when Leonard comes on strong to grab it

Round 10: Leonard 10-9 — Leonard has a big early part of the round and pulls even on my scoreboard

Round 11: Hearns 10-8 — Hearns tags Sugar with a big right and follows up with a left hook and another to put Ray on the canvas again; Tommy follows up on his advantage and pours it on for a big round

Round 12: Leonard 10-9 — The Motor City Cobra starts well but Leonard storms back and takes over, landing a lot of hard shots to the head and body in his last stand

Cards: 113-112 Hearns, 113-112 Leonard, 112-112 even

My card: Hearns 113-112

Of note: The tale of the tape for the first fight credited Hearns with an 8-inch reach advantage at 78 1/2 inches; this tale of the tape his reach is half an inch shorter and Ray’s wingspan has grown 4 inches, haha.

Hearns accepts the verdict but Ray later admits his rival should have gotten the decision.

Fun fight. They aren’t the same as they were in their primes but are no less competitive and committed to winning. Bravo.

 

I don't remember my last score card in detail, but I think I had Tommy edging it. Think I felt that a case could be made for a draw, though.

 

Hearns clearly won. If its a 12 round fight he beats Leonard. If it goes 15 he loses it.
The kd's made it sure it couldnt be scored for Leonard. A draw was just bad/corrupt judging in srl favour.

 

Wow I did not know a poll like this would be so unanimous!

Once thing stood out; Ray's habit of "stealing rounds" by ending well.
But the judges should be more rational than to count what they saw last as disproportinately important, or to forget the rest of a round.

If I trained his opponents I would have someone do what SRL's corner did against Hagler: call out when 30 seconds remained.
Then make sure to redouble efforts to land punches & increase volume then, treat it as mini-rounds!

 

At the time, I watched it with others and I do not recall any outrage over the verdict.
I'd have to see it again to see how I feel about it now. I do remember Leonard getting knocked down but also recall Hearns getting badly wobbled again in a couple of the rounds. Had it been another 15 rounder, Hearns would have been KO'ed again.

 

I had it for Tommy by a point and I scored round 5 10-9 to Ray when many have it 10-8 so that would make it a draw. Round 12 was no more than a 10-9 to Ray. It was a very close fight but I do think Tommy deserved the nod.