Which Fighter Did You Root For More?

Reminds me of how Jim Brown described OJ Simpson in his book "Out of Bounds", published 5 years before the murders. Something to the effect of "You white folks are always fooled by Juice's smile and his "aw shucks" image. You don't hear what he says behind your back when he knows you can't hear him."

 

Leonard-Hearns was my first encounter with boxing. I was 4 years old and walking through a Clark's Drugs in Arcadia, California with my father. I stumbled upon a cardboard cutout of John McEnroe pitching a gillette razor ad. Right next to the cutout was a magazine rack, and in that magazine rack my father picked up a Sports Illustrated with Leonard standing over Hearns on the cover. I asked my father who the fighters were and who he wanted to win. He pointed to Leonard. I asked him if Sugar Ray was the good guy and he said yes, the good guy always wins! That Christmas I got a pair of Sugar Ray Leonard boxing gloves.

That was then, this is now. As a kid I enjoyed the razzle dazzle, but if I had been 10-15 years older I would have despised Leonard. DeLaHoya has that same fake smile, phony good guy schtick that Leonard exuded back in the day. But Leonard was still badass in the ring. I guess I have to pick Leonard.

 

Tommy Hearns...always...except for the Hagler fight...I'm from Massachusetts...

 

Hearns all day everyday.even tho i respect SRL his my least fav from 4 kings.

 

i liked watching hearns fight more. more explosive and more vulnerable. aything could happen
i never rooted for either of them. i tend to support underdogs. i thought barkley's ko of hearns was brilliant, and excellent little fight.

 

Ray was great, but way overrated. Hearns could punch like hell, and was clearly robbed in their rematch.

 

I started to really fallow boxing just after their second fight. Being that that they were both nearing the end of their careers. I would not say that I was not a "fan" or "non fan" of either. I liked Pernell Whitaker, Simon Brown and a few years latter Marco Antonio Barrera.
Growing up football was my favrote sport. I always liked most sports and knew who the big names were. I probbly knew who Hearns was. I rember being aware of his fight with James Shuler and the motercycle acadent that took the life of the promising prospect. I rember a few teachers at my school talking about Iran Barkley's third round upset of Hearns.
Leonard on the other hand transcended boxing. Even though I did not fallow the sport like most people I knew who he was. I rember the 7 Up comercial he did. Since I did not fallow the sport than like I do now I would not even say I was a fan of either. If I had been a boxing fan in 1981 when they first fought. I have no idea who I'd root for.

 

When Leonard fought Hearns in Sept. of 1981 I rooted for Leonard believe it or not. Then in the next few years I saw Ray retire and mess with people's minds and how Tommy kept fighting the best and just trying to prove something in the ring, and I learned to appreciate Hearns more than Leonard. Tommy Hearns like Hagler kept fighting and neither Hagler or Hearns were guys who needed bigger rings or certain size gloves or a well timed fight when a fighter was declining to get in the ring with the best. Ray did. That is the only thing I have against Ray. He believed probably correctly that a win against a name was better even if he fought that person in decline. But the fact is Ray has wins over all the fab 4 and Benitez. Hagler/Hearns shows the different mentally of fighters of Marvin and Tommy than Ray.

 

good wins. But i think Hagler is greater. Duran is greater too, for his lightweight reign.

i'm far from being sold on the magnitude of the greatness of leonard's win over duran in 1980.
an awful fight - that is clearly almost entirely duran's fault but it wasn't exactly an inspiring performance from leonard either.
Part of the reason im not sold on it is because im not even convinced that their first fight was the epic battle its cracked up to be.
Simply overrated.

having said that - leonard beat him fair and square. and the fights with benitez and Hearns were impressive wins that showed his skill and power and fury. a truly great champion.
that puts him among the great welterweights. But he lacked a solid reign of any decent length.

The comeback against hagler was very impressive too. a massive boost to leonard's legacy.
But i did think Hagler nicked it if i'm honest.
I dont penalize Hagler too much for that. its just one fight, two or three years past his best.
head-to-head you can say Leonard beats hagler, prime for prime. i dont know or care to speculate. but i think Hagler had the more solid credentials to greatness.

 

Hearns. At the time,although I appreciated the sheer talent of Leonard,something about him stopped me warming to him as a character.