I know your a big Hearns fan and an encyclopedia of 80s boxing... How did you feel going into the fight? Like I said, I thought Hearns was finished. He seemed to be getting rocked by every punch that he got hit with.
^ I really think Tommy was finished as a boxer and that he never expected Leonard to call him out. Myself knowing how Leonard is, it was perfect timing. If you've seen the Kinchen fight you would see how James got to Tommy in round four without very much pressure. Tommy crumbled easily to the mat. From there on, James did not capitalize and did just little enough for Hearns to edge him out. But he was still an easy target and one of the easiest opponents out there from 160-168.
Ok, honest opinion and story. I was on holidays and had travelled 400km's to my best pals new town of Moranbah. He was going to be at work for the fight, middle of the day. I walked the 10 minutes to the town's big Tavern and settled into the undercard. I knew not a soul. Pre fight i knew Hearns was very very faded. His loss to Barkley and absolutely dismal showing vs Kinchen had me expecting the worst. I'd also read all the mags and scanned the odds. I reckon i was more nervous than Hearns as they came out, and i had also made a pal. I thought SRL would win due to Hearns deterioration but i held that slim inside hope that Tommy's huge power, intense lust for revenge and the fact that they were fighting at a weight much better for Hearns might somehow give "us" that chance. Turns out Tommy's sheer determination and Leonard's own subtle deterioration made for a top event. As Steward said, all eyes were on Hearns but he himself had noticed a lot of decline in Leonard post Hagler.
Cheers JT. I remember feeling the same way re Tommy's chances after the fights with Barkley and Kinchen. But after the Leonard/LaLonde fight, I recalled LaLonde commenting that he thought Hearns had a shot at Ray because of the success he had landing straight rights on Leonard...With that in mind, I thought Hearns might have a better than percieived chance than the media were giving him credit for. Because I knew he really wanted this chance at Ray...He waited a long time for ti.
I was in the minority of giving it to Ray at the time,and ive sat and watched it a few times and still thought Ray nicked it by a point or two.Tommy didnt do enough for me in many rounds and Rays bodywork was undervalued. It does irritate me the myth of Tommy being robbed. Oh,and despite the knockdowns,Ray had Tommy in more trouble than vice versa.
Many thanks for this... I think now that Hearns rolled back the years similar to Charles' effort against Marciano. Still gives me a tingle up my spine when Hearns drops Leonard for the first time. One thing I often mention that Ray and Ali shared... they were great kidders... And I'm not talking about the head shaking... But they could get hurt badly and give very little away. They often managed to act less hurth than they really were. You can see it on the replays but not when the fight is on. The only time Leonard was really on ***** street was against Duran in the 2nd. In Hearns I Tommy is chopping him up but you never see a reaction. 9th round against Hagler he is hurt but you can't see how much. 12th round similar... I coudl watch ray and tommy every night of the week.
A pleasure. Hearns rolled it back maybe , but he rolled it back twice as his boxing against the very decent Hill was superlative. Agree many greats rolled it back now and again thru history too. I think D'Amato was the big believer in that. Me too, but man that second KD he really got the BIG bombs thru. One right hand from memory was at full length - jeez. Leonard did well to survive. Totally agree - they were masters at it. Ali actually exaggerated his already SEVERE symptons vs Shavers and fooled him right out of his chance It's uncanny. Hagler satunned him early but it's right on the bell. You're not the only one I have the video of fight 2 and must have watched it 20 full times.
Hearns won this fight clearly. Two knockdowns against Leonard should have counted for 10-8 rounds in the scoring. I'll give Leonard credit because he came on and pressured Hearns later in the fight and in some of the early rounds, but there's no way that fight should have been ruled a draw. I will also agree with an earlier post suggesting Leonard's body work was overlooked and underappreciated, but it still wasn't enough. Like Ali vs Norton III, I couldn't count enough rounds in that fight to justify a win for Ali. The only difference in this fight is that I couldn't count enough rounds that justify Leonard earning a draw.
John, you are one guy I'd love to meet up with... Stack of 80s fights (preferably on betamax just to recapture the true magic of the times), crate of beers...argue and agree on all those 80s matchups... Is your version the one with Hagler's commentary? That's my fave one... Pretty sad that I've watched numerous broadcasts...
The feeling is mutual trust me. Leonard, Hearns, Gomez, Hagler, Holmes, Duran, Arguello, Rosario, Chandler - we'd sneak thru their career sets Throw in some Spinks, Cooney, Mustafa, Page and more and we'd have a cracking time. I love the late 70's to early mid 80's, absolutely love em. Incredible array of talent and fights. I don't care what anyone says - for overall strength of guys at or near the top it the period is nirvana.