1988 Sparring Footage of Thomas Hearns vs Matthew Saad Muhammad

Emanuel should have known better than to have Matthew in there with Hearns at this point. Disappointed in him for letting this happen

 

I understand that but to put him in with those 2 killers at that stage. Emanuel knows when a fighter is shot. Shame on him

 

And now Hearns himself has been placed under guardianship at 67.

One thing the Kronk Gym didn’t seem to do was factor in fighters’ long term health, they probably thought it would ‘toughen them up’, because there wasn’t as much awareness about CTE back then.

 

In a 15-round fight, Saad probably stops Hearns at 175.

 

Nice callout near the end of the video for Dennis Andries (in his early days at Kronk), training for his upcoming fight with Bobby Czyz.

Hearns, Saad Muhammad, and Andries ... all under the same tent. Pretty cool.

These types of videos always fascinate me. It's always awkward, regardless of the camp. when the PR people schedule these media events that overlap.

I was at a card in Chicago when Rahman was sitting at ringside being interviewed by the media while Oliver McCall was in the ring just behind him working with his trainer. And McCall and his trainer got pissed that the media was distracted by Rahman and focusing most of their attention on him. When McCall got mad, Rahman made a face, like "Uh oh," and he quickly left ... not wanting to **** off Oliver.

I always thought it was interesting that when the only two guys to beat Lennox Lewis (and never fought themselves) were together, and the mood got a little testy, the experienced trash talker Hasim Rahman was the one who looked like he wanted to avoid the situation and left quickly.

Even when he was older, people in the game knew it was best not to **** off Oliver McCall. He was sort of a live wire.


Seems like the PR guy in this video started hyping Andries, who had lost to Hearns prior to this, before Tommy had gotten his applause after the spar. And someone decided to cut in to give Hearns his curtain call.

Hearns was always the biggest star at Kronk. Even when he was part of the old guard there.

Reminds me of the book Black Lights where Billy Costello said even when he was a champion, if Gerry Cooney came in the gym where they trained, schedules would have to be moved around so Cooney could have the run of the gym.

 

It was a way of putting some money in his pocket.

 

What should they have done differently?

 

Not have had their fighters spar so hard all of the time, and certainly not late in their careers as well.

 

Definitely was. Kronk had a big stable. Matthew im sure had plenty to offer to some of the less dangerous men.

 

Saad looked surprisingly good. The cross arm defense ala Archie Moore was nice. I hardly remember seeing him use that in actual fights. I am sure Hearns was holding back. Saad could still throw effective punches if you waited for him like Hearns seemed to be doing here. His reflexes were dulled and it showed more at full speed. Hearns is not going full speed here.

Saad didn't take a beating here.

Saad fought a lot in 1987-1988 mostly in backwater places against club fighters.

In late 87 I was a freshman at James Madison University when I heard Saad was going to fight one Bobby Thomas in West Virginia. I was close to West Virginia and thought about going to the fight. But it turned out to be in Weirton which is way up in the northern tip of WV just west of Pennsylvania.

Anyway Saad built up a modest winning streak but then faced a prime Frankie Swindell later in 1988 and was crushed in one brutal round.

 

Agreed, hard sparring will mess you up. Sparring is necessary but you don't have to go in there trying to kill a guy like many do. If a guy is gonna take shots it needs to be in the actual fight.

 

UNSEEN FOOTAGE Michael Moorer VS Matthew Saad Muhammad ⚡ | KRONK Boxing Gym Showdown”