April 15th 1985. Hagler/Hearns. A day which changed boxing 25 years ago today.

This day 25 years ago tonight changed history. How often do we hear about Hagler/Hearns if fighters start to brawl. Even in football games and baseball I have heard reference to Hagler/Hearns. A sports event where the combatants engaged with everything they had from the start. Very rare!!

 

I was 20 years old then and rooting for Hearns. I honestly thought Hagler would win because he was the natural middleweight and Hearns was acting like he would knock out Hagler, so I thought Hearns would go in and war with him. And he did, although I didn't think it would be the intense war it was.
I did not order this PPV, but I could see the scramble screen on TV on UHF, and I listened to KFWB news radio in Los Angeles for between rounds reports. Even on the scrambled screen I could see Hearns was throwing his right hand over and over and Marvin was coming forward. That much I could see, but it was hard to see anything in that mode. After the first round I remember the guy reporting between rounds for KFWB was Rory Markus, and he said wow, if these two guys keep this pace this fight will not go very long. And it didn't.

 

Even though you do not remember it at all, have you heard a lot about it over the years?

 

it was such a big fight and Hearns and Hagler were both the top two fighters in boxing at the time. You just knew something big would happen. They were that good at the time. I love Tommy as a fighter but his undoing was Duran. He thought because he stopped Duran he could stop anyone. But Hagler was another division up and had a great chin apart from the fact that Tommy broke his right hand on the top of Marvin's head in that wild first round. The news all that day was about Hagler and Hearns in Vegas. There was great anticipation.

 

Rory Markus passed away? Sorry to hear that.

 

yeah there was but I think on ON tv I remember. Duran/Leonard was on PPV and all the fab 4 fights were I think. They also had closed circuit. I could watch a scrambled mode on UHF channel 22 or 23 back then. You could see the fighters moving around but not really what was happening. It was very hard. Sometimes for a few seconds it would be clear and then go back to unclear. But I could see if someone was pinned on the ropes or if there was a knockdown. That sort of thing. I never ordered the fights.

 

I think what people recall is the commitment of both guys. Hagler and Hearns both fought like they were going to score a first round knockout. That type of commitment and confidence is rare. Some might even say that it was a recklessness we had never seen in the ring. In a way it was reckless, but it showed the heart of both guys. Saying Hearns fought foolishly is simplifying a great fight. He had confidence and thought he would stop Hagler. Hagler thought he would stop Hearns. They collided in the center ring and Hagler came out winning a few round later. The fact they both came to fight with that confidence shows that they were two of the best in boxing then and neither guy was going to back down. It was a great fight and it helped revitalize boxing until Tyson became champ in 1986, which then helped boxing again.