Jerry Quarry to a reporter in a post-fight interview after the George Chuvalo debacle: Reporter: "Jerry, what happened?" Quarry: "I lost the referee's count." Reporter: "After what number?" Quarry: "Nine"
I am a big Thomas Hearns fan but this excuse was always a joke. Even if it was legit, why didn't he have massages for Benitez or Duran or even smaller fights like Sutherland which went 10 rounds. Although Tommy would get this big entourages of guys who really were not his friend. Somehow he was soft hearted and let guys hang out with him , yet Emanuel should have chased them away before the massage if it really was an issue. His most important fight ever and he is not in control of his fighter. And Roberto Duran was the king of excuses. The one thing about it is the excuses do make another fight more feasible even though we know the excuses are baseless. As for Tommy. He decided to swing for the fences and so did Marvin, and he and Marvin took too many chances. Great fighters usually like to be more cautious. It made for a great fight, but skills were thrown out of that fight early on. Leonard said he had a calf injury for Camacho.
Tommy said it in the HBO special. He said I told Emanuel I have to go out there and take it to him- because his legs were gone.. He also said it at a speech in Vegas a few years back. It sounds like his legs could have been weak, but whose fault is that?
Hearns never had great leg strength/ endurance from the get go. Only when he fought fighters that pushed him did it become noticeable. The 1st Leonard fight, in the later rds he seemed very unsteady. Hagler fight when he tried to create distance in the 2nd and 3rds. As he went up in weight it became much more of an issue for him, even in fights he won.
Somehow when he got older it was evident. When he was younger he was a little more effective keeping guys off. His legs were less effective and fluid as he got a little older, but to his credit he learned how to fight on the inside better and developed a better left hook to the body and could stay in the middle of the ring and fight. Something he had trouble with when he was younger. He learned when he had to. That was the mark of a great fighter.
No doubt he was a great fighter , 3rd best welter in history head to head in my opinion. But the point was he showed leg issues as early as the 1st Leonard fight. And how "out there " the message leg excuse was when one has seen the majority of his pro fights. Especially as he went up in weight . His legs always seemed to be an issue as his fights went longer.