"Leonard-Hearns 1" of '81 is the best title fight ever at 147?

Lamotta-Robinson was at MW all times right? But sure many of his 147 fights are better than SRL-Hearns 1. Maybe not from a technical perspective other than Robinson-Gavilan as I feel SRL-Hearns 1 is the most technical fight I've seen at the weight.

Lol at DLH-Mosley 1 being better. I love Mosley but that's very laughable but if people prefer that I won't stone them over it it's not that serious.

 

DLH-Mosley had more action in its 12 rounds then Leonard-Hearns I did in their 14.

What makes this fight legendary is the story it tells. History was on the line, and the roles they came into the fight embodying were swapped by the finish.

Ray Leonard became a great fighter, we learned that Hearns would most likely be a great fighter too, we learned that Ray could grit out a late stoppage win off of his power, stamina, and body work, and we learned that Tommy could in fact outbox a top shelf fighter without seriously hurting him for 9+ rounds.

An amazing narrative. A legendary experience. Doesn't change the fact that about 8 rounds in the 14 round fight are flat out BORING.

 

SRL-Hearns is my favourite ww fight that I have seen, I can't say it;s the best of all time- I haven't seen them all.

I strongly agree with paras 2 & 3 of this post. Para 1 I'm not so sure, I saw DLH-Mosley more recently than SRL-TH 1 & I remember SRL-TH 1 more clearly, so maybe that tells a story in itself.

The hype leading up to the fight was amazing, and, imo, the fight lived up to it for the reasons Magna describes in paras 2 & 3 above. Regarding 8 rounds of the fight being boring, I didn't find them boring , I found the technical aspect thoroughly enjoyable, and there was a feeling throughout the fight that you were waiting for Hearns power to explode on SRL, but as the fight progressedyou realised either man's power could explode on the other...I enjoyed the suspense of the fight as it unfolded.

Using a movie analogy, if Leonard-Duran was an action movie, I felt Leanord-Hearms 1 was Hitchcockian as it unfolded, subtle lulls followed by bursts of sudden action; plenty of twists and turns.

I also thought the scoring suspect...how can a judge score rounds where TH outboxed SRL by the same margin as rounds 6 & 7, when SRL battered Hearns? That's Vegas judging for you!

 

I'm starting to think Hearns-Leonard 1 is underrated due to people's lack of attention. If ya want a barnburner that's you but I like to pay very good attention to the small things and the fight had great amount of skill if you go for that. A "great fight" shouldn't constitute just lots of action because if that's the case you can see two homeless guys fighting for food with no skills.

To say its slow-paced I agree with but its lack of respect to call it "boring" when its two ATGs fighting in their primes at a very high level. Far from boring to me but again I understand not everyone goes for the same thing but to not appreciate the fight means to not be a true boxing fan and that's how deeply I feel.

 

Bill, 1978-1982 had some damn good fights. Too many to mention. I have a lot of them on DVD at home and I watch them all the time. So many Mega Fights from that short time period. Most of them lived up to the hype and were brutal fights.

 

I understand boxing rather well; I was one of the better heavyweights in the world at my absolute peak.

It is clear when things are happening, in the ring, at a very high level. When Leonard actually wins an early round against Hearns early(3 or 4), there is some terrific boxing going on. Leonard feints with his waist and his hands, comes across different distances and levels, and Hearns maintains range with feet at hands. Wonderful stuff.

Then, round 11. Leonard follows, not throwing or moving his head, hands in poor position, and Hearns pecks away, hands in poor position, dog tired. Not high level.

Still a great fight, but no matter how good the fighters in it are, a fight can have boring stretches. Nobody delivers 45 minutes of pure class. It's not physically possible.

 

Off topic, Magnanasaki. I'm of course very curious as to who you are, but I won't press that since I can understand if you want to keep it under wraps. But I would like to ask what you yourself thought your strengths respective weaknesses was, and how aware you'd say that pro fighters are in general of what areas they really need to work on. And how diligently the do this.

For one thing, it stikes me a bit odd that speedy fighters usually don't adapt more when they age. That they still insist on keeping their hands low, leading with dangerous shots etc, etc. For example, Leonard coming into the rematch with his left held that suicidally low.

 

Professional prizefighting strikes such a delicate balance between ego and honesty. A fighter HAS to believe deeply in his own ability to get any form of comfort in the ring. If you are fighting and don't honestly believe you have the ability to get into the fight, to even do what is needed, you rapidly lose the will to win, and start getting beaten worse. Happened to me once, just once. I'll never forget how bad it hurt inside.

Comfort in the ring is so, so important. If you've ever boxed, think about this. You work out a ton, practice a ton. Are you in good shape after 6 hard months of boxing training? I bet you are. You get in with a pro who got up off the couch to spar. You gas in three rounds, and he beats your ass. Why? The answer is comfort. A massive, massive part of going the distance in a fight is keeping tension low, keeping breathing regular, and not wasting motion. I've seen a guy who regularly won marathons gas in two rounds. Cardio conditioning? Every serious pro has it. Fighting relaxed and comfortably is easily more important.

See Matthew Macklin against Sergio Martinez for 7 rounds. He's fine. Plenty of wind. When martinez takes over, Macklin quite literally gasses in a round. Watch round 8, then watch round 9. Different fighter. It's ALL comfort and tension management.

Ray Leonard fought with a low left hand. It's who he was. It is how he was comfortable. Changing that is simply not easy. Am I making sense? This is harder to communicate than I thought.

As to awareness of strengths and weakness, I side with Steward; That is the trainers job to know, to keep in mind, and to build on/hide. A fighter does know, deep down, what he does well and what he doesn't. That is inherent in his identity and comfort as a fighter. It's just not on him to worry about it. Again, am I making any sense?

My own strengths...Strength was a big one. I was a large, well muscled man. Tremendous left handed power. I hit like a truck. Good boxing fundamentals. I moved pretty well, kept my hands nice, moved well at the waist(Why I had a great hook). People tend not to rate my fundamentals, I think thats false. I don't toot my horn often, but I was better in this area than most would credit me.

Weaknesses...Unbalanced power. My right was not my left. I was frankly much worse with it. I could be reckless on the finish...Walking into shots I shouldn't. Wooden footwork, I followed too much. Can't credit myself with being too smart in my youth. Could make small adjustments, not big ones. Passed to the left to much. Parried when I should have slipped a lot. Admired my work. Abandoned the body when it wasn't smart. I could go on. Had a ton of weaknesses.

 

Thanks! Top post.

That which you say about tension is all too true, and I see what you're getting at with the comfort zone.

Earlier today I sparred with a Roy Jones type of character, and he made me tense up. Just so quick, powerful and hard to read and time. When I got him in the corner I was way too eager to do damage quick that I tensed up and wasted too much juice. I did keep my right up as protection for his whiplash-like lead left hook, though. That felt good, but man was I tired after just two rounds with this guy. The tension does all the difference.

 

I would vote for Leonard vs. Hearns as the best 147 lb fight ever.

 

Leonard vs Duran 1 is the best fight I ever saw period. Enjoy that one immensely.

Also, my favorite poster is posting some gems. Not a visit to ESB goes by without me reading every post Magna has made. Insane amount of insight and a credit to the community.