Leonard vs Hearns 1 thoughts

I'm assuming the thread title was a mistake. It was a great fight, and both guys fought admirably. To me, this fight sealed my opinion of SRL as no. 2 on my all time WW list. In this fight he didn't have all the physical advantages like he was used to, and had to totally adjust his game plan mid fight, against an ATG fighter. Granted, I feel like Hearns was still slightly green, but he was still prime or very near prime. Great showing by both guys, especially SRL

 

It was kind of strange that Leonard turned out to be the puncher in this fight when the pre-fight talk was mainly about Hearns right hand and how Ray would have to take a big risk against it in order to land his own punches. As it turned out it was Ray doing most of the stalking and the one capable of turning the fight with a big punch while Hearns was the one who had to rely mainly on his boxing skills to keep himself in the fight.

 

More well rounded guy won.

 

Possibly SRL's most impressive win. Changed strategy mid-fight and came from way behind against a very dangerous opponent...not something many fighters would be capable of.

 

This might be a bit controversial but this is the most overrated fight of all time IMO. Yes it was a fight between two ATG in their prime but the action was nothing special,both took turns chasing each other while doing very little, very few exchanges,it has a come from behind TKO but thats not enough to be a great fight, if this was some lesser known fighters instead of Leonard and Hearns nobody would talk about this fight. It was named FOTY and some ppl even call it the fight of the decade. I wouldnt even have it in my top 100 fights of all time and i ive rewatched it several times to see if i miss something but i dont see it, it just doesnt have the action required for me to call it a great fight. I'ts a very significant fight in terms of historical importance but no great fight not even close.

 

I won a huge bet on this bout. I was the only one among my coworkers who picked Leonard. I not only picked Leonard but accurately predicted that Leonard would hurt Hearns badly with right hands over his low/dropped left. Absolutely this bout is solid credentials for Leonard's ATG status. He was hurt, losing, cut against a prime great opponent and found a way to win.

 

It is a bit overrated,.but it is still a great fifhr. It's ironic because, under.the.right conditions Ray could have ended it in the middle rounds.

 

A great fight. Showed the strengths and weaknesses of both men. I was rooting for Tommy to win but he came so close. But credit to sugar for coming back. Just wish we hadn't had to wait 8 years for the rematch!

 

I won £25.

 

Absolutely. Whoever considered this fight of the decade in the 80s missed an awful lot. Pintor-Gomez, Arguello-Pryor 1&2, Holyfield-Qawi, Saad-Lopez, Chacon-Anyone to name but a small few. I happen to think even Hagler-Hearns gets talked up too much. Brilliant for first couple of minutes but then MMH took over and quickly and systematically issued a fairly one sided beating.

But back to Hearns-Leonard. Great fighters, great rivalry, all the charisma you could wish for but for action involving fists rather than feet and ebb and flow, I actually think the rematch might be a better fight, even if it featured lesser versions of the main men. Sometimes fighters in their prime, when they face each other, are just too good and they cancel each other out. Oscar v Tito being the classic example. Along with Warring-Nelson.

 

What did you bet?

 

We all have personal favorites and this fight sits on top of my list. It did have a bit of everything in it, exhibited between the two best of the times; contributing greatly to what would have them both remembered for all times.

It's a great fight. A defining moment for both men and, particularly, for Leonard.

 

Looking at the fight, it is very overrated. The second fight was far more exciting.Somehow the fact that both were old, slower and about 20Ib heavier in the rematch made it far more watchable.