Some (dare I say it) critical comments after watching LEONARD v HEARNS I again...

Your post is good enough for me wanting to watch the fight again, at least.

 

No, you're definitely right!

 

I think most people who have actually seen both fights would agree that Duran-Leonard I was better, but I do think Leonard-Hearns was a great fight, although not necessarily for the action involved. It's great because of the event that it was. Both were regarded as two of the best (if not THE 2 best) fighters P4P in the world and it was a unification match, and in retrospect, it was two ATG fighters at pretty much the peak of their powers going against each other. It's great because of it's impact on the future of boxing, and because of the drama of Leonard, clearly down on points and his eye sealed shut rallying back to stop Tommy late. I wouldn't rate it as one of the 10 best fights I've seen, but when discussing the greatest (which doesn't always mean the best) fights ever, it has to be brought up. There is no doubt that it was one of the most significant fights in boxing history.

I don't think he was really lethargic, just clearly more cautious than usual, which should be expected given Tommy's power and reach, and that for the first time, Leonard was in with a guy who was arguably quicker with single shots than he was. In the first round, Ray was moving, jabbing to the body, focusing on defense, and looking for openings. Hearns on the other hand, was controlling the center of the ring and keeping Leonard on on the end of his jab and stalking him. I think the way he fought those early rounds was very much due to Hearns, who was controlling the action right from the opening bell and making Ray react to what he was doing.

Ring generalship. Tommy was in control, and as you said, didn't need to do anything more. He was maintaining his position in the center of the ring, establishing his jab, and keeping Ray on the defensive. He was in complete control, and doing all that he really needed to do IMO.

He took a couple of clean shots without showing serious damage on occassion, but yes, overall, Tommy's chin wasn't impressive. Maybe it was him coming in at 145, but Ray was an explosive puncher anyway, and not so much in regards to his chin, but Ray dished out good punishment to his body before the stoppage.

I think they both performed better against Benitez too, but Wilfred didn't present them with the kind of problems they did to each other. Both were able to take command of their fights with Benitez and keep it throughout.

That is what is impressive about this fight. Tommy was in full control early, Leonard took it from him in the middle rounds, Hearns then came back to outbox him for a good stretch before Leonard took it again by the 13th and finished him in the 14th. Ebb and Flow.

 

i agree with you. it was not the classic all out war that duran leonard was. but to compare it to pbf v oscar is ludicrous. there was no drama at all in that fight. it was like an exhibition fight

oscar v quartey would of been a better comparison. a fight were the victor underperformed and was very lacklustre for large periods. it was quarteys fight to win like Leonard was for hearns.

The difference between quartey and hearns in those fights was herans body beat him while ike's laidback mentality was his downfall. he should of forced the fight more. he sat back and just relaxed behind his jab

 

I thought it was an excellent(if not necessarily always action packed)intriguing fight where both went through a variety of tactics and showed terrific ability.

 

Dinamita -
I think you're right. I watched the fight not too long ago and was left slightly disappointed. Both guys showed a high level of skill, as you'd expect, but I don't think the fight lives up to it's legend as an all-time classic.
I think it's a case of two great fighters, after great hype, having a very good fight. In terms of action and excitement, I think you can argue their second fight is better.
One question though - you, and most people, say that Tommy was in a comfortable, or clear, lead at the time of the stoppage. I know the judges had him ahead but I just don't see it.
I thought Leonard was doing the more effective, damaging punching throughout the fight - I've watched it several times and I've never had Hearns ahead at the time of the stoppage.

 

What made the fight intriuging was the reversal of styles and the shifts of momentum that occurred throughout the fight. And, there were enough clean punches landed throughout to make the action in it watchable throughout.

It wasn't a great action fight, but it was still a great spectacle, all things considered.

 

You're right in certain areas, I disagree in others. I don't think Tommy's chin was particularly weak, I just think Leonard had a brilliant offensive arsenal when he decided to unleash it. The combo he hit Tommy with to send him through the ropes in the 14th was one of the best I've ever seen, so I don't see how you can say "it really didn't take all that much artillery" when it clearly did. Not to mention it's not as if Tommy was out cold or anything.

 

Leonard wasn't inactive for no reason. Stepping into Hearns at welterweight is life-threatening every time you do it, and doing so without a plan except 'let's try to land some punches' will only get you into trouble. When dealing with such athletic men with such offensive weapons, caution isn advised.

Leonard tried to adjust his approach constantly. He came in in different ways, tried at several times to sucker Hearns into a punch, but even his single counters weren't landing. Neither was his jab.

Hearns was a monstrousity in that ring. He was 32-0-0, had a sick reach advantage, handspeed, reflexes, a killer jab and a right hand that was lasering people into comas left and right.

So when Leonard steps into the ring against that and finds out right away that the punches cause pain,are hard to dodge, that he seems a million miles away while hurting you and concludes he better get on his bike until he figures this the **** out. Then Hearns starts stalking -- it's different being stalked by a bigger man. Especially one that fights tall and has a right hand that could finish you in one go. Meanwhile, the jab hurts and seems to find you anywhere you go. The right hand is cocked and seems to twitch any time you want to step in. When finally get in there there's a mean left hook to the body waiting for you.

After watching this, you conclude Leonard had a master plan of biding his time and taking advantage of Hearns' weak chin?

I guarantee you -- that was not what Leonard was thinking. At all. I say if you ask him in the 12th if he can win this fight he says 'no'. He was a little scared he couldn't beat this man or even get back into it.

He went gung-ho and won. That's all there is to it. I give heaps and heaps of credit to Leonard for pulling it out. It's the stuff legends are made of. It's the note movies end on. Real class by him for carrying his attributes with him 'till late in the fight and summoning the mental fortitude to use them.

 

I just watched it again and I like it as much as ever. It's a very good mix of tactics and action. For example, I love it how Hearns keeps his left low to suck Leonard into using a right lead, but when Leonard finally catches him in the 6:th it's with left hooks.

As for the perfomances of the fighters, Leonard looks bad in many rounds and seems strangely unable to get off. But I'll get Hearns the benifit of a doubt and say it's because of his good work and not of Leonard having an off night. A bit of the thrill of seeing two great boxers meet is also how they manages to negate each other. And when Leonard finallly manages to get off, he surely does.

Hearns chin is hardly iron, but it isn't that bad either. He gets through the first bad patch in rds 6-8, which most wouldn't. When Leonard has him going in the 14:th he's already has taken his body with a couple of brutal hooks to the ribs, so the head is just there for the taking. A perfect demolition job.

When it comes to the scoring I actually only have Leonard 1 point behind going into the 14:th, so on my card he still would have had great chance to win even if the fight wasn't stopped.

I scored it like this:

Leonard-Hearns

rd 1: 9-10
2: 9-10
3: 10-9
4: 9-10
5: 9-10
6: 10-9
7: 10-8
8: 10-9
9: 9-10
10: 9-10
11: 9-10
12: 9-10
13: 10-8

 

when i first watched the Duran-Leonard fight i tought it was nothing special when i watched it for the second time i loved it,now its in my top 5 favourite fights ever.

and i agree SRL-Hearns ia very overrated fight,its a good fight between two great fighters but its not the great fight that some people say.