April 6, 1987: One of the biggest non-heavyweight fights in the history of boxing takes place. The result is still in dispute.
The 1980s was the last real glory period for boxing, especially in the lower divisions. In the Middleweight and Welterweight divisions alone, there was Roberto Durán, Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler. They are remembered by their nicknames: Respectively, "Hands of Stone," "Sugar Ray," " The Hit Man" and "Marvelous Marvin."
On November 30, 1979, Hagler got his 1st shot at the Middleweight Championship of the World, at Caesars Palace outside Las Vegas, against the Champion, Italian boxer Vito Antuofermo. As a pro, Hagler was 46-2-1; Antuofermo, a similar 45-3-1. The fight went the distance, 15 rounds. Most ringside observers thought Hagler had won. But the judges made it a draw, and Antuofermo kept the title.
Four months later, also at Caesars, Antuofermo lost the title, losing to Englishman Alan Minter on a split decision. Three months later, a rematch was held at the Empire Pool in London (a.k.a. the Wembley Arena), and Minter knocked Antuofermo out.
On September 27, 1980, on Minter's home ground at the Wembley Arena, Hagler beat the hell out of him, and the referee stopped the fight in the 3rd round. The London crowd was furious that the fight was stopped, apparently preferring that their man die than give up. Hagler and his cornermen needed a police escort back to the locker room, as bottles and glasses were thrown at them. Clive Gammon, covering the fight for Sports Illustrated, titled his article, "It Was Blood, Sweat and Beers."
On June 13, 1981, at the Boston Garden, came the fight that people wanted to see: Hagler-Antuofermo II. It was a bloodbath, almost literally: Hagler shredded Antuofermo's face, and after 4 rounds, Vito's handlers threw in the towel.
His fights at "The Gahden" made Hagler possibly the 1st black athlete truly beloved by Boston area sports fans. They admired Bill Russell of the Celtics, Jim Nance of the Patriots, and Jim Rice of the Red Sox, but never really loved them. Hagler became New England's favorite boxer since Rocky Marciano. His fights drew big ratings on HBO. However, their announcers refused to call him by his nickname, Marvelous Marvin. So, in 1982, he had his name legally changed to "Marvelous Marvin Hagler."
On November 10, 1983, he fought Durán, the longtime Lightweight Champion and briefly the Welterweight Champion, at Caesars. For once, it was Hagler who got cut, and after 13 rounds, Durán was leading on points. But Hagler found something in reserve, and won the last 2 rounds, and kept the title.
On April 15, 1985, Hagler fought Hearns at Caesars. The Detroit native had held the WBA version of the Welterweight title, before losing a tough unification fight with Leonard in 1981. He now held the Light Middleweight title, and was moving up in class. He was 40-1, Leonard being the only man to beat him thus far. It was advertised as "The War."
It lived up to the billing. The 1st round was one of the best rounds any fight fan had ever seen, with each man landing some great blows. But it took too much out of Hearns, and despite opening a cut on Hagler's famously bald head, he was wobbly.
Referee Richard Steele stopped the fight for a moment to look at the cut, and determined that it wasn't interfering with Hagler's vision. Knowing that the rules meant that another stoppage would end the fight with a TKO in Hearns' favor, Hagler unloaded, and, in the 3rd round, crashed a right hand into Hearns' chin. Hearns got up at the count of 9, but Steele wisely stopped the fight.
On March 10, 1986, Hagler knocked out John "The Beast" Mugabi at Caesars. Finally, the last of the fights that everyone wanted to see was set up: Marvelous Marvin Hagler vs. Sugar Ray Leonard, at Caesars, on April 6, 1987. Many great fights have been held on Saturday nights, and Friday Night at the Fights was a popular early TV show. But this was a Monday, and it was the boxing equivalent of the Super Bowl being played on Monday Night Football.
Leonard was 33-1, his only loss his 1st fight against Durán. Due to an eye injury sustained in the fight with Hearns, he had fought just once in the last 5 years, but he thought he was ready to take on the Marvelous One.
Hagler wanted more money. Leonard had conditions for that: A larger ring, 22 feet square instead of the usual 20; 10-ounce gloves, instead of the usual 8-ounce; and 12 rounds instead of 15. Nevertheless, Hagler was favored.
Leonard came out quickly, and was credited with winning the 1st 2 rounds. Hagler changed tactics, and by the 5th round, Leonard was tiring. The round ended with Leonard on the ropes. Steele was referee again, and gave Leonard 30 warnings for holding, but never deducted any points. The fight became more even, but Hagler couldn't put Leonard back in serious danger. When it was over, Hagler celebrated, thinking he'd won. He later said that Leonard told him, "You beat me, man."
The judges told a different story. And all 3 of them stood by their stories. Lou Filippo scored the fight 115-113 for Hagler: "Hagler was doing all the work. The referee, Richard Steele, warned Leonard at least once every round about holding. Leonard fought in spurts. Leonard would run in and grab and hold. He did what he had to do. But I can't see a guy holding that much and getting points for it."
Dave Moretti scored it 115-113 for Leonard: "Obviously, Hagler was the aggressor, but he was not the effective aggressor. You can't chase and get hit and chase and get hit, and get credit for it. Besides, the hardest punching was by Leonard."
And JoJo Guerra scored it... 118-110 for Leonard, his card having given Hagler only 2 rounds. He later said he should have given Hagler 2 more rounds. But that would still have given the fight to Leonard. Guerra said, "Leonard outpunched Hagler, outsmarted him, outboxed him... He made Marvin Hagler come to him. He dictated the fight."
The experts couldn't agree, either:
* Picking Leonard: Howard Cosell of ABC, 117-112; Hall of Fame boxing judge Harold Lederman, 115-113; Michael Katz of the New York Daily News, 117-112; and the boxing correspondents for the Baltimore Sun, 115-113; the Boston Herald, 116-113; the Houston Chronicle, 115-114; KO Magazine, 118-111; the Los Angeles Times, 117-111; the Oakland Tribune, 117-112; the Philadelphia Daily News, 116-112; United Press International (UPI), 116-112; and USA Today, 115-113.
* Picking Hagler: Bob Verdi and Bernie Lincicome, both covering it for The Chicago Tribune, both scoring it 115-113; Ron Borges of The Boston Globe, Hagler's hometown paper, 115-113; Jerry Izenberg of the Newark-based Star-Ledger, 115-113; Al Bernstein of ESPN, 115-113; and the boxing correspondents for the Associated Press (AP), 117-112; the Miami Herald, 116-112; the Miami News, 116-112; Newsday of Long Island, 115-114; the San Jose Mercury-News, 116-115; and the Seattle Times, 115-113.
* Calling it a flat-out draw: Larry Merchant, longtime boxing columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News and the New York Post, calling the fight for HBO's crew; Dave Anderson, longtime sports columnist for The New York Times; and the boxing correspondent for The Washington Post, all of them calling it 114-114.
* Even the so-called "Bible of Boxing," The Ring magazine, couldn't agree: Correspondent Nigel Collins called it 115-113 for Leonard; but another, Phill Marder, called it a 114-114 draw.
* Nor could the CBS broadcast crew agree: Tim Ryan, who called over 300 prizefights, and was also an expert on hockey (he's Canadian) and tennis, scored it 115-114 for Hagler; but Hall of Fame trainer Gil Clancy judged it 115-113 for Leonard.
* Nor could Sports Illustrated, whose boxing coverage was extraordinary at the time, agree. One of their main boxing writers, William Nack, also their main horse racing writer, called it 116-114 for Leonard. But Pat Putnam called it 115-113 for Hagler. And Hugh McIlvanney, the great Scottish sportswriter who specialized in soccer, hired by SI for additional coverage, called it 116-112 for Hagler.
I was a senior in high school, and, having watched him on TV since I saw him in the Olympics when I was 6, I was predisposed to want Leonard to win. (Me being a Yankee Fan, and Hagler being from the Boston area, home of the Red Sox, had nothing to do with it.) But I had never seen the fight in full until I wrote this post. I wanted to know what I was talking about before I wrote my result.
I went against the usual story, and gave Hagler Round 1. I also gave him Rounds 3, 7, 9 and 10. I gave Leonard Rounds, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11 and 12. However, I took a point off Leonard for a low blow in Round 4. I called Rounds 4 and 9 ties. Overall, I scored it 114-112 for Leonard. In my now-fully-informed opinion, Hagler was not robbed, and JoJo Guerra was right: Leonard controlled the fight, as much psychologically, from beginning to end.
On the tape, Gil Clancy kept calling Hagler "slow," saying he wasn't fighting his own fight, fighting orthodox-style (righthanded) instead of his usual southpaw (lefthanded); and suggesting that Hagler's best chance to win was to go for the knockout, instead of trying to "outbox" Leonard.
Nobody ever outboxed Sugar Ray Leonard. Even in his 1st fight with Durán, which Leonard definitively lost, Durán outpunched him and out-thought him, even taunting him. Leonard learned from that, and turned the tables on Durán in the rematch, and played mind games with Hagler. Which isn't surprising: Leonard's trainer, from the beginning, was Angelo Dundee, who had also trained the master of mind games, Muhammad Ali. At times, Leonard even seemed to be doing "The Ali Shuffle" around the ring.
Feeling robbed of his title, Hagler shook his head, "No," as he left the ring. He told Tim Ryan of CBS, "I beat him. I beat him, and he knows it. Everybody knows it."
He had nobody to blame but himself: If he had fought a Marvin Hagler fight, he would have won. Instead, he let Leonard dictate the fight and get in his head. He blew it.
He wanted a rematch. Any sensible boxing observer had to admit that one was called for. But Leonard chose to retire. True, he had little left to prove, but it did make it look like Leonard was ducking him.
A year later, Hagler retired. But Leonard came out of retirement. How cynical can you get? I lost a lot of respect for Leonard.
In 1990, Leonard finally offered Hagler a rematch. This time, it was Hagler who turned it down. He had moved to Italy, and gone into acting in its film capital of Milan. "After I had nothing to prove to myself, it was the best thing to walk away," he said. He was one of the few boxers who stayed retired the first time. His record: 62-3-2.
The Ring magazine named Leonard their Fighter of the Year in 1979 and 1981. They gave Hagler that honor in 1983 and 1985. Boxing Illustrated named him Fighter of the Decade for the 1980s.
There were 4 truly great welterweight and middleweight fighters in the 1980s: Leonard, Hagler, Roberto Durán and Thomas Hearns. Leonard split 2 fights with Durán, before winning another later in both men's careers. Leonard won a very tough decision over Hearns, who absolutely destroyed Durán. Hagler knocked Hearns out in the 3rd round, surviving a furious fusillade, in one of the greatest short fights ever.
Left to right: Durán, Leonard, Hagler.
I found a photo of Leonard, Durán and Hearns together,
but not one of all 4 of them together.
Despite the various controversies between them, the 4 of them became friends after their careers, as boxers tend to do. There usually is a healthy respect between worthy opponents. Hagler died of a heart attack in 2021, at the age of 66. As of November 25, 2022, the other 3 are still alive.
UPDATE: In 2026, Ronald Hearns, also a boxer, places his father Thomas under conservatorship, as he has begun to show signs of boxing-related dementia. Hagler is not suspected of having had it. Nor is Leonard or Durán.
*
April 6, 1987 was a Monday. It was Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season:
* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Rickey Henderson doubled Claudell Washington home with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning, making Dave Righetti a winning pitcher in relief of Dennis Rasmussen. Dave Winfield went 1-for-4. Don Mattingly went 0-for-5.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers, 2-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Larry Sheets drove in the winning run, Rene Gonzales, with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th. Eddie Murray went 1-for-4, and Cal Ripken went 0-for-4.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-3 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 11-5 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Paul Molitor went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Robin Yount went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-4 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett hit a home run.
* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3 at the Astrodome in Houston. Mike Scott outpitched Orel Hershiser.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Chili Davis singled Jeffrey Leonard home with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-4.
* And the New York Mets, the Atlanta Braves, the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the St. Louis Cardinals, the California Angels, the Minnesota Twins, the Oakland Athletics and the Seattle Mariners each opened their seasons the next day.
There was more baseball news. Late that night, ABC's news program Nightline dedicated its show to the 40th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers desegregating MLB. (The anniversary was on the 15th). One of the guests was Al Campanis, general manager of the now-Los Angeles Dodgers. He made remarks inappropriate to that occasion, or to any occasion. I have a separate entry for that event.
Football was out of season. The NHL was between its regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There were 6 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 108-101 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 110-105 at The Omni in Atlanta. Dominique Wilkins scored 41 points.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks, 118-110 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
* The Sacramento Kings beat the Utah Jazz, 110-104 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 135-112 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* And the Houston Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 114-108 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.
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