By Ronald "RC" Cameron
April 6th, 1987 was supposed to be a massacre. Very few boxing experts believed this fight would unfold any other way and there were plenty of reasons why people believed that to be the case. On one side of the ring was the Undisputed Middleweight Champion, Marvin Hagler--who was considered by many as the best fighter in the world who had not lost a fight in 11 years. Some boxing experts also believed Hagler was one of the best Middleweight champions of all time and the greatest southpaw that ever laced them up.
And waiting for him in the opposite corner was former Undisputed Welterweight king Sugar Ray Leonard-- who only fought once in 5 years and when we last saw him, he did not look anything like the Leonard who dominated the Welterweight division a few years earlier. Many boxing fans had been anticipating this showdown for over 5 years and finally the boxing world would finally get to see the dream matchup they had been waiting for. But before the two faced each other, both fighters had to go through some trials and tribulations along the way.
After turning pro in 1973, Hagler went on to win his first 17 fights before fighting to a disputed draw against the 1972 Olympic Gold Medal winner "Sugar Ray" Seales, a draw that Hagler would avenge several years later. Hagler would suffer two setbacks in 1976, losing close decisions to Bobby Watts and Willie Monroe. Both of those fights were fought in Philadelphia, which happened to by the hometown of both Watts and Monroe, so you can draw your own conclusion. But just as he did against Seales, the skilled southpaw atoned for his two losses, knocking out Monroe (twice) and Watts in their rematches a few years later.
After being avoided by champions for many years and compiling a record of 47-2-1, Marvin finally received his first title shot against then-Middleweight king Vito Antuofermo in 1979 and the two fought to a controversial draw( On the same night Leonard fought Wifred Benitez). A year later, Hagler earned another crack at the Middleweight title, this time against Englishman Alan Minter, who dethroned Antuofermo a year earlier. Just as he was forced to do early in his career, Hagler traveled into hostile territory and fought in his opponent's hometown. Before the fight took place, Minter made an unfortunate racial comment, stating that "No black man would take my title!" Hagler didn't need any more motivation going into this fight, but that statement added more fuel to the fire. With his second crack at the Middleweight crown, Hagler would make the most of his opportunity as he annihilated Minter, destroying him in three, one sided rounds. But unfortunately for Hagler, he was unable to celebrate his big win inside of the ring because several irate fans threw beer bottles and debris into the ring towards the new champion and he had to be escorted out of the area.
Hagler was a fighting champion, as he dismantled former champion Vito Antuofermo in their rematch, he whipped top contender Mustafa Hamsho twice, he barely got past the legendary Roberto Duran but a year later he chopped down Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns in three of the most brutal rounds in Middleweight boxing history. Hagler proved to the world that he was one of the greatest Middleweight champions of all time by taking on all comers, yet there was one man left that he so desperately wanted to face before calling it a career--Former Undisputed Welterweight king Sugar Ray Leonard.
Unlike Hagler, Leonard traveled a different road to get to the top. After winning the 1976 Light Welterweight Olympic Gold Medal, Leonard was unsure about turning pro because his hands were in bad shape, but he reconsidered when his parents had some unfortunate health issues that required immediate attention. So in order to earn money to help with his family's medical bills, Leonard decided to turn pro. But before he made his official decision, he received some advice from a man he idolized-- Muhammad Ali. Sitting in his dressing room right before his third fight with Ken Norton in NY, Ali advised Leonard by telling him, "If you do turn pro, just make sure you don't do what I did. Don't let anyone own you. Remember, you are the one in the ring and most of the money you earn should belong to you!" And Ali also suggested that if he does turn pro, he should hire his hall of fame trainer, Angelo Dundee. Leonard took his advice, hired Dundee and instead of signing a deal with promoter Don King or Bob Arum, Leonard hired lawyer Mike Trainer to handle his business and promotional affairs, but Leonard was his own boss and he called his own shots.
After compiling a 25-0 record, Leonard would finally receive his shot at the WBC Welterweight crown, but he had to face the young counter-punching wizard, Wilfred Benitez on November 30, 1979. This was a fast-paced chess match, but Leonard's power and blazing hand speed proved to be the difference in this fight. Leonard went on to stop Benitez in the final seconds of the 15th round, winning his first world title. After anesthetizing Davey Boy Green in his first title defense, Leonard would battle the former Lightweight king and future hall of fame great, Roberto Duran. Before the fight, Duran made some crude comments about Leonard's wife and this infuriated him. Instead of trying to out-box him, Leonard decided that he was going to stand toe to toe with the Hands of Stone and try to knock him out. In a fight that was fought mostly in close quarters, Duran out-worked Leonard and won a razor-thin decision over Leonard, taking his WBC Welterweight title in the process.
The two would meet again 5 months later but this time around, Leonard would fight HIS fight. Leonard out-boxed the champion by using a stiff left jab and scoring with accurate counter right hands and uppercuts when Duran tried to attack him. After being embarrassed for most of the fight, in the 8th round Duran shocked the boxing world by turning his back to Leonard and waving him off as if to say that he didn't want to fight any longer. After some confusion, it was now clear to everyone-- Roberto Duran quit. Leonard regained his WBC Welterweight title that night and this was a great accomplishment, but there was another man who held a portion of the Welterweight crown and that man was undefeated WBA Welterweight kingpin, Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns.
On September 16th, 1981, in a fight that what was billed as "The Showdown", Leonard and Hearns put their WBC and WBA belts on the line and battled in what proved to be the greatest Welterweight fight of all time. With his left eye swollen shut and behind on the scorecards, Leonard rallied to knock Hearns down in the 13th and he closed the show by stopping Hearns in the 14th, thus being declared the undisputed Welterweight king.
After beating Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard was now on top of the boxing world, as he replaced the now- retired Muhammad Ali as the new face of the sport, but he now faced another obstacle that put his boxing career in major jeopardy. When training for a title defense against Roger Stafford, Leonard started to notice spots out of his left eye and his visibility started to become less clear to him when seeing out of that eye. Leonard went to see a specialist and he was diagnosed with a detached retina. Leonard had no choice but to cancel the Stafford fight and have surgery on his eye. After a successful surgery, Leonard was faced with a tough decision-- risk further damaging his eye by continuing to fight, or retire. Leonard was financially secure, but there was one potential mega-fight that fans really wanted to see-- Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
Leonard considered all of the possibilities after his surgery and he mulled everything over during the summer. He decided to make a formal announcement on his future plans on November 9, 1982. Ray invited his family and friends (including Hagler) and most people expected Leonard to announce that he was ready to move up and face the Middleweight king but to their surprise, Leonard announced his retirement. Hagler was not too pleased about being tricked but he told reporters that eventually Leonard would come back.
And just as Hagler predicted, Leonard could not stay away from boxing and he returned in 1984 to face a relatively unknown contender named Kevin Howard. Leonard suffered his first knockdown in his career and did not look great, but he recovered and stopped Howard in the 9th round. Leonard retired again right after that fight and continued to work as a boxing analyst for CBS and HBO and when he wasn't commentating, he would often attend major fights. Leonard may have been retired at that time, but he still loved boxing and he still had some unfinished business to deal with.
On March 10th, 1986, Hagler faced the undefeated knockout artist, John "The Beast" Mugabi and sure enough, Leonard was at ringside watching this fight. This was a brutal battle; Hagler took a lot of punishment from Mugabi and at times looked like he was a step slower than usual. But despite absorbing some enormous bombs from Mugabi, the champion shook them off like rainwater and responded in kind. Hagler wore the challenger down in the later rounds and stopped him in the 11th round, but after watching Hagler struggle with Mugabi, Leonard felt that now was the time to challenge the undisputed Middleweight king.
But this time it was Hagler who had leverage and he did not forget how Leonard embarrassed him years earlier so he decided to make Leonard wait a while before he made his decision. After stalling for a few months, Hagler finally agreed to face Leonard in what was billed as "The Super Fight." Hagler was so confident that he was going to win, when Leonard requested a bigger ring and for the fight to be scheduled for 12 rounds instead of 15, Hagler agreed to everything.
Not only was Hagler confident, most boxing experts did not give Leonard a chance of surviving 12 rounds with Hagler, let alone winning the fight. How could a guy who only fought once in 5 years be competitive with a guy who hasn't lost a fight in 11 years?
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On April 6th 1987, the two would finally face each other to settle this one and for all. In the first round, Leonard moved around the ring laterally and to his surprise, Hagler came out fighting right-handed instead of southpaw. Midway through the round, Leonard caught Hagler with a solid left hook that got his attention. There were not a lot of punches thrown in this round, but Leonard beat him to the punch when they did exchange and he won the round. For the next three rounds, Leonard continued to move and jab and at times he would get the best of Hagler when they stood toe to toe. The champion did switch back to fighting southpaw in the third round and was clearly the aggressor but he was not effective while being aggressive.
But Hagler stepped it up in the 5th round as he focused on going to the body and near the end of the round, he hurt Leonard with a short right uppercut. Leonard did recover, but the champion did enough to win the first round on my scorecard.
Both guys landed some good shots in the 6th round but Leonard's counter punching and accuracy did enough to pull it out. Leonard was clearly winning the fight at this point, but he was starting to show some signs of fatigue.
The champion responded by winning the next two rounds, as he continued to reach Leonard with his right jab and some good body shots when they fought in close quarters. Leonard was searching to find his second wind and Hagler was taking advantage of it. Leonard had his moments in rounds 7 and 8, but Hagler was the busier, more effective fighter.
Midway through the 9th round, Marvin rocked Leonard with a short left hand, which was by far the best punch of the fight. Hagler applied constant pressure as he tried to end the fight right there and he scored with several hard shots while Leonard was on the ropes, but out of nowhere, Leonard reminded the world that underneath that million dollar smile lies a warrior who refuses to quit. Just as it appeared as if the challenger was on the verge of being knocked down, Leonard fought Hagler off by throwing a flurry of punches that forced Hagler to momentarily stop moving forward. Leonard landed some good counter shots after that but Hagler continued to apply non-stop effective pressure and he clearly won this round.
If there was a round that could have been scored even, it was the 10th. Both guys landed some clean shots but I gave the slight nod to Hagler because he landed the harder shots and he closed the round strong.
The 11th round was Leonard's best round of the fight. The challenger scored repeatedly with right hands and short left hooks and while Hagler pursued Leonard, he could not land any clean shots on him. The Middleweight champ looked frustrated as the round ended, while Leonard was very confident, as if he knew he had the champion right where he wanted him.
In the final round, Leonard, who thought he had the fight in the bag, taunted Hagler while the champion made the mistake of trying to showboat with him. This was also a close round to score as neither guy threw a lot of punches, but Leonard landed the cleaner shots and he did enough to win it.
Soon after the bell sounded to end the fight, Leonard was carried to his corner by two of his corner men and what really shocked me was seeing Hagler dancing, which seemed out of character for him.
As we all know, Leonard dethroned Hagler, winning a controversial split decision. I scored the fight 115-113 for Sugar Ray and I have no problem with anyone who believes that Hagler won by the same score, but there is one thing that needs to be mentioned-- Judge Jose Guerra, who scored this fight 118-110 should have been fired on the spot. If there was any controversy in this fight, it had to do with that corrupt scorecard Guerra filled out. This was a close fight, but to call this fight a robbery is laughable to me.
Sugar Ray Leonard--who had only fought once in 5 years, moved up in weight and upset the best fighter in the world who was arguably the greatest southpaw of all time. He never hurt the champion, but his defense, his accuracy and how he counter-punched Hagler when they did fight toe to toe won the fight for him. Hagler didn't do himself any favors by starting slow and fighting right handed instead of southpaw early in the fight. He was clearly the aggressor and at times he did land some good shots, but as I mentioned earlier, he was not always effective when he was aggressive. Hagler missed a lot of shots and he did look slow and tired late in the fight.
There was some talk of a rematch between these two and Leonard had no problem giving Hagler one, but Hagler decided to hang up his gloves for good. I always wondered why Hagler, who took this loss hard and believed that he beat Leonard, did not want to face him again to avenge his loss. He lost two other times in his career and he avenged both of those losses, so why not do it again? Nevertheless, Hagler retired and unlike many other fighters, he actually stayed retired for good.
As for Leonard, he continued to fight for a few more years. He was lucky to walk away with a draw with Thomas Hearns in their rematch (To his credit, Leonard admitted to Hearns on national television that he lost that fight) and he beat Duran again, but as is the case with so many great fighters near the end of their careers, legends die hard. Leonard lost his last two fights, losing to future hall of fame Jr. Middleweight king Terry Norris via a lopsided 12 round decision and was stopped by Hector Camacho in 5 rounds before finally retiring for good at the age of 40.
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For many years after their showdown, Hagler remained very bitter about their fight but last year at a WBC convention, Hagler and Leonard finally talked and buried the hatchet. I don't believe that Leonard ever harbored any bad feelings towards Hagler, but it was good to see that Hagler finally put it all behind him.
I've read some reports that Leonard, Hagler, Hearns (who will be inducted this year) and Duran will all be in attendance at the IBHOF (International Boxing Hall of Fame) this year and that's GREAT news. I have a suggestion for them--How about putting together an autobiography/movie with all of those fighters? Remember the movie "Champion's Forever", where Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Ken Norton all got together and talked about their battles against each other? Leonard, Hagler, Hearns and Duran could all get together at the IBHOF and make it happen.
And also, why not add Wilfred Benitez to the mix? Sadly, he's in no condition to travel but he's faced all of the guys I mentioned except for Hagler. And I have one last suggestion-- They could all donate a portion of the proceeds to Wilfred's family so he can pay for his medical bills and help him moving forward. Just a thought.
One thing is for sure, when those guys do get together, whether it's at the IBHOF or somewhere else, they will not end their conversation without discussing the "Super Fight" between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard. Many fans thought this fight was controversial, some believed Hagler got robbed, but in my opinion the right guy won this fight. Let the debate continue!!
And just as Hagler predicted, Leonard could not stay away from boxing and he returned in 1984 to face a relatively unknown contender named Kevin Howard. Leonard suffered his first knockdown in his career and did not look great, but he recovered and stopped Howard in the 9th round. Leonard retired again right after that fight and continued to work as a boxing analyst for CBS and HBO and when he wasn't commentating, he would often attend major fights. Leonard may have been retired at that time, but he still loved boxing and he still had some unfinished business to deal with.
On March 10th, 1986, Hagler faced the undefeated knockout artist, John "The Beast" Mugabi and sure enough, Leonard was at ringside watching this fight. This was a brutal battle; Hagler took a lot of punishment from Mugabi and at times looked like he was a step slower than usual. But despite absorbing some enormous bombs from Mugabi, the champion shook them off like rainwater and responded in kind. Hagler wore the challenger down in the later rounds and stopped him in the 11th round, but after watching Hagler struggle with Mugabi, Leonard felt that now was the time to challenge the undisputed Middleweight king.
But this time it was Hagler who had leverage and he did not forget how Leonard embarrassed him years earlier so he decided to make Leonard wait a while before he made his decision. After stalling for a few months, Hagler finally agreed to face Leonard in what was billed as "The Super Fight." Hagler was so confident that he was going to win, when Leonard requested a bigger ring and for the fight to be scheduled for 12 rounds instead of 15, Hagler agreed to everything.
Not only was Hagler confident, most boxing experts did not give Leonard a chance of surviving 12 rounds with Hagler, let alone winning the fight. How could a guy who only fought once in 5 years be competitive with a guy who hasn't lost a fight in 11 years?
On April 6th 1987, the two would finally face each other to settle this one and for all. In the first round, Leonard moved around the ring laterally and to his surprise, Hagler came out fighting right-handed instead of southpaw. Midway through the round, Leonard caught Hagler with a solid left hook that got his attention. There were not a lot of punches thrown in this round, but Leonard beat him to the punch when they did exchange and he won the round. For the next three rounds, Leonard continued to move and jab and at times he would get the best of Hagler when they stood toe to toe. The champion did switch back to fighting southpaw in the third round and was clearly the aggressor but he was not effective while being aggressive.
But Hagler stepped it up in the 5th round as he focused on going to the body and near the end of the round, he hurt Leonard with a short right uppercut. Leonard did recover, but the champion did enough to win the first round on my scorecard.
Both guys landed some good shots in the 6th round but Leonard's counter punching and accuracy did enough to pull it out. Leonard was clearly winning the fight at this point, but he was starting to show some signs of fatigue.
The champion responded by winning the next two rounds, as he continued to reach Leonard with his right jab and some good body shots when they fought in close quarters. Leonard was searching to find his second wind and Hagler was taking advantage of it. Leonard had his moments in rounds 7 and 8, but Hagler was the busier, more effective fighter.
Midway through the 9th round, Marvin rocked Leonard with a short left hand, which was by far the best punch of the fight. Hagler applied constant pressure as he tried to end the fight right there and he scored with several hard shots while Leonard was on the ropes, but out of nowhere, Leonard reminded the world that underneath that million dollar smile lies a warrior who refuses to quit. Just as it appeared as if the challenger was on the verge of being knocked down, Leonard fought Hagler off by throwing a flurry of punches that forced Hagler to momentarily stop moving forward. Leonard landed some good counter shots after that but Hagler continued to apply non-stop effective pressure and he clearly won this round.
If there was a round that could have been scored even, it was the 10th. Both guys landed some clean shots but I gave the slight nod to Hagler because he landed the harder shots and he closed the round strong.
The 11th round was Leonard's best round of the fight. The challenger scored repeatedly with right hands and short left hooks and while Hagler pursued Leonard, he could not land any clean shots on him. The Middleweight champ looked frustrated as the round ended, while Leonard was very confident, as if he knew he had the champion right where he wanted him.
In the final round, Leonard, who thought he had the fight in the bag, taunted Hagler while the champion made the mistake of trying to showboat with him. This was also a close round to score as neither guy threw a lot of punches, but Leonard landed the cleaner shots and he did enough to win it.
Soon after the bell sounded to end the fight, Leonard was carried to his corner by two of his corner men and what really shocked me was seeing Hagler dancing, which seemed out of character for him.
As we all know, Leonard dethroned Hagler, winning a controversial split decision. I scored the fight 115-113 for Sugar Ray and I have no problem with anyone who believes that Hagler won by the same score, but there is one thing that needs to be mentioned-- Judge Jose Guerra, who scored this fight 118-110 should have been fired on the spot. If there was any controversy in this fight, it had to do with that corrupt scorecard Guerra filled out. This was a close fight, but to call this fight a robbery is laughable to me.
Sugar Ray Leonard--who had only fought once in 5 years, moved up in weight and upset the best fighter in the world who was arguably the greatest southpaw of all time. He never hurt the champion, but his defense, his accuracy and how he counter-punched Hagler when they did fight toe to toe won the fight for him. Hagler didn't do himself any favors by starting slow and fighting right handed instead of southpaw early in the fight. He was clearly the aggressor and at times he did land some good shots, but as I mentioned earlier, he was not always effective when he was aggressive. Hagler missed a lot of shots and he did look slow and tired late in the fight.
There was some talk of a rematch between these two and Leonard had no problem giving Hagler one, but Hagler decided to hang up his gloves for good. I always wondered why Hagler, who took this loss hard and believed that he beat Leonard, did not want to face him again to avenge his loss. He lost two other times in his career and he avenged both of those losses, so why not do it again? Nevertheless, Hagler retired and unlike many other fighters, he actually stayed retired for good.
As for Leonard, he continued to fight for a few more years. He was lucky to walk away with a draw with Thomas Hearns in their rematch (To his credit, Leonard admitted to Hearns on national television that he lost that fight) and he beat Duran again, but as is the case with so many great fighters near the end of their careers, legends die hard. Leonard lost his last two fights, losing to future hall of fame Jr. Middleweight king Terry Norris via a lopsided 12 round decision and was stopped by Hector Camacho in 5 rounds before finally retiring for good at the age of 40.
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I've read some reports that Leonard, Hagler, Hearns (who will be inducted this year) and Duran will all be in attendance at the IBHOF (International Boxing Hall of Fame) this year and that's GREAT news. I have a suggestion for them--How about putting together an autobiography/movie with all of those fighters? Remember the movie "Champion's Forever", where Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Ken Norton all got together and talked about their battles against each other? Leonard, Hagler, Hearns and Duran could all get together at the IBHOF and make it happen.
And also, why not add Wilfred Benitez to the mix? Sadly, he's in no condition to travel but he's faced all of the guys I mentioned except for Hagler. And I have one last suggestion-- They could all donate a portion of the proceeds to Wilfred's family so he can pay for his medical bills and help him moving forward. Just a thought.
One thing is for sure, when those guys do get together, whether it's at the IBHOF or somewhere else, they will not end their conversation without discussing the "Super Fight" between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard. Many fans thought this fight was controversial, some believed Hagler got robbed, but in my opinion the right guy won this fight. Let the debate continue!!
Excellent job RC!!! I had Leonard winning by the same score as you,115-113. Hagler was way to confident coming in. I can also understand how other boxing fans have Hagler winning. The fight was close. Leonard's achievement though was pretty remarkable...
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