Boxing is often referred to as the “Sweet Science”, which is about meeting without being hit. Hit without being hit hit. The biggest battles are mostly those in which the fist formula of sweet science does not matter. In any case, Marvelous Marvin Hagler against Thomas Hearns was only about meeting 40 years ago and be hit.
Blood flowed over the grim face of Marvin Hagler. “Can you see everything right?” Asked the ring doctor and eyed Hagler’s cut on his forehead. “I’m not wrong, right?” The champ growled back.
No, he didn’t. Moments after the inspection of the Doc was Thomas Hearn, Hagler’s challenger about the middle weight crown, on the ground-and only saw asterisks. April 15, 1985, Las Vegas: Hagler vs. Hearns. A struggle for which the expression “the fists fly” was invented.
Hagler against Hearns – The “Fight”, the story wrote
Sometimes it has to be easy. Two of the biggest fist struggles of the 20th century were sold in advance as “The Fight”. Joe Frazier’s 15-round battle against Muhammad Ali in New York Madison Square Garden 1971. And “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler’s epic fight with Thomas Hearns 40 years ago at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
This fight not only electrified the USA in 1985, but the whole boxing world. Hagler, then 30 years old, for five years an undisputed ruler of the 160 pound class, defended his crown for the tenth time. The challenger Hearns (26) had risen from the half middle weight for the extravagant setting on the vegas strip.
Both boxers collected well more than five million dollars – a huge stock exchange at the time. To heat up “The Fight”, tingling Hagler and Hearns for months through the states and exchanging affairs.
If you wanted to see the duel, you had to buy a ticket for one of 600 selected locations. Closed Circuit Televsion was the name of the then common business model, which later gave way to the Pay-Per view in front of the home. In Hagler’s homeland alone, thousands made a pilgrimage to the Boston Garden to cheer on their idol in front of a canvas.
So that nobody forgot “The Fight”, the promoters started the showdown of the “Tax Day” on Monday evening. Submit the tax on time and then look boxes, the motto was called.
Quite a few observers trust Hearns to end Hagler’s reign. Finally, the “Hitman” from Detroit had beat the iron-hard Panama icon Roberto Duran a year earlier with a terrible right in round. Hagler, on the other hand, was plagued by Duran in 1983 over the full distance of 15 laps. However, one knew – and that made the fight so fascinating – that Hagler could also hit like a horse.
“A whole struggle compresses in three minutes”
When the bell finally ringed in the Caesar’s Palace on April 15, 85, all boxing strategies were quickly thrown over the pile. The 1.77 meter tall Hagler stormed – in the style of a Jake Lamotta – like a wild bull on the skinny Hearns (1.85 meters). And the challenger didn’t get out of the way.
After Hagler had tracted his rivals with body hits, Hearns struck. With a left hook and a right uppercut, the protégé of Emanuel Steward (who later made Vladimir Klitschko great) rang the defending champion. Hearns prompted him to slit Hagler’s forehead and broke his right hand himself.
The spectacle started. Hagler shook himself briefly and put Hearns in the ring corner. Toe on the toe, nose on the nose, the rivals beat together – with everything they had.
“Incredible. A whole struggle compresses in three minutes,” whispered TV commentator Al Michaels when the gong sounded a break. The box Bible “The Ring” chose the 1st act of the fight for the best round of boxing history.
“The War”: Hearns’ legs left him
The fists also flew in the following rounds. Hagler had survived the steel bath of the first round better, attacked relentlessly and changed display again and again. Hearn’s long stilts, on the other hand, kept bending in from the second round. Instead of dancing around Hagler and scoring from a distance, the boxing rattling frame always had to face the direct exchange of blows.
In round three, referee Richard Steele finally interrupted the battle and sent the Hagler bleeding out of the forehead to the ring doctor in the neutral corner.
Perhaps Hagler worried that the arbitral tribunal could take him out of the fight because of his gaping wound. Seconds after his “consultation hour”, the world champion Hearns started like a bulldog and ballerted the “Hitman” a right hook on his temple.
As on roller skates, Hearns slipped against the ring ropes, where Hagler made a decisive impact. A right cross exploded on the challenger’s jaw. After eight minutes of non-stop action, the fist godfather was over.
“I was the champion, but I had to fight like a challenger. I had to take in to be able to hand out,” Hagler summarized the three-rounder in the ring interview.
Incidentally, nobody called “The Fight” afterwards. Hagler vs. Hearns has been operating under the title “The War” for 40 years.