Hagler-Hearns classic turns 25 years old

By Lee Groves, BoxingScene.com

Twenty-five years ago, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns packed enough action into eight minutes for an entire 15-round fight. Manny Millan/SI Related Links YOUTUBE: Watch the entire Hagler-Hearns classic Pavlik back 'home' for Friday weigh-in | VIDEO Espinoza says Vazquez will knock Marquez out Tyson Fury rips into Harrison, Chisora, others

Hagler-Hearns.

For those who were lucky enough to witness their battle for the undisputed middleweight title 25 years ago today, their hyphen-linked names remain a short-cut method of describing the kind of robust, vigorous combat that is promised so often in pre-fight promotions, but seldom fulfilled.

Their eight minutes of mayhem remains the gold standard in terms of succinct savagery between members of the boxing elite and serves as validation for those who must explain to their friends why they love boxing so much.

The pairing was so combustible that it didn't need a fancy title to sell it to the public. Like the first fight between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns was simply known as "The Fight." And like that historic heavyweight showdown "The Marvelous One" and the "Hitman" delivered the goods as few fights ever have.

The back-and-forth theatrics fulfilled the greatest desires of every fan: drama, action, shifting changes of fortune, huge punches from both combatants and an explosive, conclusive ending that cemented the winner's greatness as well as the loser's valor.

As titanic as was the actual battle, it only served as the culmination of an extended build-up that raised tensions to a tantalizing peak.

This fight was originally scheduled to take place May 24, 1982, two months after Hagler destroyed William "Caveman" Lee in 67 seconds and nearly three months after Hearns wiped out Marcos Geraldo in 108 seconds. An injury to Hearns' vaunted right hand caused the fight to be rescheduled for July 12, then canceled altogether.

Hagler, eager to cement his status against a household name as well as cash the huge paycheck that came with it, was incensed.

"He was going to make two million dollars and then he turned down two million dollars," an exasperated Hagler said. He then taunted "The Hitman" from afar, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he said, "He started complaining about his little baby pinkie. Do you know how many people would give a million dollars for that little baby pinkie? They'd cut that thing off."

The fighters would go their separate ways and go about the business of building their reputations further.

Hearns, who changed his "Hitman" moniker to the less violent "Motor City Cobra" at the request of Detroit's mayor at the time, lived up to that nickname by showing only flashes of the enormous power that vaulted him into the public consciousness.

He stopped Jeff McCracken in eight rounds before dethroning WBC junior middleweight champion Wilfred Benitez in a fight that resembled chess more than chest-to-chest combat. He tested the middleweight waters with a virtual shutout over Murray Sutherland, and then retained his 154-pound belt with a ho-hum unanimous decision over Luigi Minchillo.

By the time he stepped into the ring at Caesars Palace to fight Roberto Duran on June 15, 1984, Hearns had a change of heart. He once again declared himself the "Hitman" and boasted that he would destroy the Panamanian legend as no one had ever done before.

It was a bold statement given that Duran not only had never been knocked out but also had suffered only two knockdowns in his 17-year, 82-fight career, the last of which occurred more than 10 years earlier.

Hearns, however, knew what he was talking about. He scored two knockdowns in the first round and then delivered a crushing right to the chin in the second that forced Duran to pitch forward and land face-first on the canvas in a semi-conscious haze.

Hearns followed that spectacular performance with another one as he blasted out the once-beaten Fred Hutchings in three one-sided rounds. It was the definitive preamble to a showdown with Hagler, who by then was hailed as the world's best pound-for-pound fighter.

The shaven-skulled slugger from Brockton by way of Newark, N.J., earned those accolades the old-fashioned way -- by decimating a continuous string of mandatory challengers.

First was the rematch with Fulgencio Obelmejias, which ended in five rounds with a wicked right hook to the jaw. Hagler then sliced and diced the rugged Brit Tony Sibson before disposing of him in six. After that he literally laid Wilford Scypion at his feet in four rounds, "just the way I wanted him."

But just as he was gaining recognition as the best fighter of the post Sugar Ray Leonard era, his reputation absorbed a couple of hits despite winning.

The critics skewered Hagler for his overly respectful showing against an out-sized, out-gunned but rejuvenated Duran that ended in a much closer decision than the action indicated.

Then he struggled in the early rounds against Juan Domingo Roldan before either a right hand or a thumb caused Roldan's eye to slam shut and his competitive will to wilt.

Hagler's three-round stoppage of a faded Mustafa Hamsho in their rematch proved little to his antagonists; he knew that the Hearns fight represented his last and best chance to stamp himself as worthy of being labeled one of history's greatest middleweight champions.

For a man who already sported a chip on his shoulder the size of the Caesars Palace hotel building, that was even more reason to be motivated.

A multi-city promotional tour only heightened the tensions between the combatants as they traded barbs face-to-face and in the press. They further turned the knife by predicting an early knockout.

"Come April 15 -- in three rounds -- I will be the greatest," Hearns said at the Detroit stop on January 28.

"Tommy said I'm going to be laying down there and his hand is going to be raised," Hagler said the next day in St. Louis. "I feel almost the same way but when the smoke clears -- because I'm coming out smokin' -- it'll be my hands that's going to be raised."

The contrast carried over to their training camps as Hagler voluntarily imprisoned himself in the "jail" of Provincetown, Mass., before traveling to Palm Springs to conduct workouts that were closed to the public.

Hearns, who traditionally trained out of the Kronk Gym in Detroit, instead began work at Miami Beach before moving directly to Las Vegas. He was uncharacteristically loose during his public workouts and one session was highlighted by a female dance troupe that entertained the fans during a break.

The 30-year-old Hagler (60-2-2, 50 KO), who had not lost a fight in nine years, weighed a rock-hard 159¼ while the 26-year-old Hearns (40-1, 34 KO) tipped the scale at a surprisingly heavy 159¾. His 78-inch reach was three inches longer than Hagler's and many insiders thought he would use it to keep Hagler at a distance.

The historic nature of Hagler-Hearns could be seen at ringside, as middleweight greats Sugar Ray Robinson, Gene Fullmer, Carmen Basilio and Jake LaMotta were present. Curt Gowdy emceed the closed-circuit broadcast while a pair of Als -- Michaels and Bernstein -- handled the PPV blow-by-blow. HBO's Barry Tompkins, Larry Merchant and Sugar Ray Leonard worked the network's delayed broadcast. Hagler remained the 7-to-5 favorite despite a late rush of Hearns money from his loyal Detroit fans.

As Tonight Show bandleader Doc Severinsen played the national anthem and the world's largest flag was draped from the top of the Caesars Palace hotel building, Hagler smoldered with intensity as he fixed a laser-like glare on Hearns. "The Hitman" fired his own baleful look at Hagler during referee Richard Steele's final instructions, and when the pair retreated to their corners the moment that had been three years in the making was finally here.