Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns are considered to be two of the best boxers of all-time. They fought twice, once in 1981 and once in 1989. Both fights are considered to be classics.
| Date | September 16, 1981 | |
| Title(s) on the line | Undisputed World Welterweight Championship WBC & WBA World Welterweight Unification |
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| Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns | ||
| Sugar | The Hitman Motor City Cobra |
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| Tale of the tape | ||
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| Palmer Park, Maryland | From | Detroit, Michigan |
| 30-1 (21 KO) | Pre-fight record | 32-0 (30 KO) |
| WBC World Welterweight Champion | Recognition | WBA World Welterweight Champion |
Sugar Ray Leonard won the WBC Welterweight Championship with a fifteenth-round knockout of Wilfred Benítez in 1979. He lost it to Roberto Durán by a close decision in June 1980 and regained it five months later in the infamous No Más Fight, in which Duran quit in the eighth round. In June 1981, Leonard moved up to the junior middleweight division for one fight, knocking out Ayub Kalule in nine rounds to win the WBA Junior Middleweight Championship.
Hearns won the WBA Welterweight Championship in 1980, scoring a second-round knockout of Jose 'Pipino' Cuevas in Detroit, Michigan. He made three successful title defenses, stopping Luis Primera, Randy Shields, and Pablo Baez.
Promoted as "The Showdown," Leonard (30-1 with 21 KO) fought Hearns (32-0 with 30 KO) on September 16, 1981 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada to unify the World Welterweight Championship in a scheduled fifteen-rounder. They fought before a live crowd of 23,618 and a worldwide TV audience of some 300 million.
The fight began as expected, Leonard boxing from a distance and Hearns stalking. Leonard had difficulty with Hearns' long reach and sharp jab. By the end of round five, Leonard had a growing swelling under his left eye, and Hearns had built a considerable lead on the scorecards. Leonard, becoming more aggressive, hurt Hearns in the sixth with a left hook to the chin. Leonard battered Hearns in rounds six and seven, but Hearns miraculously regrouped. Hearns started to stick and move, and he started to pile up points again. The roles reversed: Leonard became the stalker and Hearns became the boxer.
Hearns won rounds nine through twelve on all three scorecards. Between rounds twelve and thirteen, Leonard's trainer, the legendary Angelo Dundee, said the now legendary words "You're blowing it, son! You're blowing it!"
Leonard, with a badly swollen left eye, came out roaring for the thirteenth round. After hurting Hearns with a right, Leonard exploded with a combination of punches and sent Hearns through the ropes. Hearns managed to rise, but was dropped again near the end of the round.
In round fourteen, after staggering Hearns with an overhand right, Leonard pinned Hearns against the ropes, where he unleashed another furious combination, prompting referee Davey Pearl to stop the contest and award Sugar Ray Leonard the Unified World Welterweight Championship. Hearns was leading by scores of 124-122, 125-122, and 125-121.
After the fight, there was controversy due to the scoring of rounds six and seven. Even though Leonard dominated, hurting Hearns and battering him, all three judges gave both rounds to Leonard by a 10-9 margin. Many felt that the ten-point must scoring system was not properly used and those rounds should have been scored 10-8.[1]
| Date | June 12, 1989 | |
| Title(s) on the line | WBC World Super Middleweight Championship | |
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| Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns | ||
| Sugar | The Hitman Motor City Cobra |
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| Tale of the tape | ||
|---|---|---|
| Palmer Park, Maryland | From | Detroit, Michigan |
| 35-1 (25 KO) | Pre-fight record | 46-3 (38 KO) |
| WBC World Super Middleweight Champion | Recognition | WBO World Super Middlerweight Champion |
Following "The Showdown," Leonard defended the Undisputed World Welterweight Championship once, knocking out Bruce Finch in the third round, and then retired after having surgery to repair a detached retina in his left eye.
Hearns moved up in weight and outpointed Wilfred Benitez to win the WBC Super Welterweight Championship in 1982. Three years later, he challenged Marvin Hagler for the Undisputed World Middleweight Championship, losing by a knockout in the third round of a very exciting fight. In early 1987, he stopped Dennis Andries in ten rounds to win the win the WBC Light Heavyweight Championship.
Leonard made a one-fight comeback in 1984 and stopped Kevin Howard in nine rounds. However, Leonard suffered the first knockdown of his career and was so disappointed in his performance that he once again retired after the fight.
In 1987, Leonard came back again and fought Hagler for the WBC Middleweight Championship. Leonard, a huge underdog, defeated Hagler by a twelve-round split decision. The following month, Leonard retired again.
Hearns knocked out Juan Roldan in four rounds in late 1987 to win the vacant WBC Middleweight Championship, becoming the first boxer to win titles in four weight divisions. Hearns lost the title in his next fight, suffering a third-round knockout against Iran Barkley.
Leonard came back again in 1988 and knocked out Don Lalonde in nine rounds to win Lalonde's WBC Light Heavyweight Championship and the vacant WBC Super Middleweight Championship. The victory made Leonard the first boxer to win titles in five weight divisions.
After almost eight years, the Leonard-Hearns rematch finally happened. It was promoted as "The War." Leonard (35-1 with 25 KOs) defended the WBC Super Middleweight Championship against Hearns (46-3 with 38 KOs) on June 12, 1989 at Caesar's Palace in a scheduled twelve-rounder.
Hearns dropped Leonard with a right cross in the third round, but Leonard came back and battered Hearns around the ring in the fifth round. Early in the seventh round, Hearns hurt Leonard but punched himself out going for the knockout. With Hearns fatigued, Leonard came back and had a strong finish to the round. Rounds nine and ten were good rounds for Leonard, but he ran into trouble in the eleventh round. Three booming rights from Hearns sent Leonard down for the second time in the fight. Knowing he needed a big finish, Leonard fought furiously and had a big final round.
The judges scored the fight a draw. Judge Jerry Roth scored the fight 113-112 for Hearns, Judge Tom Kazmarek scored it 113-112 for Leonard, and Judge Dalby Shirley scored it 112-112. Shirley was the only judge to give Leonard a 10-8 margin in the twelfth. If he had scored it 10-9, as his two colleagues did, Hearns would have won by a split decision. The decision was soundly booed, as most felt that Hearns had won.[2] Eventually, Leonard admitted that Hearns deserved the decision.
Six months later, Leonard successfully defended the WBC Super Middleweight Championship with a one-sided decision win over Roberto Duran, who had defeated Iran Barkley in his previous fight to win the WBC Middleweight Championship.
There was talk of a third fight, but it never happened. Leonard had his attorney, Mike Trainer, pursue a third fight, but Hearns said that he could no longer make the weight and was moving up to Light Heavyweight.[3]