Hagler vs. Hearns

The Fight was 31 years ago today. Reminds me why I used to love watching boxing with my dad and why I hate how promoters ruined the sport.

 

Mayweather/Pacquaio could've gone a thousand rounds and it still wouldn't have as much substance as Hagler/Hearns packed in less than three rounds.

 

Very true. It seems like anytime there's a "big" boxing match today I wind up pulling this one up on YouTube instead.

 

Gatti and Ward did for damn-near 30 rounds what Hagler and Hearns did for two and a half. That doesn't take away from the greatness of any of those fights, but you can still find a gem every now and then.

That being said, Marvin Hagler is one of my top 3 favorite fighters. I still say he got robbed against Leonard.

 

That was a great fight. Of course I couldn't afford to do that PPV back then, but a few weeks later, when it was broadcast, my best friend taped it. That little pirouette Hearns does when he takes that first shot that did him in ... My friend and I, we must have rewound and watched that a hundred times, laughing our ass off the whole time. It makes me laugh to see/remember it.

 

I had to do this for a friend who was pressuring me to come watch Mayweather/Pacquiao but had never even heard of Hagler/Hearns. Said I was more interested in watching a match that had to be the potential of Hagler/Hearns than just Mayweather circling toward a 12-round decision. He had no idea what I was talking about. Broke my heart a little bit.

I also made him watch Gatti/Ward, another pair of fighters he had never heard of.

 

Thanks Jake for 20 minutes that my employer will never get back!

I remember when PPV meant paying to go to bar to watch a fight. I saw this one live and have seen it again more times than I can count. I loved that Hagler got stomped. My dislike of him was completely irrational, may have been because I associated him with Michael Jackson because of the Kronk Gym jackets.

Hagler represented everything that was"real" to me, an idiotic take that a teenager can make.

 

That fight was so great, its amazing to think Rd. 2 had little action and the fight was only 3 rounds. I was in college and remember getting an invite to some buddy's gathering. Was awesome; IIRC must have been on a 27" screen (oh so big!)

 

I had an idea when I was at the Phoenix. I'd pull a triple header, cover the Sox in the 11 a.m. game, rush to the finish of the marathon, then get to Logan and jet to Vegas in time for Hagler-Hearns. Alas, it would've taken a charter, which is when the publisher pulled the plug. I don't blame him, and I saw the fight PPV.
For the record, I covered Hagler for a long time, and of course I loved him as a fighter, but I don't think he got screwed in the Leonard decision. The manly art of self-defense is part of boxing, too.

 

Massive Hagler fan, by far my favourite fighter. My parents met a couple in Florida one year on vacation who lived in Brockton, Mass and they knew the Petronelli brothers, who handled him, and they used to send me loads of articles from the Brockton paper and some autographed stuff.

Watched the Hearns fight on closed circuit at Maple Leaf Gardens, like others here I have seen it countless times, never gets old, just a great, great scrap. I remember wondering if Hagler would go after Hearns after Hearns had flattened Duran, who had given Hagler such a rough night. I worked with a guy who had been in Vegas the week before the fight and he told me he saw Hearns in the Caesars casino at 4 a.m., no idea if that was true but I knew Hagler wasn't gambling at that hour. The way Hearns seemed to be gassed after the first - as was anybody watching it - led me to believe that he might not be in that fight for the long haul.

As for the Leonard fight, watched that at the Gardens too and scored it 7-4-1 for Leonard. Have seen it many times since and sometimes it gets closer but Hagler never wins it. He gave away too many early rounds.

 

My son conned me into going with him to a local bar to watch Mayweather/Pacquiao. I bitched the whole way there, told him exactly what was going to happened, told him that Mayweather's best skill of all was choosing the right fights at the right time. Crappy fight. Bitched all the way home, then sat his ass in front of Youtube and put on Hagler-Hearns.

Some times the old man knows a little more than the kid.

 

Damn good parenting there....