W.T.N.G: 1980’s Boxing…
BOXING : The 1980’s
Most boxers fight for the money. Some men are only interested in the glory. Some do it because they have to. It’s all they can do! And then there are some men who fight because it’s easy. Teofilo Stevenson, the Ali of the Olympics, is one such man!
Boxing’s last golden era was the 1980’s, a decade of money, glitz and thunderously concusive fighters. Larry Holmes was the undisputed heavyweight king and an immense champion. But the old Ali sparring partner lacked the master’s charisma and failed to earn the respect his considerable talent deserved.
The public’s attention duly focussed on the crop of outstanding fighters at work in hitherto less glamorous divisions. These men – Hagler, Benitez, Hearns, Duran, Chavez, Curry, Honeygan, Starling, Jackson, Nunn, McCallum – were all the more extraordinary in that they fought each other. The mega-pay days on offer made sure of these contests.
Supreme among these boxers was ‘Marvellous’ Marvin Hagler, who won his title from Alan Minter amid terrible scenes in London and fought all-comers. He was brave, resourceful and a highly skilled technician with immense courage. Hagler destroyed every man sent in to do battle but there was one boxer whose presence, charm and good lucks made Hagler the 1980’s Joe Frazier. That man was Sugar Ray Leonard, a masterful fighter whom the public adored.
Leonard saw something in Hagler towards the late 1980’s which tempted him out of retirement. Hagler could only see Leonard’s inactivity and was confident of an execution when the two men fought in 1987.
He reckoned without Leonard’s show-boating ring savvy and prizefighter’s courage and walked disgusted from the ring in one of boxing’s most controversial decisions. “Leonard fought like a girl,” Hagler said. “His punches meant nothing. I fought my heart out. I kept my belt. I can’t believe they took it away from me.”
But defeat broke Hagler who never fought again.
Hagler’s scalp completed Sugar Ray’s boxing CV. An earlier entry had seen the fighter break the heart of another legendary hard man when Roberto Duran said ‘No Mas’ in an extraordinary contest that will be talked about by boxing fans forever.
Leonard, fighting at weletrweight, had gone toe to toe with Duran, a tremendous body puncher, in their first fight and came off second.
When they squared up for the sequel in November 1980, Leonard adopted new tactics based on being elusive and staying out of range. Duran couldn’t rumble with a target he couldn’t get close to. After eight rounds, when the Panamanian could take no more of Leonard’s showboating, ’stick and move,’ classic counter-attacking, the macho Duran growled ‘no more’ and walked away.
When ‘ear ripper’ Mike Tyson told the then heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis that he wanted “his heart” and to “eat his children,” no-one quite knew whether he was serious but everyone wanted to see their title fight.
Muhammad Ali was the modern genius of sport and boxing hype, mocking and humiliating his opponent before predicting the round of defeat, all to the sound of ringing cash tills. Afterwards, the comradely respect of fighters would be restored as both men went home to count their money and curse Don King.
But occasionally, just occasionally, two fighters get into the ring who genuinely want to fight each other. The cash doesn’t matter, such is the loathing. It could be Las Vegas, Madison Square Garden or an alleyway on a Saturday night – these men wouldn’t care. The contempt is real. The warrior heart’s desire to be the last man standing is limitless.
The 1985 fight between Tommy Hearns against Marvin Hagler was less a boxing match and more a gladiatorial contest, producing three unforgettable rounds of boxing mayhem. This is one of the great fights of all time. An incredible drama!
A year earlier, Hearns had confirmed his reputation in boxing’s ‘Hall of Fame’ with the destruction of Roberto Duran. The Detroit Hitman, tall, fast and rangy, was ideally constructed for light middle-weight. In the opposite corner however, stood the shorter, pulverising Duran, dubbed ‘The Hands of Stone,’ an ageing but rugged old school fighter with a mighty punch and a granite chin. It was another compelling classic of the 1980’s, a midleweight match-up between two fighters of contrasting styles, that ranks among the very best of the sport’s contests.
