Body Blows: Sugar Ray Leonard, I Love the 80’s, Jheri Curls, and Butterbean.

Columns, News

In the latest edition of The Scorecard, Rokk Adam ranks ten of his favorite fights. Rokk puts the Marvin Hagler vs. Tommy Hearns war at the top of his list. It’s a classic fight and worthy of such accolades. The middleweights of the 80’s helped transition boxing from Muhammad Ali to Mike Tyson, with about one zillionth of the controversy. Sometimes world class athletes can enamor fans without acting crazy.

The Cast

There were four men that waged war with each other throughout the 1980’s. Marvin Hagler was the consummate boxer, Roberto Duran was the brawler, Tommy Hearns was the knockout artist, but the star of the group was Sugar Ray Leonard.

Sugar Ray Leonard 36-3-1 (25KOs)

The heavyweight division was at a loss when Ali retired. No one could fill his shoes. Larry Holmes didn’t have the charisma. Leon Spinks didn’t have the teeth. Enter welterweight Sugar Ray Leonard. He oozed charisma and was fresh off of a gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Despite his good looks and natural charm, Sugar Ray battled a cocaine addiction and reports of domestic abuse. Leonard made more retirement comebacks than Terry Funk and fought his last professional fight in 1997.

Roberto Duran 103-16 (70 KOs)

As evidence by his record, Roberto Duran loved to fight. Duran was known as a brawler despite having underrated boxing and defensive skills. He acquired the nickname Hands of Stone when he allegedly knocked out a horse with one punch when he was 14. Jesus Christ. It sounds like one of those stories that gets exaggerated with each telling. Like the time I told everyone I hit a homerun onto another field in Little League when in reality I hit a one-hopper off the centerfield fence and got thrown out at second base.

Tommy Hearns 61-5-1 (48 KOs)

Hearns was tall, lean, and powerful. Hearns stood 6’1″ yet began his career as a welterweight (147 lbs). He was feared for his vicious right hand and his burgeoning jheri curl. It’s a good thing Tommy decided to cut it. He was starting to look like Pedro Martinez. Hearns was a product of the legendary Kronk Gym in Detroit, Michigan. At 47 years old, Hearns is the only boxer out of the four that is still active.

Marvin Hagler 62-3-2 (52 KOs)

Hagler was the only boxer of the four to spend his entire career at one weight division (middleweight). Marvelous Marvin Hagler was also the only one of the four that stayed true to his retirement and didn’t box beyond the age of 40. Hagler’s retirement was prompted by his hatred of boxing politics. The final straw was when he was denied a rematch with Sugar Ray Leonard despite 12 successful title defenses over the previous seven years. Hagler was also fed up with the media refusing to refer to him as ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler, so in 1985 he legally changed his name to Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

The Fights

This was essentially a decade-long round robin tournament. All of these guys fought each other at least once. The first pairing was June 20th, 1980, when Sugar Ray Leonard met Roberto Duran for Leonard’s welterweight title. Sugar Ray decided to fight with Duran, as opposed to his usual slick boxing style. Leonard must have had an ego the size of Vince McMahon’s grapefruits, because that was certainly a bad strategy. Leonard impressed fans with his ability to trade punches with Duran, but still lost a 15-round unanimous decision as well as his title. A rematch was scheduled five months later.

Duran-Leonard II took place on November 25th, 1980. This time Sugar Ray used his quickness to out maneuver Roberto Duran. Leonard’s quickness began to frustrate Duran and in the 7th round, Sugar Ray began to taunt Duran. Leonard mocked Duran to the point of infuriation. During the 8th round, Duran dropped his gloves and walked to his corner. He looked at the referee and uttered those famous two words, “no más.” Duran later cited stomach cramps as his reasoning for stoppage. For earning the reputation as one of the toughest men in boxing, Duran sure turned into a bloated, old woman with that excuse.

After exacting revenge on Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard set his sights on rising phenom Tommy “The Hit Man” Hearns. They met on September 16, 1981 in what would become the fight of the year. Hearns had been laying waste to all his opponents with his devastating right hand. Not too many experts believed Sugar Ray could survive 15 rounds with Hearns. The onset of the fight went just as the experts predicted. Hearns was the aggressor all Leonard could do was run. Leonard caught Hearns with a shot in round 6 that turned the course of the fight. Now Leonard was stalking Hearns, as Hearns tried to regain his composure. Hearns was able to do just that and regrouped to take back control of the fight. Until the 13th round. Leonard knocked Hearns to the mat in the 13th round and it didn’t look like Hearns would get up, but Hearns’ heart wouldn’t let him stay down. Hearns was comfortably ahead on the score cards and knew he just needed to survive the last two rounds to win. Leonard kept the pressure on in the 14th round and wobbled Hearns against the ropes. The referee had no choice but to stop the fight and Sugar Ray Leonard picked up a stunning comeback victory.

Leonard fought one more time before announcing his first retirement from boxing. With Leonard out of the picture, it was time for some new faces to shine. On November 12, 1983, Marvin Hagler defended his middleweight titles against Roberto Duran.

This fight was closely contested. Roberto Duran lost a unanimous decision by a very narrow margin. This would be the only successful title defense for Marvin Hagler that he did not end via knockout.

Roberto Duran wasted no time in booking another superfight. This time against Tommy Hearns on June 15th, 1984. Perhaps Duran should have waited a little while longer. This would become Hearns’ signature victory as he showed his impressive power by knocking Duran out could in the second round. Although Duran has lost fights due to stoppage, this would be the only time in his career that he was knocked out.

After Hearns shocking knockout of Duran, it was time for Hearns to test himself against Marvin Hagler. This fight went down on April 15th, 1985, and was billed as The War. To say there was a buzz surrounding this fight would be like saying Wilt Chamberlain slept with a few ladies in his day. Most people expected Hearns to push the action while Hagler would get off to his usual cautious start. The opening bell seemed to act as a catapult for Hagler, as he immediately charged Hearns. The two men traded shots, which had to be discouraging for Hearns, as Hagler kept coming forward despite eating some of Hearns’ better punches. The pace of this fight was absurd. Hagler suffered a cut early in the fight and the referee halted things during the third round so the doctors could take a look at the cut. The referee restarted the fight but Hagler now felt a deeper sense of urgency. It wasn’t long before Hagler caught Hearns with a shot that wobbled him across the entire ring. Hagler stalked his prey and landed one more blow before the ref stopped the fight for good. A true classic.

With two men now in the national spotlight, Sugar Ray Leonard felt the need to comeback…again. Leonard had already retired twice when he announced he would make another comeback, this time to fight Marvin Hagler on April 6, 1987.

This was a historic matchup with a somewhat controversial ending. Leonard dominated the first half of the fight with his hand speed and footwork. Hagler dominated the last half of the fight with his clean and effective punching. The result was a split decision in favor of Sugar Ray Leonard. Hagler had grown a little salty over his career and for good reason, he lost two fights early in his career due to what he perceived to be hometown judges. Marvelous Marvin was confident he won this fight. When the decision was announced, Hagler must have revisited those old feelings because he thought he was screwed. Sick of the screwjobs and boxing politics, Hagler announced his retirement after this fight. Leonard must have thought that was a pretty good idea, because Leonard announced his retirement as well. For those keeping score, this is Leonard’s third retirement.

You won’t believe who came out of retirement to fight once again. That’s right, Sugar Ray Leonard. Leonard captured the world super middleweight title in his first fight back from his third retirement. His first title defense was against Tommy Hearns on June 12, 1989.

The rematch was just as good as their first encounter eight years earlier. This time, Hearns was able to put Sugar Ray to the mat. Hearns knocked Leonard down twice but Sugar Ray came back strong each time. Leonard fought as if he needed a knockdown in the final round to win. He didn’t get that knockdown, but his aggressiveness was enough to capture the round. That round would prevent a loss for Sugar Ray as the final decision was a draw.

Six months later, on December 7, 1989, Sugar Ray Leonard fought Roberto Duran for a third time. Leonard was five years younger than Duran and it showed on this night. Leonard didn’t have his same quickness, but more than enough to dispatch a 38 year old fighter. The result was a 12 round unanimous decision for Sugar Ray Leonard. To no one’s surprise, Sugar Ray retired after this fight. And to no one’s surprise, Sugar Ray came back two years later.

Sugar Ray would retire and unretire one more time, bringing his grand total of retirements to six. Leonard’s wife must have been one nagging bitch:

Juanita Leonard: “Ray! I thought I told you to fix that leak in the bathroom?! You better get it done before you pick the kids up from school! And DO NOT tell me you haven’t gone to the drug store for my Revlon Number Seven yet!”

Sugar Ray: “Umm yeah. About all that….I’m going to the gym. I’m unretired again.”

The Final Score

Each fighter’s combined record against the other three men:

Sugar Ray Leonard: 4-1-1
Marvin Hagler: 2-1
Tommy Hearns: 1-2-1
Roberto Duran: 1-4

Results From Last Week

– Hector Camacho Jr improved to 41-1-1 with a unanimous decision over Virgil McClendon.

– Felix Cora Jr won his cruiserweight bout against Darnell Wilson by unanimous decision.

– Edison Miranda upset Howard Eastman on ESPN Friday Night Fights by 7th round TKO. Miranda knocked Eastman’s hairline back a few inches and gained a shot at the IBF middleweight champion.

– Jameel McCline defeated fellow heavyweight Marcus McGee by unanimous decision.

– Everyone’s favorite 4-round fighter Eric “Butterbean” Esch was victorious over Daniel White via unanimous decision.

– Manuel Medina won an IBF super featherweight title eliminator over Javier Osvaldo Alvarez. His finishing maneuver was the unanimous decision.

Jockscraps – The Stories They Won’t Tell

Gregg Popovich Doesn’t Change Toilet Paper Roll

Gregg Popovich has coached the San Antonio Spurs to three championships in the last seven years. According to published reports, success may be getting to the coach’s head. Reporters have discovered that Mr. Popovich leaves empty toilet paper rolls when he uses the last piece.

Reporters caught up with Coach Popovich after the Spurs lost to the Sonics on Sunday night. Popovich seemed to be surprised by the allegations. Security escorted Popovich to his vehicle and forced reporters away from the Spurs head coach. The only comment Popovich made was repeatedly stating, “Gregg does what Gregg wants!”

No one from the Popovich family was available for comment, nor was anyone from the San Antonio Spurs. Neighbors of the Popovich family slammed their doors in our reporters’ faces. Their silence can only be translated into guilt for Gregg Popovich.

Spit Bucket

As always, you can send any feedback to me at buddhabean316@yahoo.com. I’d love to hear your comments or answer any of your questions so don’t be shy. Give these guys some shoutouts as well:

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