There comes that moment when two gladiators meet head on and you have a breathtaking confrontation that has a timeless epic quality to it. It lives in the minds of those who witness those who take the risk at the highest level at the biggest moment on the best stage. When it’s done, a new standard is set.

The perfect example of this took place on April 15, 1985, when Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns collided in an epic fight for the undisputed middleweight championship of the world at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was a case of “Clash of the Titans” for middleweight supremacy in the 80s, with Sugar Ray Leonard “sidelined.” The winner of this mega fight was going to be in the spotlight of everything—at least below the heavyweight division.

The fight was originally set for July 15, 1982, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, but an “injury” to Hearns’s pinky finger, plus disagreements in terms of location as well as TV distribution, forced the initial cancellation of the fight. The cancellation upset Hagler, who was looking to establish himself as one of the premier fighters in the world and was seeking the respect he felt like he should have been given all along.

After the cancellation, Hagler and Hearns continued to fight on, looking for respect and trying to get out of the shadow of Leonard, who beat Hearns in 1981 and told Hagler that he wouldn’t fight him in 1982 at a banquet in Baltimore. During this time, they each wound up facing one common opponent: Roberto Duran.

When Duran fought Hagler in 1983, Hagler was in the toughest fight of his championship reign at that point. Duran using his experience to confuse and frustrate Hagler for the 12 rounds of that fight, until Hagler showed his championship resolve and managed to win the last three rounds of the the 15-round fight and take a close, but unanimous decision from the iconic Duran.

Fast forward nine months and it was Hearns who was scheduled to face the legendary Duran. After being known as “The Motor City Cobra” for the longest time, Hearns officially changed his nickname to “The Hitman.” The name change came at the right time when Hearns simply flattened Duran face first in less than two rounds from a devastating right cross.  After the fight, Hearns called for a fight with Hagler to finally take place, and it was set for April 15, 1985.  It didn’t take long before the build-up became intense.

The war of words between the two began during their 21-city tour in a span of 12 days.  Still upset that the 1982 fight was postponed, Hagler fired the first shot during a CBS studio interview, saying he’s going to “break every bone in his body.”  Then, during the press tour, Hearns openly predicted a knockout in the 3rd round.  The face-offs during the press conference got more and more intense as the fight got closer and closer. 

After the intense build-up, we finally got the fight the world had been waiting for.  Billed as “The Fight,” it was projected to be the largest financial bonanza in boxing history at the time. The intensity of the press tour even got more intense on fight night as, during the referee instructions, they had an intense stare down to where you had a feeling something is about to go down in Vegas, and it certainly did.

So, we’re finally underway with the fight.

As round 1 began, it didn’t take long for the fighters to go toe-to-toe. Hagler began by being the aggresor, throwing a right hook that Hearns ducked. As Hearns tried to establish his jab, Hagler comes forward and lands a right hook that pins Hearns on the ropes. As Hagler comes in, two right crosses by Hearns on the top of Hagler’s head, and we have a furious exchange between the two fighters. Every time they came close to one another, there were high level exchanges between the two of them to where the fighters refused to give even one inch of the mat to the other. Two more right hands by Hearns as Hagler was coming in, but Hagler shook them off and started pounding Hearns to the body.

An uppercut by Hearns and suddenly Hagler’s face was covered in blood. Hagler and Hearns are now going at it along the ropes, and sweat and blood is flying all over the place with the amount of punches both fighters were taking throughout the tremendous round. Whatever strategy both fighters had going into the fight went out the window really fast as they were just pounding away along the ropes. With ten seconds left in the round, another vicious exchange and a Hagler right hand sent Hearns backward, but Hearns fired back, and one last violent exchange between the two warriors took place seconds before the greatest round in boxing was complete. As Al Michaels perfectly said when he called the pay-per-view version of this terrific fight: “That was an entire fight in compass of three minutes.”

So, that round was complete and the question was: What next?

In round 2, Hearns began to try and avoid any kind of close contact with Hagler given the vicious infighting by both fighters in the first round. He began utilizing the ring and tried to keep Hagler at a distance with his jab. However, as he is trying to move away, the legs of Hearns began to look weak as he is trying everything he can to keep Hagler off of him. It was getting harder at that point as Hagler was coming on, and a combination near the end of the round hurt Hearns, but Hearns would once again exchange punch for punch with Hagler as the round came to an end.

As round 3 began, Hagler is still chasing Hearns, with his face covered in blood. Suddenly, referee Richard Steele calls timeout in the middle of the action to have the ring doctor look at the blood covering Hagler’s face. After a brief look at the blood, the doctor told Steele to let him go, and the fight continued. When the fight resumed, Hagler turned on the pressure and Hearns was continuing to show signs of being weary. About a minute later, an overhand right hook by Hagler wobbles Hearns, then two more overhand rights, and a left to the body, and down goes Hearns flat on his back. Steele is counting, while he’s still on his back. Hearns, with the heart as big as the entire United States of America, pulled himself up and beat the count. However, when Steele asks if Hearns is okay, Hearns collapses onto Steele, and the fight is over. Hagler makes the 11th successful defense of his undisputed middleweight championship.

“It was very clear this fight was very important to him, beyond what you might expect. At that point, you had the four guys going back and forth—[middleweights] Hagler, Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Roberto Duran—and I got the feeling when we were talking to Hagler in his hotel suite a couple of days before the fight that he felt he was the fourth of the four when it came to receiving appreciation and respect.” -Al Michaels to Chad Finn of Boston.com

It was the moment Hagler waited his entire life and career for, the moment he worked so hard to get to, and he finally reached the top of the mountain. He earned the recognition of the best fighter in the world and was in the spotlight of everything in the sport of boxing. He finally was able to have his victory walk around the ring, which was something he wasn’t able to do throughout his career until that moment. The win got him TV commercials and appearances on late night TV shows. All the hard work he put into his stellar career paid off, as this was his ID badge for the rest of his career. He would go on to fight twice more, beating John “The Beast” Mugabi in 1986, then losing the split the decision to Leonard in 1987. After the fight, Hagler did the one thing very few fighters can ever do: walk away from the sport and walk away for good.

For Hearns, his reputation as a warrior and great fighter was enhanced, even in defeat. He did win four world titles in the next seven years of his career and establish himself as an all-time great who came up short against the two best fighters of his time and weight classes, Leonard and Hagler. His legacy will always be a part of the golden era of 1980s boxing that featured him, Leonard, Hagler, and Duran as the Four Kings, when they all would fight each other throughout the decade at the highest level and set the standard.

Regardless of what happened with their careers, the performances of Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns on April 15, 1985, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be remembered for the most breathtaking and memorable night that featured two all-time greats giving their best efforts at the highest level. The performances of both fighters that night, at the biggest stage, have a timeless effect on where the new standard would be forever set.

Hagler-Hearns became the gold standard of how fights should be fought between two elite fighters.

All the two great fighters needed were eight minutes.

Photo Credit; Catch and Counter Boxing, Facebook

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