Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns met for the first time on September 16, 1981 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Leonard unified the welterweight titles with a 14th round TKO of Hearns, and since that night, both of their careers had taken long and winding turns. As the years passed, I never thought they would fight again, especially after Ray retired in what seemed for good in May of 1984 after a disappointing performance against Kevin Howard. When he returned to shock the world by beating Marvin Hagler on April 6, 1987, he was back on top of boxing again. Tommy had won the junior-middleweight belt in 1982 by beating Wilfred Benitez, but had gotten knocked out by Hagler in three rounds on April 15, 1985. He rebuilt his career, and won his third championship by stopping Dennis Andries in March of 1987 to capture the light-heavyweight crown. In October of that same year, he dropped back down to middleweight, and knocked out a tough Juan Roldan in four rounds, to become the first boxer to win four titles in four different weight classes, an amazing accomplishment.
Ray unretired after defeating Hagler, and 18 months returned to challenge Donny Lalonde for his light-heavyweight belt on November 7, 1988 at Caesar’s Palace. The WBC broke it’s own rules, and said since the bout would be held at 168 lbs., it would also be for the super-middleweight title. Leonard stopped Lalonde in 9 rounds, and coupled with Tommy’s win over James Kinchen that same month, set up their long awaited rematch.
‘The War’ was set for June 12, 1989 at Caesar’s Palace Outdoor Arena in Las Vegas, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I made the 8 mile drive that Monday night in June to see it on closed-circuit at the Pavilion in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and hopefully see Hearns get his much sought after revenge from his 1981 loss to Leonard.
Both men were now bigger and slower, and it was a much different bout from the opening bell. Thomas stayed at range, while Leonard stalked him in search of a knockout, knowing Hearns had a suspect chin. Hearns kept him at bay with his long left jab, and dropped Ray in the third with a couple of right hands. Leonard got up and the fight continued, but he knew he was in for more than he had expected. He hurt Tommy badly in the fifth, and for a minute or so, I thought it was 1981 all over again. Fortunately Hearns recovered, and was boxing effectively as the championship rounds approached. When he put Ray on the canvas for the second time in the 11th, I figured the decision was in the bag. After an even final round, I held my breath as the scorecards were read. Unbelievably, they ruled it a draw, making me feel like Tommy got screwed. I went home sick in my stomach that night, but knew it was boxing, where anything could, and usually happened. I took solace in the fact that Hearns had dropped Leonard twice, and was the winner in most people’s eyes, including Tim Ryan and Gil Clancy, who called the bout. Tommy had redeemed himself from their first meeting, and even Leonard admitted candidly that he felt Tommy had beat him in their rematch.
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