Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns signed to meet on Wednesday, September 16, 1981 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. For big fights like this, a temporary stadium was built on the tennis courts at Caesar’s to hold upwards of 23,000 people. To see this on closed-circuit, I took another trip to Atlantic City Convention Hall, only this time I was in my own 1974 Monte Carlo, and I didn’t borrow my dad’s car. I was really excited during the whole summer in anticipation of this huge bout, and by fight night, my nerves were jumping.
Incredibly, I had a first row seat on the floor of Convention Hall, where they had a big screen hung on the same stage where they held the Miss America Pageant every year. I was surprised that Thomas Hearns had weighed in at only 145 lbs., rather than at the 147 lb. limit. Nevertheless, the action from the outset was brisk and even for the first few rounds. Leonard was the aggressor however, and was having trouble reaching Hearns because of his long left jab. After five rounds, Thomas was building up points, and definitely winning the fight. Ray turned the tide in the sixth round when he hurt Thomas with a whistling left hook, and continued to batter him for two rounds. I thought for a moment or two that he might finish Hearns off, but Thomas weathered the storm, and came out on his bicycle in the eighth. He stayed on the outside for the next five rounds, and was winning every round by out boxing Leonard. By the time the thirteen round came, I was really worried that the fight was out of reach for Ray. Behind encouraging words from his trainer Angelo Dundee, and despite the fact he had a bruised and swollen left eye, Ray came out guns blazing. He hurt Hearns with combinations of punches, and sent Thomas through the ropes and to the canvas as the thirteenth round closed. I was beyond thrilled, and the crowd at Convention Hall was going nuts. In the fourteenth, after hurting Thomas with a right hand, Ray chased him down, and pinned him to the ropes, where he unleased a combination of blows that forced referee Davey to halt the action. I leapt to my feet, and began hugging every stranger next to me, shocked at the sudden turn of events. Sugar Ray was now the unified Welterweight Champion of the World!
I was on a high for days after the bout, and it’s all my 21 year old mind could think about. The next night at work at my airline job, I could barely concentrate, with my thoughts focused on Ray’s giant victory. All these years later, it remains one of the highlights of my life as a boxing fan.
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