It was a cool early spring evening on April 6th, 1987 when I made my way to the Spectrum in Philadelphia to watch the Leonard-Hagler fight on closed circuit tv. I had been looking forward to this fight for months, had ready every article I could read, watched every video I could find and by fight night, felt like I was over trained!
I vividly remember Ray dancing in the first round, seeming like it was five years earlier. He was much bigger than in the past, but retained his quickness. Hagler surprisingly came out in the orthodox stance, and gave away the first two rounds trying to box with Leonard. I still thought Ray won the 3rd and 4th rounds by boxing as well, and by the 5th round, Hagler had dug himself a ditch by trying to outbox the boxer.
Marvin was much more aggressive in the 5th, and even set Ray back on his heels with an uppercut. I thought Hagler won most of the next 5 rounds, and by the 10th it was pretty much even.
But as champions do, Ray sucked it up and began boxing well again, and took two of the next three rounds in my opinion. When the scores were read, they agreed with my view of the fight,and Sugar Ray had scored an upset for the ages. Most gave him no chance, but he fooled the majority, and was the new middleweight champion of the world. In my life as a boxing fan, it stands out as one of the greatest nights of my life.
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