The ‘Showdown’ was the name promoters pinned on the September 16, 1981 Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns fight at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. I wouldn’t have missed this one for the world, and ordered my ticket over the phone. My choice to see it was Atlantic City Convention Hall, the same place I went to watch the second Leonard and Duran bout. The cavernous arena had been built in the 1920’s, and was most known for hosting the ‘Miss America Pageant’ every September.
I made the hour or so drive that night in my 1974 Monte Carlo, paid for a parking place, and settled into my seat in the first row on the floor. It was a great un-obstructed view of the big screen draped across the stage, and I was nervous as the bell for round one began.
Thomas Hearns was the aggressor from the start, and Leonard boxed from a distance. Hearns was comfortably winning the fight, and by round five, I was getting nervous. How could Ray win if he didn’t make something happen? In the sixth he did, hurting Tommy with a left hook. He staggered, and it appeared for a moment that Ray might finish him. Hearns grabbed and survived the attack, but was hurt again in the seventh. It was then that his strategy totally changed.
Tommy went onto his bicycle so to speak, and ran from Leonard for the next five rounds. He did box effectively enough however, to win every round from the eighth until the twelfth. It was obvious to me that if Ray didn’t knock Hearns out, he would lose the decision.
Angelo Dundee uttered the now famous words to Ray after round twelve, “You’re blowing it son! You’re blowing it! You have to be more aggressive, and take it away from him!”
Ray heeded his call, and came out firing in the thirteenth despite a badly swollen eye. He sent Hearns through the ropes midway through the round, and dropped him again as the round closed. I was screaming with delight, and knew Ray was gonna finish him!
In the fourteenth, Leonard hurt Thomas with an overhand right, pinned him on the ropes, and battered him until referee Davey Pearl called a halt to the action. Some argue that Hearns could have continued, but Tommy nor his trainer Emmanuel Steward never complained. If Pearl had left the action go another 30 seconds., there’s no doubt Leonard would have put him out for the count.
I leapt from my seat at the end, hugging strangers and yelling at the top of my lungs. It was a thrilling victory for Leonard and his fans, and was one of the highlights of my many years as a boxing fan. I was on cloud nine as I made the hour long drive home, and that feeling lasted for days. Sugar Ray had done it, and was the unified welterweight champion of the world. The sky was the limit for him, and I couldn’t wait to see it happen.
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