On this day in history, Hagler and Hearns shook the world in 3 rounds
April 15, 1985
At legendary Caesar´s Palace in Las Vegas , Nevada, the middleweight undisputed championship was at stake in an incredible contest between two extraordinary boxing legends- Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns, in a fight aptly dubbed: “The War.”
Boxing fans will always remember those eight extraordinary minutes of exchanging blows, with great devotion, determination and emotion, from two world champions in an astonishing show that we still clearly recall more than 30 years later.
Two of the best and greatest exponents of world boxing, that moulded “The War ” as one of the greatest fights of all time.
The fight was presented as ” The War,” a personal rivalry that intensified during the promotional tour of 13 days, taking in 21 cities .
Hagler had successfully ten times defended the WBC middleweight Crown he’d conquered in September 1980. While Hearns had already conquered welterweight and super welterweight divisions.
It was a discussion peppered with a nonsense of words, adding up to a promotional show. But it was something that ultimately bored, tired, bothered and irritated me. At the end all that I just wanted to do was to hit his head,” exclaimed Hagler.
Hearns was the favorite because had a great victory over the legendary Panamanian world champion Roberto “Mano de Piedra” Duran, who was annihilated with a single blow. While Hagler needed a great battle to beat Duran in an close decisión after 15 rounds.
Those three minutes of the first round saw an explosion of blows between the two, that left millions of viewers startled, thrilled and surprised by its sheer unrelenting intensity. Hagler forehead was bleeding profusely by the end of the first round, but he gradually gained the initiative over Hearns. Boxing experts still seek the exact answer about the extent of Hagler’s magnificent resistance.
Hearns managed to cause Hagler problmems. The blood masking Hagler’s face face, threatened a possible halt to the fight. That wound changed and fired up Hagler, with a renewed sense of urgency, firing on all cylinders, until Hearns was knocked down and left with a blank stare on his face, as the referee Richard Steele stopped the fight.
Neither had shown one scrap of reverence for the other, or even a minimum of fear, and boxing strategy went out of the window.
Ironically Hagler emphasizes that night alone he heard the voice of his Mother in this fight and didn’t pay attention to the advice and instructions of his corner.
Hagler acknowledges that his victory over Thomas Hearns was the best moment of his boxing career.
“We gave ourselves with our whole hearts and blood. We gave all the very best of ourselves,” said Hagler.
