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however, the two were trading power punches, with Hagler trying to get inside and to pin Hearns to the ropes again. In the process, he succeeded in stunning Hearns with a hard left hand. Hearns tied up Hagler again and tried to slow the pace by boxing rather than trading power punches with Hagler, who was still the aggressor. This lasted for only a moment, however. Before long the two once again started to trade power punches. (During these exchanges Hearns broke his right hand.) The slugfest continued for the better part of the next two and a half minutes as both fighters traded heavy blows with little regard for defense or pacing. Hagler developed a cut on his forehead but didn't slow as he pinned Hearns to the ropes and meted out more punishment, eventually hurting Hearns at the end of the round. Sportscaster Barry
Tompkins, doing the blow-by-blow commentary for HBO's broadcast of the fight, yelled out, "This is still only the first round!" as the fighters traded heavy shots at round's end.
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head drove Hearns back to the ropes and dizzied him. Hearns backed away, smiling so as to suggest the punch had not hurt him. Hagler landed a hard right hook high on Hearns' head. The blow staggered Hearns, who awkwardly stumbled backwards into the ropes, Hagler running after him in hot pursuit. The champion smashed a vicious right hand to Hearns' chin. Hearns went limp and fell forward, as Hagler landed two uppercuts. As Hearns fell face first to the canvas, Sugar Ray
Leonard yelled into his microphone "He's gone...he's gone!"
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he was hurt by Hearns' first right hand, a blow that caused him to step back and then fall into a clinch, Hagler commented, "He definitely tried to put the bomb on me... . He can punch... ." The scorecards were split with Reno judge Herb Santos scoring the round 10–9 for Hagler, along with U.K judge Harry Gibbs while Dick Young of
California had Hearns ahead 10–9. It was described as a war zone for both fighters.
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remains to this day a graphic testimony of the intensity of "The War." It was widely regarded as the pinnacle of Marvin Hagler's career and cemented his legacy as one of the greatest middleweights of all time. At the time of the stoppage, judges Herb Santos and Harry Gibbs had Hagler ahead 20–18 while judge Dick Young had Hearns ahead 20–18.
605:. By the end of the round, Hagler pinned Hearns to the ropes, successfully landing a volley of punches. The action in round two had slowed from the blistering pace of round one. Judges Herb Santos and Harry Gibbs again scored the round 10-9 for Hagler while judge Dick Young scored the round 10-9 for Hearns.
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magazine to be the greatest round in boxing history, and it won round of the year honors for 1985. In a subsequent HBO broadcast featuring both Hagler and Hearns in studio commenting on the fight, Hearns revealed, "that first round took everything I had, man." When asked in the ring after the bout if
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By 1985, Marvelous Marvin Hagler had been the undisputed champion of the middleweight division since
September 27, 1980, after having been widely regarded as the No. 1 challenger for much of the late 1970s. His first two shots at the world middleweight title resulted in controversy: the first was an
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Hagler, normally a slow starter, stormed Hearns from the opening bell, landing with several brutal right hands eventually pinning him to the ropes. Hearns threw his devastating right hand to Hagler's chin, stunning Hagler for a moment before Hagler was able to tie him up in a clinch. Seconds later,
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Hearns staggered to his feet at the count of nine, but he was unable to continue. Referee Steele stopped the bout as he held Hearns upright. The image of a blood-soaked Hagler being carried around the ring in victory by his handlers and Hearns being carried back to his corner in semi-consciousness
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halted the action to have the ringside physician examine Hagler. He informed Steele, "No the cut's not bothering his sight, let him go.” Facing the new threat of losing the fight via stoppage on cuts, Hagler attacked Hearns with the aggression of the first round. A tremendous overhand left to the
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When Hagler vs. Hearns took place, Hearns had recently moved up from the welterweight to the junior middleweight to the middleweight division. Hearns was regarded as one of the hardest punchers of all time, winning 30 of his first 32 bouts by knockout. In Hearns's first title shot in 1980, he
457:, in London, which led to a riot by Minter's fans. The hard road to the middleweight championship, however, may have helped motivate Hagler to remain dominant during his reign. Hagler was renowned for his conditioning and durability, suffering only one official knockdown in his career, against
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By the beginning of the second round, it looked as though Hearns had no legs under him, as he slowed the pace by boxing Hagler. Hearns stumbled several times as he attempted to move around the ring and change direction, prompting HBO commentator Sugar Ray
Leonard to note, "I don't like the way
635:(who was working for British television) was highly critical of the loser. He said "Tommy fought the wrong fight. He should have started cautiously, lose the first couple of rounds. Don't get into a dogfight, but that's what he did. He got into a dogfight with Marvin and he lost."
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Tommy's moving...a little rubbery-legged." In the studio broadcast of the fight, Hearns commented, "My legs were gone, man. Even before I came out to fight, my legs felt weak." Hagler experimented by switching to orthodox style for a moment, but switched back to
461:, an incident Hagler always insisted should have been ruled a slip. By the time he fought Thomas Hearns, he had defended the title ten times, winning all but one by knockout; the sole Hagler defense that went the distance was a 15-round decision victory over
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The fight is considered by some to be the greatest three rounds in boxing history, due to its constant action, drama, and violent back-and-forth exchanges. The first round in particular is considered by many as the greatest round in boxing history.
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In round three, Hearns again tried to set the pace. About a minute into the round, the cut on Hagler's forehead inflicted in the first round opened up, resulting in a tremendous flow of blood down the middleweight champion's face. Referee
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in a thrilling fight dubbed "The
Showdown." Hearns lost by technical knockout in the 14th round despite leading on all three scorecards. He then successfully campaigned at junior middleweight, winning the WBC title from
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Given the pair's renowned punching power and the way both men had won their respective fights coming into the bout, it garnered significant media attention and fan interest around the world. It was held at the
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acted as commentators for the closed circuit television for Top Rank. In the UK the fight was shown on
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remarked, "Perhaps one of the best opening rounds in middleweight history!" It is considered by
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in 1979 (allowing
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by first-round knockout. Geraldo had gone the distance against both
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Hearns received a massage before the fight, much to the chagrin of his trainer
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called the fight "the most electrifying eight minutes ever," and it won
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scored a spectacular second-round knockout over WBA champion
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of Las Vegas, Nevada Judges: Herb Santos of Reno, Nevada,
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445:unpopular draw against then-champion
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1383:Middleweight championship matches
838:"Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns"
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69:"Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns"
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1115:Antuofermo vs. Hagler
609:Third and final round
381:Middleweight Champion
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1175:Indio 2: The Revolt
459:Juan Domingo Roldan
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1296:Hearns vs. Olajide
1286:Hearns vs. Kinchen
1281:Hearns vs. Barkley
1271:Andries vs. Hearns
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241:"The Hitman"
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52:Please help
47:verification
44:
1024:Jaime Garza
933:John Mugabi
848:5 September
730:Philippines
663:Harry Gibbs
641:Boxing News
561:. In HBO's
536:Al Michaels
512:Puerto Rico
455:Alan Minter
357:Recognition
271:$ 5,400,000
268:$ 5,600,000
238:"Marvelous"
1337:Categories
1059:Steve Cruz
1007:Steve Cruz
882:2024-08-20
842:boxrec.com
783:References
657:Referee:
532:Curt Gowdy
440:Background
378:undisputed
194:undisputed
110:March 2011
80:newspapers
1020:Juan Meza
1015:Previous:
950:'s bouts
923:'s bouts
877:0261-3077
678:Undercard
627:Aftermath
569:The Fight
504:Las Vegas
502:hotel in
453:(TKO) of
427:The Fight
1139:Trainers
1062:Round 15
1035:The Ring
990:The Ring
844:. BoxRec
822:15 March
715:Televisa
693:Country
647:The Ring
599:southpaw
585:The Ring
530:, while
451:knockout
374:The Ring
352:Orthodox
349:Orthodox
259:Michigan
246:Hometown
235:Nickname
190:The Ring
1043:Round 1
1027:Round 1
967:Awards
592:Round 2
574:Round 1
522:) with
433:The War
336:⁄
320:⁄
255:Detroit
133:The War
94:scholar
1239:Fights
1108:Fights
875:
767:
747:
727:
710:Mexico
707:
669:Legacy
508:Nevada
399:Result
309:Weight
298:Height
96:
89:
82:
75:
67:
1168:Indio
1050:Next:
1047:1985
996:1985
735:MBS 4
546:with
346:Style
265:Purse
210:Boxer
157:Venue
101:JSTOR
87:books
1057:vs.
1022:vs.
1005:vs.
978:vs.
958:vs.
931:vs.
912:vs.
873:ISSN
850:2024
824:2021
550:and
538:and
419:vs.
371:and
187:and
149:Date
73:news
775:HBO
755:ITV
603:jab
544:ITV
516:HBO
407:TKO
385:WBC
369:IBF
365:WBC
361:WBA
329:159
313:159
287:Age
185:IBF
181:WBC
177:WBA
56:by
1339::
982:II
871:.
867:.
840:.
815:.
506:,
469:.
367:,
363:,
257:,
183:,
179:,
163:,
1224:e
1217:t
1210:v
1093:e
1086:t
1079:v
899:.
885:.
852:.
826:.
338:4
334:3
331:+
322:4
318:1
315:+
123:)
117:(
112:)
108:(
98:·
91:·
84:·
77:·
50:.
20:)
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