A right hand by Leonard ... [r14] ... Big right hand! Hearns staggers along the ropes. Leonard after him ... Pounding the body and a right to the head ... That’s it! A fourteenth round knockout victory for Sugar Ray Leonard. US fight commentary
35) Marvin Hagler SD 12: US Fight Commentary TV -
v Marvin Hagler 6 April 1987 WBC Middleweight Nevada [r1] … Nice combination by Leonard … good solid right hand by Leonard … combination … [r2] … [Hagler] landed a left-hook lead … right hand by Leonard … Ray has done a psych job on him … right hand … another combination … [r3] … Left landed by Hagler ... Hagler out-punched him in that exchange … Good combination by Leonard … [r4] … [Hagler] missing … Nice [Leonard] combinations … Great performance by Sugar Ray Leonard … [r5] … Good right hand by Leonard … Right-hand uppercut lead … Solid right by Hagler … he’s starting to get the range … [r6] … Good combinations there by Hagler … banging to the body … Right hand lead [Leonard] … Leonard punches back … a couple of good solid punches … [r7] … A good left hook and he got one back from Hagler … Hagler finding the range … some solid punches … [r8] … Good solid right jab [Hagler] … Leonard’s legs moving beautifully … [r9] … Vicious body punch by Hagler … Nice combination by Ray … Best punch of the fight [Hagler] … Backing up Leonard … Look at him [Leonard] go … a right … keeps firing … They’re both exhausted … [r10] … Uppercuts of Marvin’s … Combination by Leonard … good flurry … Hagler tagged him … [r11] … Beautiful combination by Leonard … Solid body shot from Hagler … [r12] … Leonard slightly ahead … Good straight left hand by Hagler … A Leonard flurry … [115-113 H, 118-110 L, 115-113 L]. US fight commentary
37) Thomas Hearns II Draw: US Fight Commentary TV -
v Thomas Hearns II 12 June 1989 WBC WBO Super-Middleweight Nevada [r1] … Leonard seems strangely subdued … good defence … right hand scored … [r2] … A cool 90 degrees … They look like two fencers … Not the usual Ray Leonard … left scored … got tagged by Tommy Hearns … [r3] … Hearns got a left hand through … Why would he [Leonard] want this fight anyway? … jabbing effectively … big right hand … and another one sent him down … a right to the body … to the chest … [r4] … Hearns believes he is the boss … Good straight right hand [Leonard] … Hearns fires back … combination … [r5] … Short right landed inside by Hearns … Right hand by Leonard got Hearns … Leonard after him … another right … right hand landed again … finally grabs on to Leonard … Leonard to the body … Hearns in trouble … left scored … [r6] … Two good jabs by Hearns … good left … [r7] … A short right landed by Hearns … Hearns picking up the pace … driving him [Leonard] across the ropes … Sharp left to the body [Leonard] … right and a left … vicious body punches [Leonard] … Leonard came back well … [r8] … Right hand landed [Hearns] … forcing the attack … [r9] … Leonard has a big mountain to climb … That jab is bothering Ray … Right hand counter landed by Hearns … Big right hand by Hearns … back from Leonard … Tommy doesn’t have a leg under him … [r10] … Leonard jabs … left to the neck … Leonard scores … [r11] … Big right hand [Hearns] … another one and a left: down goes Leonard … short right by Leonard … short right by Hearns … Ray bangs him back … right hand by Hearns … [r12] … Look at Hearns wail away … both guys landed right hands … Tommy has nothing left … Very good right. [113-112 Hearns, 113-112 Leonard, 112-112]. US fight commentary
[8.9] THOMAS HEARNS 67-61(48)-5-1 [Cruiserweight & Light-Heavyweight & Super-Middleweight & Middleweight & Light-Middleweight & Welterweight]: Dave Anderson - The Kings TV -
Anyway, the next morning I’m expecting to see a big welterweight but Tommy looks like a skinny welterweight with a sunken-in face. When he got on the scale, he was ten stone five pounds.
... That’s when I learned about the importance of nutrients. That’s what happened in the fight. He didn’t have enough energy. When he got hit in the sixth round, he was hurt. Tommy Hearns, who’s got a good chin and never been hurt. But when he got hit this time, he didn’t have nothing in his body to have resistance to the punch. Dave Anderson, Control of the Camp
‘Why are my legs so damned tired?’ By the time he came in the ring, his legs were all messed up. Then he broke his hand in the very first round. But he’s got so much balls, if he had his regular legs, he’d have knocked Hagler out. When he had Hagler cut in the third round, all he had to do was dance and box and tick off the clock. But he didn’t have his legs and Hagler knocked him out. ibid.
As much as I love boxing, I hate it. And as much as I hate it, I love it. The Kings I: From Ghetto to Glory to Gold ***** Budd Schulberg, DiscoveryPlus 2021
Boxing is always an opening act to everything else that is happening in the world … You knew on some level you were seeing history. ibid. Teddy Atlas
You have four great fighters: Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran Marvin Hagler who were fighting each other, and it was enthralling. ibid. Thomas Hauser
Their fights meant so much. The four kings gave us unique personalities, unique fighters who all fought each other to their credit and created a time in boxing that was maybe the greatest period in the history of the sport. ibid. Steve Farhood
Put on your headset, Sugar Ray, so we can hear you … Coming up you’re going to see a youngster from Detroit, just seventeen years of age named Hearns – one of the slickest boxers you want to see. ibid. Cosell to Sugar Ray, commentators to amateur contest
I realised at the very beginning this kid is a freak. Most of the welterweights were you know five-seven, five-eight, he’s like six-one-and-a-half and he’s got a seventy-eight inch reach. He was just different. He stood out. ibid. Jackie Kallen, Kronk Gym
The fight that really made Duran was this fight. But he won and lost that night. Who would have thought that on the night that was going to lead him to his greatest moment, to open the gates to great wealth. Of all the things this poor kid from Panama starved for, dreamed of, was the same night that was going to condemn him in the future. All the things that made Duran great and made the world watch, made his legend, were gone after that night. ibid.
WBA Welterweight: Hearns v Cuevas: I had to shine to show the world. I was the the fighter they thought I was going to be. The Kings s1e2: Flesh and Blood
Leonard v Hearns: I knew in my heart I’d give him something he’d never seen before. ibid. Hearns
I dominated him. I showed Ray what boxing was all about. ibid.
Ray Leonard needs a knockout to win this championship. ibid. US fight commentary
Tommy had the heart of a gladiator, a warrior. ibid. Leonard
You’re blowing it now, son. You’re blowing it. ibid. Dundee to Leonard
I really didn’t know how to accept it. And I was down on myself. Because I felt like I’d let the public down. And I felt like I’d let Emanuel down. ibid.
I made things happen. I wanted so badly to redeem myself. The Kings III: The Will to Win, Hearns
In the beginning, my drive and determination all came from New Jersey. ibid.
Duran v Hearns: Fucking around with those women. I didn’t train. I didn’t do shit. I got fat. It was a nightmare making the weight. Bearing in mind it was Tommy Hearns. I was just drinking and fucking … He hit me so hard I thought, I’m going down. ibid.
Hagler v Hearns, Las Vegas, Middleweight: It’s going to come down to a street fight and whose chin will hold up. ibid. Tony Petronelli
I’ve never seen a first round like that in my life. ibid. chatshow host
It was the closing of a show. It was the closing of an era. These fighters made the world come out and watch. The Kings IV: A Champion Never Quits
And so Thomas Hearns has his own special day in Detroit: four world championships and just twenty-nine years old. ibid.
Leonard v Hearns: That rematch which came eight years after the first one was a tremendously exciting fight. Why? Because they’re both vulnerable. Tommy knocked Ray down of course. ibid. Steve Farhood
Tommy hit me and hurt me more times than the first fight. I felt I lost the fight. I really felt that. ibid.
Those great fighters’ reputation last for eternity. ibid. Teddy Atlas