Barry Tompkins: "People were waiting to see what Leonard brought to this dance. So far he's brought quite a bit."
Rounds 3 and 4: Leonard
Goody Petronelli sounded annoyed as he smeared grease over Hagler's eyebrows.
"Stay southpaw Marvin," the trainer said. "Loosen up. Let 'em go. Try and get a little movement. You're a southpaw."
In Leonard's corner Angelo Dundee was ebullient.
"Be my man!" said Dundee. "You're making these people take notice - you got 'em crazy. Keep it up. I want you smooth, Baby, Smooth!"
Hagler came out as a southpaw - right-handed stance abandoned - and increased his pressure in the 3rd.. Almost immediately he bounced a right off Leonard's head that caught him off balance, and he commenced to work a battering ram of a jab.
Leonard scored with short punches as Steele broke a couple of grapples. "Work and get out - no holding Ray," Steele barked. Though Hagler was supposed to be stronger, Leonard held his own as they grappled shoulder-to-shoulder, then pushed him off at will.
"Most people won't see this," Leonard recalled, "When the referee is breaking us apart I would throw a little upper cut to his head - nothing hard, but just a reminder. Here, still here. I kept doing that, and that was kind of getting the best of him, too, because now I know that I don't have you physically. But mentally, I have you kind of beaten, in a sense."
At a distance Leonard moved in lateral arcs, as Dundee shouted, "Stick and dip." Smothered by Hagler in the final 30 seconds, Leonard managed a right-left combination before the bell. Now Hagler was visibly frustrated and annoyed.
Gil Clancy: "Hagler is starting to lose his temper - Leonard wanted that. He says you've got to frustrate Hagler."
Moretti and Guerra gave the 3rd to Leonard, while Filippo gave it to Hagler.
Twenty years later Moretti watched the tape and reaffirmed his score for Leonard in the 3rd.
"It was his speed - he threw the sharper more effective punches to me," said Moretti.
Before the bell for the 4th, Hagler stood and slammed his glove against his forehead, as if telling himself either to wake up or fight harder. He came out winging lefts and rights that whistled past Leonard's head, though a couple found their mark. They grappled and Leonard scored on the break. Leonard landed a right low to Hagler's washboard stomach that brought a rebuke from Steele.
Larry Merchant: "There may have been no objective evidence to pick Ray Leonard, but up to this point he has provided subjective evidence that his quickness does befuddle Hagler."
Hagler maneuvered Leonard to a corner but Leonard spun out and landed a combination. Hagler caught up and worked to Leonard's body. Now Leonard wound up his right in the bolo motion and landed it at Hagler's belt line or below, a theatrical punch that brought a roar from the crowd.
Larry Merchant: "It's clear now that Leonard is the more confident fighter. Hagler has let him into the fight, or to put it in a more positive way, Ray Leonard has put himself into this fight."
In the final half-minute Leonard landed a three-punch combination and Hagler worked to Leonard's body. Leonard stuck out his face and wagged it at Hagler, and Hagler, visibly frustrated, had angry words for Leonard.
Gil Clancy: "Hagler is not happy about the showboating but he's going to have to figure out how to do something about it."
Again, Moretti and Guerra gave the round to Leonard, while Filippo scored it for Hagler.
Moretti's explanation: "He moved, he didn't let Hagler hit him and he played with his head, trying to make a mockery of him. He just kept moving and punching."
Referee Richard Steele, 20 years later, remembered his surprise at the first four rounds.
"After the first round I figured Hagler was messing around," Steele recalled. "I would go back to the corner and say 'I guess he's gonna knock him out the next round.' Hagler was a bull of a man - you don't stop this guy. He could take a punch and he could fight 12 or 15 rounds - he never got tired.
"Second round - same way. Third round - same way. By the fourth round I had it figured out. Leonard had sort of hypnotized this guy. Leonard had really got into his head. He was trying to out-box Leonard instead of fighting his fight."
Rounds 5 and 6: Hagler, Leonard
Leonard's trickery and finesse were of little use when his jaw received a heavy blow, as happened in the 5th round. Then, instinct took over.
"When you get hit by Marvin Hagler, his punches are very heavy-handed...like a thud, like a boom," Leonard recalled. "Just think of a piston constantly pounding. It's the wear and tear that eventually takes control."
Fatigue rendered Leonard a flat-footed and vulnerable target in the 5th. Halfway through the round Leonard was forced to the ropes, momentarily, for the first time. Though Leonard scored with a couple of right leads, by the third minute Hagler bored in and found his range.
At the 2:30 mark Hagler snapped Leonard's head with a right uppercut - perhaps the most punishing blow of the bout. Leonard's legs buckled momentarily, and he clinched.
Tim Ryan: "That one forced him to grab Hagler, no question about it."
"The uppercut kind of stunned me for a second," Leonard recalled. "I wasn't hurt. It was more 'wow - wake up.'"
Leonard's instinct to clinch may have saved him.
"Marvin never knew he was hurt," recalled Tompkins. "Had Ray stepped back, he probably would have been knocked out."
In the remaining seconds Hagler bulled Leonard to the ropes and landed in his methodical telegraphed fashion.
Larry Merchant: "This is what Hagler wants - a war."
All three judges scored the 5th for Hagler - his only consensus round.
(c) Jeff Gale
Hagler hurt Leonard in the 5th round.
Before the 6th, Dundee's voice was urgent. "Don't lay on the ropes," he told Leonard. "You're trying to load up - don't load up."
The 6th began as the 5th, with Leonard flat-footed and Hagler applying pressure. Hagler scored early with a long right and inside with a left.
Steele cautioned Leonard, "Don't hold him now - work and get out." With his back to the ropes Leonard snapped Hagler's head with a sharp right. The blow slowed Hagler until he maneuvered Leonard into a corner at the two-minute mark. He tried to move in, couldn't solve Leonard's defense, absorbed a sudden flurry, and watched Leonard spin out of reach.
Larry Merchant: "As we wind down the sixth round we remind you that Ray Leonard's eyes have become a non-issue at this point."
In the final three seconds Leonard unleashed the cleanest and most theatrical combination of the round. Virtually even to that point, the round tipped to Leonard, in the view of all three judges.
The phrase, "Leonard stole the fight," could well refer to this round. After Hagler's dominant 5th, he should have won the 6th and gathered momentum. He might have won the 6th if not for the last 15 seconds.
"The first minute Hagler won, then Leonard used the second minute to catch up," Moretti said. "He worked off the ropes real well and scored some good punches. The last 30 seconds he scored the harder punches to pull off the round."
Punch statistics after six rounds had Leonard at 117-for-234 for 50 percent, while Hagler was at 103-for-304 for 34 percent. (Punch statistics are indicators of activity and accuracy, not effectiveness, because they say nothing about the force of a punch.)
Rounds 7 and 8: Hagler
Dundee to Leonard: "Outsmart this guy - you're too smart for this guy."
Petronelli to Hagler: "Rough him up - you're the boss. Keep him backing up - he's weak enough as it is. Throw punches in flurries."
The 7th was fought at medium intensity, as Hagler stalked, closed the distance, and worked to Leonard's body. Leonard was flat-footed, but still an elusive target as he varied the distance, angles and tempo. Both fighters fatigued and found second winds.
Barry Tompkins: "Now you really have the idea that conditioning is going to tell the biggest part of this story tonight."
The pace picked up in the final 30 se
conds, after Leonard taunted Hagler with a shuffle. Hagler forced Leonard to the ropes and snuck through a few body blows.
Gil Clancy: "Hagler is landing solid punches and Ray is very tired."
Moretti and Filippo gave Hagler the 7th, while Guerra gave it to Leonard.
Hagler won the 7th by a clear margin, according to Moretti.
"Leonard isn't moving like he was," Moretti said. "Hagler went to the body a lot - he slowed him down with body shots."
Before the 8th Dundee commanded Leonard to stay off the ropes.
Dundee to Leonard: "It looks like he's hitting you even though you're not getting hit. I want you boxing this guy."
Petronelli to Hagler: "Get him against the ropes. Drive him - rough him up. He's all yours, okay?"
The 8th looked much like the 7th, interrupted by a 15-second delay to secure loose tape on Leonard's glove. Once again Moretti and Filippo gave it to Hagler, while Guerra scored it for Leonard.
"One of the closer rounds of the fight, probably," Moretti said. "Hagler just out-pointed him - nothing spectacular. He worked the body well."
Leonard now had clinched a decision on Guerra's card, unless he were knocked down or knocked out. Both still were plausible, which meant that Leonard's lead hardly was secure. Moreover, since round-by-round scores are not revealed during the fight - an archaic tradition - neither Leonard nor Hagler knew if they were ahead or behind.
Round 9: Hagler
Dundee to Leonard: "You going to box for me? Box!"
Petronelli to Hagler: "Brawl this guy. Keep the pressure on. Take his legs away right now."
In the 9th the fight became more than a boxing match, and just less than a street brawl. The 9th was the signature, fought at the fastest pace and highest intensity. One hundred ninety punches were thrown, more than the 165 punches thrown in the memorable 1st round of Hagler-Hearns,
The first minute barely hinted at what was to come. Hagler stalked, scored a "vicious left" to Leonard's body, and blocked a flashy combination. Leonard spun away from the ropes and was warned for holding. At one minute Hagler closed the distance and landed a two-punch combination.
Gil Clancy: "That was the best punch of the fight for Hagler."
At 1:30 Hagler backed Leonard into a corner and methodically worked him over. Both gloves thudded against Leonard from a variety of angles.
Gil Clancy: "He's nailing him now."
Barry Tompkins: "Ray Leonard is hurt in his corner."
None of Leonard's tricks could help him. He could not act, talk or dissemble his way out. He had two options: quit or fight.
"You could see Ray was thinking about giving it up," recalled Emanuel Steward. "Because he could say, 'well, at least I came back and I put on a great show.'"
"He was - bang - hitting me, hitting me, hitting me to the body and to the head," Leonard recalled. "And I said, 'Ray, get out of that corner. Get out of the corner. Fight your way out.'
At the instant when it seemed Leonard must crumble, his gloves came alive. They moved faster than Hagler's, and landed more sharply, and forced Hagler to check his attack. Another flurry forced Hagler to step back, and as he did, Leonard spun out of the corner.
Gil Clancy: "Look at that determination on Ray Leonard! Talk about a champion."
Barry Tompkins: "Now it's Hagler who backs off! The crowd is on its feet."
The round was far from over. Hagler resumed his attack at center ring, and it was there Leonard made another stand, as punches rained down, and up, and across. This second toe-to-toe exchange brought the stadium to a din.
Larry Merchant: "You're seeing two champions go at each other and neither one is giving an inch - two great thoroughbreds. Leonard's ability to take punches from Hagler is astonishing, really."
Hagler's strength and surprising speed prevailed, and again forced Leonard to the ropes.
"Leonard had speed but Hagler stayed up with him," Filippo said. "I differed with people who said Leonard was faster. Hagler was tit for tat with him."
Punches blurred in a crescendo of leather. Both warriors nearly were spent. With 15 seconds to go Leonard took a deep breath and dropped his arms. Hagler hesitated.
Barry Tompkins: "Was that a ploy? He looks tired, but he could be play acting."
Hagler could not be certain, and in his expended state, he was leery of a trap. The action slowed momentarily, resumed, and then, mercifully, the bell ended round 9.
Tim Ryan: "An incredible round!"
As in the previous two rounds, Moretti and Filippo scored it for Hagler, while Guerra gave it to Leonard.
The 9th was not easy to score, Moretti recalled, though he had Hagler ahead through most of it. Leonard's escape from the corner was impressive, but not enough.
"A good round by Hagler," Moretti said. "He hurt him - you can tell when a boxer is hurt. He hurt him when he had him in the corner."
A breathless Lou D'Amico made his way at ringside to his friend, the comic actor Jack Klugman, best known for his TV role as sportswriter Oscar Madison in "The Odd Couple." D'Amico, who had shared his dream with Klugman, kneeled down next to his seat.
"Lou, this is the greatest fight I've ever seen," Klugman said.
(c) Jeff Gale
Hagler went for the knockout in a furious 9th, but Leonard fended him off.
Rounds 10 and 11: Leonard
Now materialized the specter of an outcome decided by three judges. Hagler's inability to stop Leonard in the 9th diminished the likelihood of a knockout. Thoughts turned toward the three men with pencils.
Tim Ryan: "I scored that round for Marvin Hagler, but you've got a lot of emotion involved here. In the minds of the judges it will be hard to separate what they admire in this performance from what is actually happening. A good finish by Sugar Ray Leonard and - who knows?"
The 10th, as could be expected after the frenetic 9th, was slow. Hagler scored with a couple of short uppercuts, Leonard flurried to escape a corner, and flurried again at center ring, without authority. Hagler continued to work Leonard's body. In a grapple, Leonard held Hagler's neck and was cautioned by Steele.
Gil Clancy: "Steele continues to warn Leonard - after a few warnings you have to do something about it."
Indeed, the Petronellis later claimed Leonard was warned 39 times and should have been penalized.
"I was hoping the referee would do something, that they'd take points away from him for all the holding," Hagler said later.
But Steele did not deduct a point from Leonard, as he was empowered to do. The warnings, Steele later explained, were "soft warnings."
"The problem was that Hagler didn't show any kind of rejection - he just let him do what he wanted to do," Steele said. "A fighter normally would do something to show that he did not want to be held. As a referee I would be forced to issue a stronger warning or take away a point. I never got that response out of Hagler."
Leonard's willingness to hold, and Hagler's refusal to complain, underscored the finesse gap between the two. Leonard's finesse also was seen in the ebb and flow of his attack.
Barry Tompkins: "Ray looks like a tired fighter, but I keep thinking it's a ploy."
Larry Merchant: "I think he's gathering strength for round-stealing flurries...coming down the stretch I think he's going to try to steal these rounds."
Indeed, the 10th, essentially an even round, was "stolen" by Leonard. By now, at least two judges - Guerra and Moretti - were drawn to Leonard's finesse. Both awarded the slow 10th to him, while Filippo gave it to Hagler. The 10th was relatively easy to score, Moretti said.
"It just seemed to me that Leonard's punches were crisper," Moretti said.
The 10th was the third of four rounds on which Moretti and Filippo disagreed. It put Leonard ahead, 6-4, on Moretti's card, and left him one round short of clinching a decision from Moretti.
Before the 11th Dundee told Leonard, "We only got six minutes - keep this sucker turning, baby. Six minutes. Champion, I mean champion!"
Petronelli
told Hagler, "He wants to rest. I want two big rounds."
Leonard's showmanship hijacked the 11th. At one point he switched to a southpaw stance, and at another he taunted Hagler with a fake bolo. By now he could read Hagler's rhythm, move in as Hagler reloaded, and move out just ahead of Hagler's punches. At 2:30 Leonard snapped off a clean two-punch combination. In the final 30 seconds Hagler lunged awkwardly and missed what appeared to be an open target, but in fact was Leonard offering his head as a decoy. Leonard flurried at the bell.
Barry Tompkins: "At the moment Marvin Hagler is fighting Ray Leonard's fight."
"Marvin was so frustrated and mad - he was really mad the last three rounds," Steele recalled. "Because he knew he had got sucked into fighting Leonard's fight. He knew he had to get him out of there and he couldn't."
Leonard won the 11th by consensus. Moretti said he gave the 11th to Leonard on the basis of "harder cleaner punches."
"Leonard controlled the round," said Moretti.
Now Leonard had clinched a decision from Moretti and Guerra.
Round 12: Hagler
The scorecards were secret. Most spectators believed the 12th would be decisive. Both fighters should have, too, though Leonard later said he suspected he was ahead.
Leonard, slumped on his stool, was nearly depleted.
"Words could not describe how exhausted I was," Leonard recalled.
Steele remembered, "Leonard was very tired, because the last half of the fight, Hagler really took it to him."
Dundee exhorted Leonard to summon his final reserve of energy. "Deep breaths, c'mon baby," shouted Dundee. "Stand up. Three minutes. New champion! New champion!"
As though touched by an electric prod, Leonard snapped alive. From his gut came a primal yelp
"Yeh!" He jumped off the stool, arms upraised.
Oddly, Hagler's corner was low-key. Goody Petronelli knew Hagler needed a big round, and possibly a knockout, to win. But his voice and emotional pitch were flat.
"It's the last round - he's trying to win rounds by flurries," Petronelli said. "There's a lot riding on this here. Don't stop until he's down."
Sorcery at Caesars: Sugar Ray's Marvelous Fight Page 14