YouTube Gold: Leonard vs. Hagler

American boxers Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns in action during their welterweight championship fight in Las Vegas, Nevada, September 16th 1981. (Photo by UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Boxing is not what it once was, but for much of the 20th century, it was a huge draw. Fighters from Joe Louis, to Rocky Marciano, then later, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and George Foreman, came across as warriors in the ring.

Ali was widely acknowledged as the greatest, including by himself, and his fights with Frazier and Foreman are legendary.

In the 1980s, though, four smaller, lighter fighters emerged. Known as the Four Kings – Robert Duran, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns, and Sugar Ray Leonard – had a series of fights that are just as legendary.

In this fight from 1981, Hearns and Leonard had a fight that people still marvel over.

Hearns was taller, leaner, but punched harder. For his part, Leonard was smaller, but blindingly quick. No one, with the possible exception of Ali, threw better, faster combinations than did Leonard.

Yet for much of this fight, Leonard was cautious with Hearns, and understandably so: Hearns earned his nickname the hard way. He was a very dangerous puncher.

Leonard was on his way to losing but after the 12th round, his trainer, Angelo Dundee, told him, “You’re blowing it now, son! You’re blowing it!”

Leonard listened. Boxing fans would learn from fights like this that Leonard, like Ali, had enormous heart. He dominated the 13th and 14th rounds, eventually knocking Hearns through the ropes twice, and winning on a TKO.

Like football, boxing leaves permanent damage to the brain, but there is something deeply compelling about watching someone who can reach down deep within himself and overcome as much as Leonard did against Hearns. And it’s even more compelling when both competitors take themselves to their absolute limits. Even now, it’s hard to take your eyes off these two.