The Greatest Back & Forth Battle In Boxing Explained - Hearns vs Leonard 2 Fight Breakdown

eight years after their first bout two living legends were set to face off in the ring one more time their first encounter was a true rarity in boxing two top fighters meeting in their prime to put everything on the line the fight had been absolutely epic more than living up to expectations at first Leonard had tried to use his complex footwork to outbox Hearns from long range moving outside to stay well away from her it's terrifying chopping right but in the years before Hearns developed the insane power that would earn him the nickname hitman he had been a wire kid who relied on his nuanced lead hand in graceful footwork to dance circles around his competitors and so Burns had outbox Leonard beating him at his own game Leonard had in turn been forced to play the role of aggressor and mid fight he wobbled Hearns with the thudding uppercut to his guard her to survive the round and recovered slowly taking back control of the fight and chipping away at Leonard to expand on an already comfortable lead with each passing round that is until Leonard's coach the great Angelo Dundee sent him straight in the corner ray decided to attack with everything he had he made peace with the possibility of getting knocked down abandoned his fancy head movement in footwork stood right in front of Hearns lined up his shot and threw a picture-perfect one to pray through a torrent of unanswered punches sending Hearns to the canvas twice but Hearn somehow survived he had dominated the rest of the fight and knew that if he could hold on just two more rounds to the finish the bout would be his but although Hearns gave all he had Leonard was relentless the ref stopped the fight Leonard took the championship belt and Hearns was left to live with the reality the victory had slipped through his grasp at the last possible moment this loss his first was particularly hard on her he would later describe the memory as a monster that constantly followed him everywhere he went ever-present even as he racked up accolades and titles in multiple divisions now eight years later he would finally have a chance to kill that monster avenging his first loss once and for all Sugar Ray had a different reason to want to revisit one of the iconic fights from his prime like Hearns ray was beginning to show his age although both fighters were still among the very best they no longer seemed invincible sadly a good deal of Lehner's performance could most likely be attributed to personal problems problems that he was only now just beginning to work his way through fittingly who had began to face his deepest fears the same time being prepared to face the only man he had ever been afraid of after months of intense training the night came as the two fighters faced off in the center of the ring ray realized that one thing had not changed he was still terrified of Thomas Hearns but soon after the Bell announced the beginning of the bout it became abundantly clear that Leonard was not looking to repeat the mistakes he had made during their first encounter rather than box from the outside ray was looking to set up power shots right away however he still had to be wary of Hearns own immense power so he set up his attacks by sinking low entering the pocket off of body shots and faints before exploding upwards to levy bombs at Hearns head the style of fighting that leonard had chosen to use against Hearns was essentially an old-school pressure style made to load power and evade punches by entering in low Hearns wasn't looking to repeat his mistakes either and kept ray far away by framing off of his head and intercepting his entries with jabs and long lead hooks when Ray did manage to work his way inside Hearns masterful head movement kept him well out of harm's way Leonard was hitting nothing but air to quote the man himself my eyes were filled with fear instead of confidence the plan was to attack Tommy with a steady diet of overhead rights yet every overhand right I threw was off target there was no snap of my jabs and the left hooks felt like led to make matters worse for Leonard as a rounds progressed her and started building off of his jab adding on stinging lead hooks rear straits and overheads it was now abundantly clear that neither man was looking to box each would be trying their hardest to knock the other out in this vein leonard knew it was only a matter of time before Hearns showcased his legendary chopping right as it turned out hers would showcase his signature punch in the third with a minute left in the round both men threw simultaneous crosses her knees moved his head far off line barely slipping Lehner's haymaker but Hearns tighter punch slammed into Leonard as he came in proving once again the age-old adage the boxing is a game of inches Leonard tried to play it off but he was stunned and Hearns wasn't fooled the hit man went after his target Leonard went into a defensive Crouch but tracking head movement was what Hearns chopping right was built for it hammered down on top of Leonard's skull slamming him to the canvas Hearn stood triumphant after all these years he had finally put Leonard on the ground but Leonard took the shot well standing right away for the count still a lesser fighter may have let himself get beaten right there Leonard could have taken the early knockdown as yet more evidence that he was fading but as he had proved countless times before he was made of tougher stuff as he himself put it after the first knockdown too many fighters panic which leads to a mistake in the next often conclusive knocked the key is to slow down your heart rate and survive the round although rays stayed defensive he did not let her spoil him he picked the right moments to show calculated aggression and let her know that he was still a threat and far from beaten when the bell sounded Ray walked off as if he had won the round coming out for the fourth both fighters still showed a willingness to take risks they blended tempered offense with responsible defense each having their moments the two seemed evenly matched as ever as if the knockdown in the third had never happened but by the fifth Hearns was again finding his mark with far more consistency that is until Leonard stepped in deep with an overhand that grazed Hearns cheek and then caught him with a hard left hook as he tried to pivot away Hearns had whipped around and he crashed into the ropes it was a sudden and shocking reversal this was the same sequence that had given her in so much trouble their first fight and had a lot to do with the angle from which Leonard to set up his hooks Leonard was squaring himself up to Hearns by stepping deep into his attacks his feet nearly lined up with Hearns when Hearns tried to pivot away to regain a less exposed more narrow position Leonard did not follow suit rather than try to regain his stance like Hearns Leonard simply turned as he threw this is the same tactic that was used by Mike Tyson to dominate the heavyweight division for years and that Leonard had used to catch Hearns during their first encounter burns was hurt badly and Leonard came in to finish the kill but now it was his turn to show how to stay calm under pressure lack of clinching ability had cost Hearns dearly when Leonard had rocked him during their first fight when Hearns had tried to clinch he used double collar ties from a distance living both of Leonard's hands-free and giving him the space he needed to flurry but Hearns had learned his lesson and now he tied Leonard up when he could and picked his shots well when he couldn't I was holding him like he was my woman Tommy would later admit Hearns withstood Leonard's flurries taking moderate damage but nothing close to fight ending safer when he lost a duel exchange of hooks by dropping his rear hand Leonard thumped him in the chest after the Bell showing respect as Hearn sat down his coach the great Emanuel Steward praised him for his ability to hang on shouting that is what makes a great champion after all these years it had to be deeply disheartening for Hearns to be caught by the same shot that had cost him in the previous fight but also a huge relief to know that you can now defend himself and stave off Leonard's punches if he needed to still that goes without saying he must have adamantly hoped that he would not need to showcase those skills again Hearns seemed to have recovered by the time the bell rang for the sixth in contrast Leonard seemed sluggish having punched himself out trying to put the hit man away but Hearns was still wisely cautious and stayed a long range where you could pick away a Leonard with his lengthy jab he used a signature trick swinging his lead arm and time like a sight to get his rhythm so that he could then break that rhythm to shoot out lightning-fast whipping jabs ray started to taut Hearns hoping he would lose his cool as Duran had so many years ago but the hit man remains steady and Leonard was forced to once again try to work his way inside he had little success into the last 30 seconds of the round when he landed the same hook that a damage turned so greatly before but this time rather than hit it out Hearn stepped back into southpaw to absorb the blow and then stepped back into Orthodox to counter with a left hook of his own Hearns had stumbled onto this angle to intuition but it remained to be seen if he could evade Lehner's aggression with consistency near the start of the seven Hearns Payton Leonard back for the hard hook he'd taken in the fifth double jamming to bring out Leonard's hands curtains arced his hook pass Leonard's long forearm block something always a risk when using an extended guard Leonard clearly shaken was now in major trouble for the second time furnace drove him back and bullied him against the ropes even though he smelled blood in the water Hearn stayed calm and picked his shots well alternating high and low punches and timing Leonard's head movement he even tied Leonard up to take a breather after concluding his 30 punch barrage somehow Leonard once again endured and after a brief lull in the action as both fighters caught their breath the two stood in the center of the ring and traded shots it was Leonard who came out slightly better taking the steam out of Hearns with brutal blows to the body as the two fighters walked back to their corners it was beginning to down on those watching that this may well become one of the greatest bouts of all time both fighters idolized Muhammad Ali and each man brought different elements of Ali's style to the ring they were different enough to make the tactical back and forth interesting while still similar enough to keep the fight frustratingly even the momentum seem to change nearly every two rounds and it was anyone's guess what would happen next the eighth round would have much of the same fill as the last half of the seventh being fairly even until Byrnes caught Leonard near the tail end with a huge overhand setup off of a short jab the blocked Leonard's vision for just long enough Leonard seemed fine that is until Hearns Leonard one more tight cross Leonard had a slightly delayed reaction stumbling back but the ref seemed to mistake it for a slip giving Leonard the time he needed to get his feet back under him as a round came to a close Byrnes tried to use a collar tie to pull rain to an uppercut but Ray had fought Duran and easily got out of her strap understandably upset race Duncan two shots after the bell Hearns could only smile the grappling Turkish side Sugar Ray also had to be frustrated by how the fight was out of his hands aside from the fifth when Hearns hadn't been completely dominating rounds he'd been making a good argument to take them on points now while past the halfway mark Leonard would have to do something to even the score and soon in the ninth he did just that at first the round was uneventful it remained painfully evident just how evenly matched both competitors were after all these years with the two even throwing simultaneous crosses in meeting in the middle like two fighters locking blades in a dramatically choreographed sword fight Leonard continued to work the body with some success and the hit man continued to snipe at Lerner's head just as it seemed that Hearns made yet again be building up to a knockout Sugar Ray once again turned the tide of the fight earnest have been successfully defending against Leonard's overhead hook combination during the last several rounds mostly by ducking underneath rather than trying to pivot out but this time Leonard had changed his setup entering into the exchange with an uppercut rather than an overhand these uppercuts in first made an appearance in the previous round and while they had worked to set up a few tight cuffing shots they hadn't set up anything substantial until now although Leonard only grazed turns it was enough to convince the Hitman to straighten up setting up Leonard's devastating hook once again Hearns was saved by his hard learn ability to clinch and thankfully for him this time the bell was not far away as the bell rang for the 10th Sugar Ray looked to start where he left off charging in with a wild overhand although he missed that one it didn't take long for Leonard to again find his mark unloading a beautiful four shot combination jab rear body hook lead body hook and a tremendous lead hook to the head this was the first time in the fight where one man had managed to capitalize on the work he'd done the previous round Leonard was taking a lot more risks now fighting much more like a brawler than the fleet-footed fencer he was known for being he got in close to smother hurts throwing tight whipping tearing combinations Leonard hoped to use his superior speed at close range to negate Hearns power from the outside and so far it was working Kern's was gradually wearing down his ability to move around the ring slowly leaving him his legs were led and his arms were drooping with just 11 seconds left in the round Leonard once again caught the Hitman the same sequence that had brought him success so many times before the shot hit just behind the air and Hearns legs almost gave out Leonard had now dominated two rounds in a row the first time this had happened for either man Herz knew from experience what would happen if he allowed Leonard to build on his success over multiple rounds he would have to hold Leonard's momentum now or face the all-too-familiar consequences in the eleventh Leonard again charged out perhaps hoping to invoke bad memories of horns iconic war against Marvelous Marvin Hagler he dug deep and tried to overwhelm Hearns with sheer force of will but herds had learned his lesson against Hagler who would not be lured into a firefight but neither would give up on taking the fight by resigning himself to a purely defensive attitude he instead set up a nuanced trap leaving out his jab and gliding it down to push against Leonard's rear shoulder this not only unbalanced Leonard who had already had his weight on his back foot from pulling her his job but also exposed for his side turning him directly into Hearns chopping right Leonard managed to take away some of the sting by rolling with the punch but only some Leonard was stunned and Hearns easily countered his jab with another hard right one was enough for most and is nothing short of astonishing that leonard was still standing but the hit man had his target square in his sights he threw himself into a terrifying lead hook but Hearns it over committed and found himself out of position to follow up however in a beautiful display of agility Hearn sidestepped out to change angles using his footwork to load even more power into his cross even Sugar Ray Leonard couldn't take that punch the whole sequence was highly reminiscent of rocky Marciano's iconic knockdown of Ezzard Charles the ref began to count one two three but incredibly Leonard once again rose from the count ready to continue and not only was he alright he came out swinging and what's more he actually had enough left in him to seriously hurt Hearns once more coming out the winner in a battle of kooks throughout all of his rounds with leonard burns rear side defense was proving to be his greatest weakness Hearns got his feet under him and fired back unloading shot after shot on Leonard but Sugar Ray was relentless shrugging off the punches of one of the hardest hitters in the history of combat sports for the chance of landing a late knockout as a round came to a close Leonard landed the big overhand that he'd been looking for all night but Hearns took a well and it was little compensation for all the punishment that leonard had taken to get it walking back to his corner leonard knew that the fight had slipped out of his hands there was only one way left to win he would have to knock Hearns unconscious no matter the risk and no matter what it cost him hers was just as determined to not let that happen he knew how close he was to taking the fight and avenging the loss that had dogged him for the last eight years now was his turn to charge out and bombard Leonard with every punch in the book plug him in too hard short upper cuts while Hearns had underrated boxing skills Leonard definitely had an underrated chin but for Hearns fast start it soon became evident that he may not have had the energy to spend now was Leonard's turn showing what champions are made of Leonard began to walk down the man who had just put him on the canvas twice perhaps the only man in the world that he truly feared he was dead Hearns would later recount but you know what he came back I didn't think he had such a great heart Leonard's punch has started to get through the guard of his arm weary competitor and as he began to build steam hers realized that he was once again in jeopardy of losing a hard-won battle which he had been dominating until the very last second Burns had a clear victory unless Leonard could put him down right then in this round as more and more punches penetrated Hearns guards slamming to his face and ribs that possibility was beginning to look like a certainty all of Hearns hard work all the questions that had been following him around for eight years that monster that he could never outrun all came down to this one last round hers used every defensive trick that he knew but as the clock ticked down to the end of the fight the truth was that it was sheer force of will that was keeping him on his feet with only one minute left the ref was eyeing Hearns considering stopping the fight 10 seconds later Hearns tried to use his head movement but was forced to shell up when leonard drove him into a white hook with 40 seconds left Ernst tried to smother Leonard but took a hard uppercut through his guard for his efforts 30 seconds Curtin's was trying anything he could think of using a long block and cross guard like a muy Thai fighter and then shelling up to push Leonard away he took another hard hook to the jaw for his trouble but still he was standing 20 seconds left Kearns fought back with the last of his energy Leonard easily evaded encountered her his arm weary attempts at aggression but then Hearns finally hit home not with his chopping right but with the foundation of his entire style the jab to hard jabs forced Leonard into a defensive position and finally gave Hearns a chance to clinch Leonard hit Hearns with a hard hook on the break wasting himself valuable seconds as the refere issued a warning now there was only 11 seconds left but still Leonard would not relent throwing out a straight right turn slipped it countered with a body hook and tied up Leonard again 8 seconds left ray hurled one last over hook Hearns ducked and weaved under once more tying Leonard up until the bell rang for the last time Hearns had survived after one of the most nail-biting edge of your seat back and forth fights ever fought between two all-time greats the crowd could not help but roar their appreciation the fight was in the judges hands now but Leonard knew that he had lost and the champions own words the only uncertainty left was a margin of defeat I braced myself for the announcement but then the scores were read and the victor was both the fight was ruled to draw the judges must have been watching a different fight Leonard would later relate perhaps Leonard wasn't giving himself enough credit if the fight had clearly been going Hearns way it has still been competitive and as always what truly mattered wasn't the scorecards of three men who had been taking notes at a nearby table what mattered was what the two gladiators who had stepped into the ring that night had left inside the squared circle and what they had taken back from it Tommy took the loss in stride in his mind he had won and finally killed that monster that had dogged his every step Leonard had shown that he still had what it took to be great that with focus and discipline he could face down his fears over the next few years he would continue to do this inside and outside of the ring slaying his own personal demons just as they had eight years prior the two had made each other stronger each immortalizing the other in the annals of boxing history and showing the world the legends can never truly die and this this kind of high-level strategy being utilized during dangerous situations is something that intrigues you then I recommend you check out our new graphic novel mortal weapons written by myself and illustrated by the great Iman machine it comes in at a hefty 100 pages with an 8 by 11 page size and is full of real-life strategies and techniques and best of all if you pre-order right now you can purchase mortal weapons for only $6.99 from the modern martial artist this has been David Christian wishing you happy training

Channel: The Modern Martial Artist

Views: 490,408

Rating: 4.9140248 out of 5

Keywords: sugar ray leonard, thomas hearns, the hitman, 4 kings, four kings of boxing, boxing, roberto duran, hands of stone, marvin hagler, breakdown, explained, analysis, chopping right, flicker jab, rocky marciano, mike tyson, footwork, muhammad ali

Id: L1qH48dl8HQ

Length: 22min 23sec (1343 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 22 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/ModsDontLift]

Every modern martial artist video:

THIS WAS THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY

[u/Geetarmikey]

One of the best combat channels on YouTube. Even the Muay Thai or UFC breakdowns are interesting even though I know very little about either.

[u/s_o_0_n]

Awesome breakdown. Brought that fight back to life.

[u/YOUREABOT]

I dont see any modern day boxer beating any of these guys or the other Kings. Their boxing IQ is off the chart as well as willpower and heart. Amazing upload again. Thanks

[u/Maritimo0]

Leonard said that Hearns won this fight.

[u/RoadmanFemi]

Sorry guys but my comment on his last vid made him quit this sub

[u/Jl4233]

Watched this video last night! Modern Martial Artist is the best Boxing channel on YouTube IMO - the guy is just amazing and picks great fights/topics to cover.

I'm still mad about this fight being called a draw - Hearns is one of my all-time favorite fighters and he clearly won this one.