The Showdown - Leonard vs Hearns Back & Forth Battle Explained - Fight Breakdown

after avenging his one and only loss against Roberto Duran Leonard Siddhas eyes on a new competitor a fighter who could both box with skill and nuance and also hit like a freight train a man with a 4-inch reach advantage in an undefeated record at 32 wins with dirty by knockout that man was legendary Thomas the Hitman Hearns but as imposing his Hearns was Leonard had something to prove many saw ray is still untested seeing his fight with Duran not so much as a victory for Leonard as a disgrace for Duran Leonard saw an opportunity to prove himself once and for all and Hurd saw an opportunity for an easy win over a big name a knockout could propel him into the public eye and cement him as one of the most iconic boxers of the era and he expected to make easy work of Sugar Ray hers would say during a presser my right hand could make this the easiest fight I've ever had Leonard responded saying Hearns makes mistakes he tries to knock everybody out with one punch I use my mind maybe Tommy would too if he had won while Leonard tried to portray Hearns as an unrefined power puncher and Hearns try to portray Leonard as timid and weak the truth was that the two men had far more similar styles that people realized both had been heavily influenced by Muhammad Ali Leonard relied more on his footwork mixing broken rhythm and foot paints into his setups and marring stutter steps and jabs on top of each other until his competitor was left bewildered and confused Kern's had mastered many of these same tactics but he relied far more heavily on his signature flicking jab like Muhammad Ali Hurst threw his jab like a whip and it was highly versatile Prince could throw it from all different angles leave it out to stiff arm and steer his competitor or pulled him into a shot but most importantly the jab setup Hearns signature right a punch that chopped down like an axe somewhere between a hook a cross and an overhead what this all meant was that Leonard was in a frightening situation he was facing a man who had a similar style to himself but with a noticeable sized reach power and hide advantage the night came and both men entered the ring furnace donned a robe with the words winner-takes-all blazoned on the back Leonard's robe simply read deliverance upping the stakes even more was the fact that Muhammad Ali hero and inspiration to both had front-row seats to the fight the two men went into their corners and then the showdown began the first few rounds the fighters mostly kept their distance and tested each other's reflexes but there were hints and indications of what a dramatic and action-filled back-and-forth fight the bout would shortly become heard strategy was no mystery he hoped to push forward and lend his iconic one to ending the night early but Leonard had a choice as the great Marvin Hagler put it to neutralize Hearns reach advantage Leonard's gonna have to stay either inside of it or outside of it Leonard chose the first option hoping that he could outbox Hearns and rely on his reflexes and footwork to negate Hearns flicking left hand to pull this off Leonard took the advice of his coach and moved to the outside everytime Hearns got in position to throw his right hers marched forward at a steady pace throwing double jabs to set up his right while Leonard employed his signature footwork to stay out of harm's way each found some initial success hers clipped Leonard with the right two minutes into the round his speed and superior reach negating Leonard's crafty angles a minute later Rey displayed his own boxing prowess he bounced back and forth in a lateral stance foot fainting outside Hearn stepped outside in an attempt to cut off the ring but the small step had opened him up and Leonard fluidly moved inside the job but this jab itself was yet another feint used to draw Hurons own jab Leonard was already pulling back out of harm's way and now he stepped inside to land with his left before pivoting out to the center of the Ring to exit fighting Sugar Ray Leonard could be confusing to say the least but the most entertaining punch of the first round landed well after the Bell ray tried to push Tommy aside and said gotcha sucker Hearns not on a playful mood Leonard in the face Leonard smiled and once again pretended to wobble in round two each fighter felt comfortable enough to open fire with some riskier shots if only sparingly midway through the round earns connected with the sharp right that whips Leonard's head back tracking letters head movement off of a lead hook and Ray Leonard with a lead hook off of Hearns jab near the end of the round both fighters have now proven they could land with power shots but the main takeaway was not that each could find the other with more impactful punches it was the fact that Hearns had proven already in the second without a shadow of a doubt that he could outbox Leonard in fact he was clearly starting to dominate the outside game letters entire plan had been to outbox Hearns tearing into his body to SAP his energy and countering him when he inevitably grew frustrated and haphazardly rushed in but it was Leonard who was having trouble finding openings and Hearns was punishing him for using effective head movement to evade Lehner's attacks and utilizing his superior ranged catch Leonard as he tried to move back into a safe distance in regards to body punches it was once again Hearns who was lending the more consistent solid shots by the end of the second it had become apparent to Leonard's coach the great Angelo Dundee the Ray could not win the fight by boxing at long range you've got to get closer to him Angelo pleaded in the corner you've got to start fighting but to quote Leonard that was easy for Angelo to say trying to get close to Tommy Hearns carried its own risks I was fighting the Hitman and he wasn't called the Hitman for nothing but I had no choice the first few days after losing to Duran were perhaps the worst days of my life and I died before I went through that again and so the third round started off with a bang Kern's got aggressive eager to pain Leonard back Leonard stayed in the pocket skillfully avoiding hearts punches but throwing few of his own and then finally things got serious it began when Leonard shuffled in deep to throw a hard overhand to her his jaw her stifled the tremendous punch and wrote it back he missed with a tight rear hook framed off Leonard's shoulders and shuffled out to exit but rate earn shifted throwing his entire body into a rare hook Hearns ducked under and came up smiling but Leonard was relentless no doubt trying to wipe the grin off of Hearns face Hearn stifled his right and Leonard slipped his in return he nearly caught Hearns with a tight left hook but Hearns managed to block it just in the nick of time the punch grazed Hearns without inflicting any damage but Leonard was already following up with another fight ending right Hearns pulled back avoiding the punch by a fraction of an inch rarely had two talented fighters seemed so equally matched each avoiding the others knockout blows by the skin of their teeth and now it was Hearns turn to go on the offensive the two continued to fight at mid-range now they're able to land anything significant but then seconds away from the bell Hearns got his distance and connected with Leonard's forehead following up with the devastating body shot her disposed throwing too much heat for Leonard and he was forced to back up against the ropes he narrowly avoided a chopping right but took another deep blow to the gut the round ended with Hearns pulling what would have been another body shot the man that leonard has suggested be lobotomised just to see if there would be any difference was now outsmarting him as both a boxer and a puncher it became apparent that Hearns had left Leonard a parting gift a large welt had formed under his left eye the fourth round produced much of the same Leonard was out pointed at long-range and although he managed to lend some beautiful combinations he was being effectively countered the majority of the time Hearns excellent footwork solid head body combinations and long reach helped him to catch Leonard as he tried to exit exchanges once again herds punctuated the matched with thumping shots to the body and once again the two exchanged after the bell let her return to the corner with the grin but he had clearly lost the round understandably Leonard went back to jabbing at range in round five he tried to showboat by winding up his rear hand as he had against Iran hoping that perhaps Hearns would become furious and frustrated as Duran had but hers begin winding his ver hand as well snapping Leonard's head back and smartly staying behind his whipping sharp jabs Leonard was subdued on the outside by her splitter jab and the inside by body blows and the threat of Hearns chopping right to put it simply Lenin was losing but he never stopped watching Hearns like a hawk on the lookout for any slight misstep or opening that opening came in the 6th the round began with Leonard stepping into a stinging lead hook the sound of the impact drawing gasps from the crowd Leonard once again backed off and continued to dance one announcer quipped that Leonard may be hoping one punch would turn it his way the other responded that it was possible but not probable but then the two had performed this exact same exchange repeatedly since the third like a familiar opening to a chess game but this time rather than dugout Hearns try to connect with an uppercut and Rey snuck in a tremendous blow to her his chin loaded from below his hip and slanted to angle through the hit man's guard Hearne staggered and stumbled his legs turned a rubber leonard went in for the kill pummeling Hearns with left's and rights from all angles but hers was still dangerous and connected with the right to the head and more body blows leonard was undeterred and back turns off with a whipping hook now was Leonard's turn to go to the body lowering hurt his guard before targeting his head but Hearns now moved as he swung cutting angles and using head movement to survive Ray's onslaught although he still took some incredible punishment he managed to survive the round the bell rang Leonard turned to Hearns and taunted you alright Hearns walked away in a daze but despite his taunting Leonard walked away exhausted himself having expelled a tremendous amount of energy trying to put Hearns away unfortunately I got excited Leonard would later admit if I had slowed down and shortened my punches I might have put him away there as for Hearns he knew that if he just had a bit longer to recover he could come back and win the fight conventional wisdom said that Hearns would need to keep his distance and play it safe so in the next round Hearns pressed forward staying toe-to-toe with Leonard looking to slug it out perhaps he was looking to intimidate Leonard and make him question how badly he'd really been hurt but Leonard was not fooled and the Hitman's dulled reflexes and lack of power signaled just what a bad state tommy was still in throughout the entirety of the fight rave had difficulty getting in range but now Hearns closed the distance for him at that moment it was the greatest gift that anyone could have given Leonard Leonard stayed close with his heads held high now able to take the impact of Hearns punches on his guard before returning fire he beat on Hearns like a punching bag wrecking his body and throwing hook uppercut combinations through the cracks in his guard hers pushed him away to get some distance an Angelo shouted stay inside Ray Leonard obliged Hearns was forced back and Leonard unloaded with savage left's and rights throwing a tremendous punch with each step forward but if Hearns was bothered he didn't show it mid-round I wasn't scared Hearns would later recount I was just trying to regain my composure I knew once the bell rang all I needed was a few more minutes to get myself together as the round progressed Leonard's arms became weary his punches slower and less consistent but he kept pushing certain he could end the fight but somehow Kearns held on picking his moments to throw dangerous hooks and crosses doing anything he could to keep Leonard at bay I was ready to stop the fight the referee would later recall and if Ray had landed one more solid punch I would have but Tommy was avoiding them then barely it was clear to everyone that if Hearns were going to win the fight he needed to change his strategy his coach the legendary Emanuel Steward came to his rescue you've got to be the boxer now insisted steward get back on the bicycle stick and move and in the 8th it was not ray but Hearns that channeled the great Muhammad Ali Hearns seemed to come out a different fighter showing off the dynamic footwork and jab game that had wanted so many ballots in his amateur career hers had not always been a knockout artist it wasn't until you'd switched trainers and put a good deal of muscle onto his lengthy frame that he had turned into the hit man so feared in his division Mirza made his name on his boxing skills and now for the first time in years he put them to full use likewise Leonard took Hearns place and pressed forward attempting to land power shots and cut off the ring halfway through the scheduled rounds the two had switched strategies entirely Burns had difficulty putting steam into his power shots while moving backwards but his jab still hit like a hammer snapping Lehner's head back and exacerbating the swelling in his left eye Leonard would later compare Hearns jab to a 12-gauge shotgun that never stopped firing this dynamic continued for the next three rounds despite Ray's extensive training and camp to prepare for Hearns jab the punches were heating clean what's more the consistent body punches from Hearns and the tremendous effort he'd put into the earlier rounds had Leonard gasped I was exhausted I was gasping for breath his jab seemed like a sledgehammer xi began and things went from bad to worse for Leonard Hearns connected with his signature punch outwardly let her remain calm but he backed up for the first time since getting Tommy in trouble and kept backing up as Hearns pressed forward now the fight had done a complete 360 and Hearns pursued once again landing accurate body shots that would have crumbled many of his former competitors near the end of a dominant round turn set up a brilliant trap he halted his pursuit and reversed direction dancing back and stepping into a lateral stance as if you were about to circle away instead he fired a snappy right hand stepped in with the left move back again into a squared up position rebounded forward with another right and only then shuffled out this was one of Ali's more complex maneuvers and Hearns had just demonstrated he could pull it off in front of his idol but he had used this trick on Sugar Ray Leonard and because he was Sugar Ray Leonard he managed to pay back the favor with a shifting overhand from South Park despite that Ray had taken three hard punches for everyone that he landed in the 12th the fight would enter a new dynamic when unfamiliar to each fighter so far both men had taken turns being the aggressor and the defender the boxer and the puncher but now the two stood right in front of each other at arm's length taking turns attacking and countering both men had some success blending aggressive offense with responsible defense but still ray was falling behind his work rate far lower than Hearns behind on points leonard needed a knockout to win and he simply wasn't doing enough to make that happen Ray's mind told him to throw more punches but his body wasn't listening for that matter Hearns wasn't putting pressure on Leonard as he might have been mostly keeping behind his jab he would explain years later why didn't I try to land more right hence basically because I don't throw a punch if I know it's not gonna land but the truth was Hearns had nothing left to prove in this fight it was Leonard who was in dire straits and to make matters worse his eye was now near completely shut leonard was on the verge of losing everything ain't worked for in his mind a loss would mean all those who thought of him as a made-for-tv fighter would be proven right in the corner dundee gave leonard some tough love and uttered the now famous words you're blowing it son you're blowing it you got a fire you're not firing you got nine minutes it was exactly what Leonard needed to hear the words pulled him out of his dark docks of humiliation and defeat he put away his fears and set his mind on the task at hand the new plan was to attack Hearns with everything he had putting himself directly in the line of fire and Leonard's own words I decided to attack Tommy with everything I had no matter how close I might get to his right hand if I was going down I was going down as a warrior Leonard had been ducking into overheads to avoid getting countered by her instrumented the fight but now Leonard stood right in front of her lined up his shot and threw a stunning one-two Hearne stumble Leonard went into action unloading 25 punches in a matter of seconds the last punch sent her and stumbling back to the ropes while the lightest of punches could have sent Hearns through the ropes it was a push that did it and so the fall was counted as a knockdown but it didn't make much difference Hearns got to his feet and leonard continued his relentless barrage Hearns tried to clinch but he had rarely ever been in a situation where it was necessary for him to slow down the action before Hearns was attempting double collar ties leaving both of raised arms free hers managed to connect with the hard right but Leonard would not be deterred in his mind one of them was going down he continued his frenzied pursuit walking through punches shrugging off clinches and landing hard shot after hard shot Leonard would recount years later I couldn't have stopped even if I wanted to the exhilaration was each shot hit his target the most wonderful feeling in the world I fed off the roar of the fans and the sight of my opponent in trouble ready to be destroyed and to think there were people who would question if I could be ferocious enough when it was necessary how wrong they were I'd love to hit other men I'd love to see them crumble Hearns collapsed against the ropes with seconds left in the round and this time the ref called a knockdown but hers was Saved by the Bell with a minute to recover Burns had one last chance to take the fight going into the 14th Hearns was still ahead on rounds if he could survive for six more minutes the fight and the title were still his he tried to dance going back to the strategy that had saved him and turned the tide of the fight rounds before Hearns showed incredible heart throwing combinations before dancing away but Leonard had learned his lesson he had missed his chance to win in the 6th by overreacting and again in the remaining rounds by trying to pick the perfect shot this time he didn't hesitate to fire but neither was he trigger-happy and Hearns had never gone this many rounds before still shook and deeply exhausted he made for an easy target even a jab sent him flying across the ring a minute in a looping right sent Hearns crashing against the ropes leonard raised his arms in victory but Hearns refused to go down he took punch after punch as leonard signal for the ref to stop it in between flurries after a minute of the during Leonard's hardest punches the ref mercifully called to stop the fight Hearns had suffered the first defeat of his career but he had proved himself a true champion a skillful boxer and a resilient fighter with a lot of heart even though he was defeated this fight was one of the first steps to cementing his enduring legacy as an iconic boxer in victory Sugar Ray had just proven his detractors wrong showing the world beyond any shadow of a doubt but he was one of the greatest fighters of all time the two champions would meet again but before they did Hearns would go on to have two legendary battles won against Leonard's old rival the hands of stone Roberto durán and the other against Marvelous Marvin Hagler in what was considered one of the most action-packed explosive fights of all time thanks for watching stay tuned for more fight and technique breakdowns if you would like to contribute to help make more videos like these it can become a patron for the channel on patreon if you're interested in progressing your own skills you can check out my books on footwork and power linked below bulwark wins fights recently reached the number one bestseller spot on Amazon boxing and I'd like to express my sincere appreciation to all of you from the modern martial artist this has been David Christian wishing you happy training

Channel: The Modern Martial Artist

Views: 823,430

Rating: 4.892633 out of 5

Keywords: sugar ray leonard, thomas hearns, the hitman, boxing, breakdown, 4 kings, leonard vs hearns, marvin hagler, roberto duran, skills, explained, flicker jab, chopping right, footwork, technique, hajime no ippo, leonard hearns 1

Id: 3qz5Ke2Ln2w

Length: 22min 18sec (1338 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 07 2019