30 years ago today - Hagler v Hearns!

[palooka]

I've just been on to the excellent bits and pieces scrapbook (fighters of the past forum). It blew me away when Doug reminded me it was 30 years ago today the fabulous Hagler v Hearns bout took place!

Where were you when these 2 titans waged war?

When did you first see the bout?

I remember watching the bout at a mates house, his mum had a crush on Hagler - she said he looked like the fella from Hot Chocolate. The bout was on ITV the day after, I could hardly believe the action and was pulling for Hearns to do it.

What a fight!

[Gazmac81]

iwas only 3 years old so probably running about wild in house or sleeping at that time.

im not one for watching fights back that i know the result of but my brother did have the Faboulous 4 Video and i remember wataching that when i was a bit older ,

i really should revisit some of these classic fights and appreciate them, ive saw a few of the rounds from Ray leonards facebook page of his fights and these guys were top drawer.

[bigjack]

I've just been on to the excellent bits and pieces scrapbook (fighters of the past forum). It blew me away when Doug reminded me it was 30 years ago today the fabulous Hagler v Hearns bout took place!

Where were you when these 2 titans waged war?

When did you first see the bout?

I remember watching the bout at a mates house, his mum had a crush on Hagler - she said he looked like the fella from Hot Chocolate. The bout was on ITV the day after, I could hardly believe the action and was pulling for Hearns to do it.

What a fight!

I was 18 at the time,i think i saw it the next day but knew the outcome as i'd heard the result on the radio,still an epic and sadly i can repeat the introductions from memory .I remember the stares from both of them at the end of the first round,Reg Gutteridge made those fights special too

[handsofstone]

I actually just watched this again last week,epic fight,I always thought The War was a name giving to it after the fight but it was before,it fits that's for sure, I wasnt even 1 when this happened,only seen it for first time not even 10 years ago

Not that anyones interested but here's the classics I watched when I was off work last week

Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier-1,2 + 3
Sugar Ray Leonard vs Tommy Hearns-1+2
Julio Cesar Chavez vs Meldrick Taylor-1+2
Aaron Pryor vs Alexis Arguello-1+2
Marvin Hagler vs Tommy Hearns
Rocky Marciano vs Jersey Joe Walcott-1+2
Larry Holmes vs Ken Norton
George Foreman vs Ron Lyle

Next up the Gatti-Ward trilogy

[palooka]

I actually just watched this again last week,epic fight,I always thought The War was a name giving to it after the fight but it was before,it fits that's for sure, I wasnt even 1 when this happened,only seen it for first time not even 10 years ago

Not that anyones interested but here's the classics I watched when I was off work last week

Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier-1,2 + 3
Sugar Ray Leonard vs Tommy Hearns-1+2
Julio Cesar Chavez vs Meldrick Taylor-1+2
Aaron Pryor vs Alexis Arguello-1+2
Marvin Hagler vs Tommy Hearns
Rocky Marciano vs Jersey Joe Walcott-1+2
Larry Holmes vs Ken Norton
George Foreman vs Ron Lyle

Next up the Gatti-Ward trilogy

you're getting through the classics there, Barry - I envy you watching them for the first time is a real treat.

[Boxerbeetle]

Whilst we're talking about modern classics, B0xnati0n showed the Benn v McClellan fight last night. Sat down & watched it properly for the first time in ages - what a fvcking war that was.

[handsofstone]

I actually just watched this again last week,epic fight,I always thought The War was a name giving to it after the fight but it was before,it fits that's for sure, I wasnt even 1 when this happened,only seen it for first time not even 10 years ago

Not that anyones interested but here's the classics I watched when I was off work last week

Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier-1,2 + 3
Sugar Ray Leonard vs Tommy Hearns-1+2
Julio Cesar Chavez vs Meldrick Taylor-1+2
Aaron Pryor vs Alexis Arguello-1+2
Marvin Hagler vs Tommy Hearns
Rocky Marciano vs Jersey Joe Walcott-1+2
Larry Holmes vs Ken Norton
George Foreman vs Ron Lyle

Next up the Gatti-Ward trilogy

you're getting through the classics there, Barry - I envy you watching them for the first time is a real treat.

I'd actually seen most of them already palooka but I'd never seen Ali-Frazier 2 ,It doesn't get the same exposure as the other 2 so I'd always assumed it was crap but I enjoyed it,Frazier wasn't really at the races that night but I thought Ali boxed very well,entertaining fight I thought

I'd never seen Chavez-Taylor rematch either,again very entertaining fight and Julio Cesar stamped his authority on the match up but I still thought Meldrick ward in it but not the way he controlled the first fight

And i just watched the Pryor-Arguello rematch and it was superb,even better than 1 I thought,Pryor was excellent but Arguello is one tough warrior

While we're at it what was the story with Aaron Pryor? I was looking at his record earlier, he retired at 39-1 with 35 KO's but got KO'd by someone called Bobby Joe Young who was 29-6-1,he had 3 more fights which he won all by KO then retired?? Strange he was an excellent fighter

[palooka]

I actually just watched this again last week,epic fight,I always thought The War was a name giving to it after the fight but it was before,it fits that's for sure, I wasnt even 1 when this happened,only seen it for first time not even 10 years ago

Not that anyones interested but here's the classics I watched when I was off work last week

Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier-1,2 + 3
Sugar Ray Leonard vs Tommy Hearns-1+2
Julio Cesar Chavez vs Meldrick Taylor-1+2
Aaron Pryor vs Alexis Arguello-1+2
Marvin Hagler vs Tommy Hearns
Rocky Marciano vs Jersey Joe Walcott-1+2
Larry Holmes vs Ken Norton
George Foreman vs Ron Lyle

Next up the Gatti-Ward trilogy

you're getting through the classics there, Barry - I envy you watching them for the first time is a real treat.

I'd actually seen most of them already palooka but I'd never seen Ali-Frazier 2 ,It doesn't get the same exposure as the other 2 so I'd always assumed it was crap but I enjoyed it,Frazier wasn't really at the races that night but I thought Ali boxed very well,entertaining fight I thought

I'd never seen Chavez-Taylor rematch either,again very entertaining fight and Julio Cesar stamped his authority on the match up but I still thought Meldrick ward in it but not the way he controlled the first fight

And i just watched the Pryor-Arguello rematch and it was superb,even better than 1 I thought,Pryor was excellent but Arguello is one tough warrior

While we're at it what was the story with Aaron Pryor? I was looking at his record earlier, he retired at 39-1 with 35 KO's but got KO'd by someone called Bobby Joe Young who was 29-6-1,he had 3 more fights which he won all by KO then retired?? Strange he was an excellent fighter

Pryor had a terrible time with drug addiction, he retired undefeated then came back, he wasn't the same fighter, he like most, retired again, he beat the drugs and got married and is really happy with life now apparently. He was a superb box fighter and game as hell - Pryor v Duran would have been incredible.

[handsofstone]

Thanks for the heads up palooka,an all too familiar tale I'm afraid ay,he could certainly whack and unlike a lot of punchers he looked to have good beard on him,Arguello caught him with some hard shots in both fights

Seems a waste but I'm glad he got his act together

[palooka]

Arguello v Mancini is another cracker and well worth watching; its amazing really how well Pryor did, he was well into drugs before turning pro - you do know the story of the mystery bottle in the first Arguello bout?

[littlepug]

Whilst we're talking about modern classics, B0xnati0n showed the Benn v McClellan fight last night. Sat down & watched it properly for the first time in ages - what a fvcking war that was.

watched it twice back to back last week once with uk commentary then the u.s version, i swear its like watching two different fights !

[Old bones Ian]

Oddly it was Arguello that ended up tragic, looking at them back years ago, Arguello was the gentleman boxer always smiling and shaking hands with his opponent, Pryor was the in your face , mouthy boxer. Who would go on to lose everything and suffer badly with drugs.

Out of the 2 you would bet it would of been Pryor to end it all, but sadly Alexis was the one who could never really settle out of the ring.

[handsofstone]

Arguello v Mancini is another cracker and well worth watching; its amazing really how well Pryor did, he was well into drugs before turning pro - you do know the story of the mystery bottle in the first Arguello bout?

Yeah I remember seeing a documentry years ago about the fight before I knew who Pryor was,very fishy indeed

Shame about Arguello he was truly great

I'll check out Arguello-Mancini

[Counter-puncher]

Oddly it was Arguello that ended up tragic, looking at them back years ago, Arguello was the gentleman boxer always smiling and shaking hands with his opponent, Pryor was the in your face , mouthy boxer. Who would go on to lose everything and suffer badly with drugs.

Out of the 2 you would bet it would of been Pryor to end it all, but sadly Alexis was the one who could never really settle out of the ring.

by all accounts Pryor may still be alive but he might just as well have pasta between his ears for all the good his brain does him

[Rexob]

Whilst we're talking about modern classics, B0xnati0n showed the Benn v McClellan fight last night. Sat down & watched it properly for the first time in ages - what a fvcking war that was.

watched it twice back to back last week once with uk commentary then the u.s version, i swear its like watching two different fights !

I watched it 3 nights in a row, back to back with 3 different country's commentary versions. it was like watching 3 different fights I swear!

[magwitch]

i put this on facebook when it was 25yrs old. Good grief, was that 5 years ago?

[littlepug]

Whilst we're talking about modern classics, B0xnati0n showed the Benn v McClellan fight last night. Sat down & watched it properly for the first time in ages - what a fvcking war that was.

watched it twice back to back last week once with uk commentary then the u.s version, i swear its like watching two different fights !

I watched it 3 nights in a row, back to back with 3 different country's commentary versions. it was like watching 3 different fights I swear!

Just got in from work and that well made me laugh cheeky sod

[Srebmun]

I was 15 when it was on, and my surname is similar to the Hitman so I was rooting for him, but my Ma and sisters liked Hagler for the same Hot Chocolate reason as palooka mentioned.

Great fight.

An even better night a cpl of months later was McGuigan vs Pedroza at Loftus Road, which I was at

[bigjack]

I was 15 when it was on, and my surname is similar to the Hitman so I was rooting for him, but my Ma and sisters liked Hagler for the same Hot Chocolate reason as palooka mentioned.

Great fight.

An even better night a cpl of months later was McGuigan vs Pedroza at Loftus Road, which I was at

Lucky fella,honest i'm not jealous

[stujones]

An amazing fight, but I think a fraction overated in the grand scheme of things. When you think this gets discussed a great deal 30 years later, whereas Barrera vs Morales 1 hardly got a mention when it celebrated its 10th anniversary.

I think the "trouble" that Hagler was in, in the first round (aside from the cut) has been always overated by punters. I thought Hagler was too dominant for it to be ranked as the greatest fight of all time.

Its an all time great fight, yes..... greatest of them all - Nah.

[bigjack]

An amazing fight, but I think a fraction overated in the grand scheme of things. When you think this gets discussed a great deal 30 years later, whereas Barrera vs Morales 1 hardly got a mention when it celebrated its 10th anniversary.

I think the "trouble" that Hagler was in, in the first round (aside from the cut) has been always overated by punters. I thought Hagler was too dominant for it to be ranked as the greatest fight of all time.

Its an all time great fight, yes..... greatest of them all - Nah.

It was certainly one of the best first rounds ever,but the second and third were nothing special,i think it was more to do with who was actually fighting than anything,for me it was whether Hearn's could ko Hagler,the anticipation was electric.

[stujones]

For me Leonard vs Hagler surpassed it in terms of anticipation. I think in the UK that got more hype. Perhaps though it was more of a personal thing cos I was a bit young to remember Leonard vs Hearns 1 etc and when I could start to understand about fighters, all I can remember my dad talking about this great retired fighter called Sugar Ray Leonard - and then when Dickie Davies announced he was signed up to fight Hagler. It was finally a chance to see this guy I'd heard a lot about fight against the beast that was the Marvelous one.

[bigjack]

For me Leonard vs Hagler surpassed it in terms of anticipation. I think in the UK that got more hype. Perhaps though it was more of a personal thing cos I was a bit young to remember Leonard vs Hearns 1 etc and when I could start to understand about fighters, all I can remember my dad talking about this great retired fighter called Sugar Ray Leonard - and then when Dickie Davies announced he was signed up to fight Hagler. It was finally a chance to see this guy I'd heard a lot about fight against the beast that was the Marvelous one.

Yeh Stu it was a bigger fight for me,i remember leonard had a full on fight behind closed doors to prepare for Hagler and there was a special show on beforehand showing the build up.I remember Angelo Dundee saying that leonard would have a 'monkey on his back' if he didn't fight Hagler,i have that on tape somewhere,background music was 'the final countdown'.I avoided the result as long as i could and some idiot blurted it out on ITV on the day it was on telly,gutted :(

[stujones]

Front page of the TV times also..... been looking for that edition of the TV times for years - if anyone has it, drop me a PM.

[forcefraser]

Brilliant fight. Hagler is my man, but I wonder if things would have turned out differently had Hearns not broken his hand on Hagler's head in the first round.