The Seeds of Hagler vs Leonard

The Seeds of Hagler vs Leonard

Sugar Ray Leonard has described the previous two years as a blur. Drugs, alcohol and infidelity were his life. He couldn’t resist the trappings of his fame. Leonard in retirement once again reverted to type. He couldn’t escape his alter ego, ‘Sugar Ray.’ The latest retirement followed a comeback fight against the journeyman Kevin Howard in 1984 that had failed to convince him it was worth carrying on. ‘Every punch hurt’ he would say. Leonard won, but a 4th round knockdown, the first of his professional career, left Leonard thinking boxing wasn’t for him anymore.

But in many ways, retirement was harder than any fight he ever had. Feeling free to be ‘Sugar Ray’ once again, he indulged in every way he could. On the outside Leonard seemed content in retirement, the Howard fight appeared to be the final act. If he struggled with the lightly-regarded Howard, what was the point of carrying on to fight the likes of Donald Curry, Thomas Hearns or Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who was reported to be next if Leonard had shined against Howard. Leonard stayed involved in the sport he once graced through his broadcasting work with HBO and CBS, a return to boxing looked remote. But in 1986, everything changed.

Leonard was in Las Vegas for the Hagler vs John ‘The Beast’ Mugabi fight. Hagler a year on from his incredible war with Hearns found a challenger who wouldn’t oblige to the perceived narrative. It was a tough tough fight for Hagler, and the first real signs of decay were evident. Hagler eventually wore down the brave Mugabi to retain his undisputed world middleweight titles. But Leonard liked what he saw.

Leonard was there as a fan, sitting alongside the actor Michael J Fox. Leonard remembering his youth turned to Fox and said:

“I can beat this guy.” The seeds had been planted.

Leonard had in truth been drinking, but even when the effects of his consumption had dimmed, the old feelings still remained. A fight with Hagler had been talked about for years, the dream super fight that never materialised for many reasons. In 1986 it looked dead in the water. But Leonard sensing this was his final chance to share a ring with Hagler, saw hope and thought it was now or never. A routine interview several weeks after those initial thoughts planted the seed in the public domain. Leonard dropped the hint that he would be interested in a comeback, but only for a fight with Hagler. And so it began.

It had more than teased before. Back in 1982 at a black-tie event in Baltimore to which Hagler had been specially invited, Leonard was expected to announce a fight between the pair. But Leonard, who had recently undergone eye surgery, looked Hagler in the eye and said:

“A fight with this great man, with this great champion, would be one of the greatest fights in history. Unfortunately, it’ll never happen.” It would have been the perfect time. Both at their fighting peaks. It appeared to be a fight lost in time. But Leonard’s shock announcement created a media frenzy. Leonard was branded crazy and delusional, his ego out of line with reality. It seemed like a mission to oblivion. No fight since 1984, no tune-up fight, moving up to middleweight and fighting probably the greatest middleweight in boxing history. In truth, it looked like mission impossible. There were genuine fears for his health. But Leonard, maybe he was in delusion, believed.

Hagler, probably remembering the past, specifically his humiliation in Baltimore several years previously, took his time and made Leonard wait. And wait. He threatened retirement, and talk of a rematch with Hearns was still very much in the air. But finally, after making Leonard wait for three and a half months, Hagler accepted. And when all the contractual negotiations were concluded, Hagler and Leonard would fight in Las Vegas on April 6th 1987. It wasn’t the fight it could have been four years earlier, both were clearly no longer the fighters they used to be. But after 12 rounds, Hagler’s long reign as the middleweight champion of the world was over. Leonard upset all the odds to beat Hagler on a hotly-disputed decision that is still debated to this very day.

Photo Credit: John W. McDonough/Icon Sportswire