Leonard/Hearns 1 stopped too early?
Scott Reeve
I've watched this fight many times and this was the first time that it
occurred to me that it was stopped too early.
Hearns was still standing strong - although taking a big beating at the
time.
One reason I wish it had continued (and possible go into the 15th round) is
because I do believ that Leonard would have gotten 10-8 rounds in the 13th,
14th, and 15th rounds and probably won a decision.
It's amazing - in the first minute of the 13th round and it really looks
like Leonard had that look in his eye that he had him somehow - like he was
about to take total control of the fight... just my observation.
Jeff S
would have KO'd Hearns had it continued,The "Hit man"didn't have that
great of a chin to begin with.
J.S
Charles Beauchamp
Ewww no way. Even by the standards of the late 70's early 80's when
fights were allowed to go on generally a little deeper then they are
today no way. Hearns was toast, he was not protecting himself. Hell he
wasn't even clinching. Recall that at the time of the fight there was
essentially universal acceptance of the stoppage as definitively an ass
whipping. There was even controversy at how close the judges had the
score cards when the end came. That fight would not have gone to the
scorecards anyways. Hearns was finished.
v/r Beau
History Fan
did not (IMO) do a good job that night. They repeatedly said that Leonard
was hurt by punches that I didn't even see. Plus both seemed to be
pro-Hearns the whole night. As far as the stoppage, yeah, I think Davey
Pearl should have let it go a little further. Would it have made a
difference in the fight? No. Hearns would have just taken more punishment
and probably been knocked down again, leading to a latter stoppage. In his
prime, Leonard was a great finisher.
"Scott Reeve" <scott...@verizon.net> wrote in message
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> The PPV/Closed-Circuit announcing team of Don Dunphy and Ferdie
> Pacheco did not (IMO) do a good job that night. They repeatedly said that
> Leonard was hurt by punches that I didn't even see.
I agree. I just got digital cable, with ESPN Classic, and have been
watching some of the old fights with Dunphy reporting ringside. Man, he is
so overrated as an announcer, it's not funny. From what I've seen, his
ability to call a fight was similar to that of Howard Cosell, and that's not
good. Neither one accurately told the viewer what was actually happening in
the ring. Dunphy might have been better on radio, where the audience could
not discern for itself what was actually taking place in the ring. Dunphy
is an announcing legend because of the time in which he came around, the
early years of television. Today, with a much more critical audience, he'd
be chewed up and spit out.
History Fan
>> Pacheco did not (IMO) do a good job that night. They repeatedly said
>> that Leonard was hurt by punches that I didn't even see.
>
> I agree. I just got digital cable, with ESPN Classic, and have been
> watching some of the old fights with Dunphy reporting ringside. Man, he
> is so overrated as an announcer, it's not funny.
About 10 years ago, Don Dunphy was on a sports panel discussing great
fights he had called. The subject of Leonard-Hearns 1 came up. Dunphy said
the fight should not have been stopped, and that Hearns wasn't even
staggered in the 14th round. Obviously his memory was faulty because Hearns
nearly fell over after being grazed by an overhand right by Leonard in the
final round.
I just obtained on old tape of Leonard-Johnny Gant from Jan. 1979. It
was broadcast live on HBO, and the announcing team was Dunphy, Larry
Merchant and Len Berman. I'm assuming Don didn't last too long with HBO,
because Barry Tompkins soon took over.
Pastor Marc
shellacked pretty good. But he wasn't out on his feet. I felt that the
ref stopped it prematurely. Maybe SRL would have dropped Hearns again.
But maybe he would have punched himself out.
But it was still a tremendously gutty effort by Leonard, and it
catapulted him into all time greatness.
afganistan_...@yahoo.com
Hearns was still standing strong? LMAO...what were you smoking or
drinking while comming to this conclusion? Hearns was barely
standing,let alone standing strong. It was a beautifull thing watching
Leonard tee off on the spindly legged,cocky,arrogent spooke! Even in
the rematch,Leonard still had his number although Hearns got lucky and
pushed him down a couple times while he was off balance. Hearns was out
on his feet but remained standing because of his statement before the
fight that he'd never return to Detoilet if he'd lose to Leonard. I
give him credit for that much but nothing more.
Scott Reeve
I've taken some flak here for my comments. Perhaps I should have been
more clear.
Yes, Sugar was bringin' it to Tommy and he was staggered, but it just
seemed like maybe the fight should not have been stopped at that exact
time - perhaps the ref should have let it go a bit longer. I.e. Tommy
was not at that point in danger of being hurt (which is the main
criteria for a TKO, correct?) By "standing srong", I meant standing too
strong for a TKO. Ultimately, I don't think it changed anything because
Sugar was probably going to get the KO or TKO no matter what.
Don't get me wrong: I LOVED the win for Sugar. (always been a SRL fan).
I have heard so much over the years how "if Hearns had just hung on, he
would have won a decision". I think that's bull. If the fight had gone
the distance (not terribly likely), I think that Sugar would have won
the 13th through 15th rounds, and definitely getting 10-8 rounds in the
13th and 14th, and maybe 10-8 rounds in the 14th and 15th also. So, if
Hearns had hung on to the end, he might have *lost* the decision.
DCI
One of the many duties and responsibilities of a referee is to insure
the safety of the fighters. In the Leonard/Hearns fight, the referee
used his best judgement and stopped the fight.
DCI