Hit Man - Brian Hughes [26]
IN JULY 1981, Steward flew to Syracuse to watch Ray Leonard box Larry Bonds. The real purpose of his mission was to meet with Leonard’s attorney, the astute Mike Trainer. The meeting had been initiated by Trainer, who was keen to iron out a deal for a world welterweight championship unification superfight between Leonard and Hearns. Initial discussions were straightforward. Both men agreed that it would be one of the richest confrontations in the history of boxing, topping over $30 million in revenue – a figure which was eventually dwarfed. The only sticking point came when Steward demanded parity when it came to dividing the purse money. After hours of haggling, with Trainer arguing that Leonard was the major star, they agreed a compromise. Ten days later, when representatives from both camps met to finalise details, the agreement stood that Hearns would receive $5 million and Leonard $8 million, with each fighter also getting twenty-five percent of any revenue beyond $21 million. Part of the deal was that both Hearns and Leonard would box selected opponents on the same bill at the Astrodome, Houston, in order to build up the publicity for the big fight.
Mexico’s Pablo Baez was nominated as Thomas Hearns’ third challenger for his WBA welterweight championship. The critics, who had been circling since the underwhelming Shields defence, wondered quite how Baez, who had won only fourteen bouts against eight losses, had qualified to fight Detroit’s finest. The twenty-three-year-old Baez offered a spirited defence of his status and pointed to a seventh-round knockout over Zeferino Gonzalez and a second-round knockout of Jose Palacios in February. “I am not worried about Tommy Hearns’ punching power,” he said. “Nobody knows me but I am just waiting for this moment. I’m just waiting to prove my point at the fight. After that, everything will change.” Hearns also built up his opponent in public. He told The Detroit Free Press that whilst others might scoff, he had a great deal of respect for Baez. “The Mexican fighter is a thinker,” said Hearns. “They’re the kind of fighters who are difficult to fight. I expect a difficult fight from him. I watched him work out when we were in California last January and he boxed well against Milton McCrory in a sparring session and other fighters in the gym.”
Sugar Ray Leonard’s opponent was the much tougher Ayub Kalule, the WBA light-middleweight champion. While Leonard was a clear favourite to take the title, Kalule, a Ugandan who fought out of Denmark, was unbeaten and was highly regarded by more knowledgeable boxing followers. Both Leonard and Hearns, however, seemed to have their minds on their impending clash, and did their best to fan the flames. Fans were invited to watch both men train at separate times at the same gym. The contrast between the two was heightened by these sessions. When Leonard entered the gym, he seemed bored and would go through his training ritual in a quick, quiet fashion, looking precise, polished and professional. He didn’t talk and nobody was invited to talk to him. When it was over, he took the microphone and thanked everybody for coming to watch him train. He delivered the well-worn line that he employed in whichever city he was based, that he had been to a lot of cities “but Houston was number one on my list.” When he met the press he responded with great confidence.
Two hours later, when it was Hearns’s turn to train, he jumped into the ring with Emanuel Steward to do pad-work, firing two-handed punches in rapid combinations, which looked very impressive to the crowd. He then pounded the heavy bag before inviting a number of young onlookers