Hit Man - Brian Hughes [33]
Others begged to differ. “Leonard is smarter, faster, very hard to hit,” said the former light-heavyweight champion Jose Torres, now a successful writer. “Hearns has to hit his opponent to feel encouraged – and Leonard is not the kind to get hit too hard too often.” New York Post writer Mike Marley thought Leonard would “baffle Hearns with constant in-and-out movements,” while Mickey Duff, the widely travelled British promoter, also favoured the Sugarman. “His hands are much faster,” he said. “Leonard’s edge is that he has more experience against major opponents. He always handles a super-bout with great coolness.”
Sensibly Larry Holmes, the WBC heavyweight king, refused to be drawn on such a close call. “I just don’t know,” he admitted. “The guy who wants it most will win.”
IN THE DAYS preceding the fight, tensions nearly boiled over in both camps. In true Kronk style, no quarter was asked or given in Hearns’s sparring sessions. Wearing eighteen-ounce gloves, he broke the jaw of the talented Marlon Starling (a future world welterweight champion) with a terrific arching right. He also hammered and cut the eye of Dujuan Johnson, who was one of the top contenders in the light-welterweight division, while world-ranked middleweight “Caveman” Lee was battered and bruised. Six members of Ray Leonard’s team watched the session and were forcibly ejected when they were suspected of filming the events. Emanuel Steward stopped the session until the group were made to leave. Prentiss Byrd, the camp co-ordinator, said, “If this keeps up, we will physically fight them to keep them out. We’re sick and tired of it. They’re not professional and we’re not going to take it anymore.” Steward agreed, “They are starting to stoop real low.”
There was also controversy over the sanctioning of what would be the richest fight ever, with a projected global audience of 300 million. As it would bring together both the WBA and EWBC welterweight champions, it was logical the outcome would decide the undisputed belt-holder. However, both organizations demanded sanctioning fees to recognise it as a title bout, with the WBC seeking an eye-watering $500,000. Mike Trainer, who was unafraid to play hardball with the best of them, made WBC president Jose Sulaiman a much lower, take-it-or-leave-it offer. Sulaiman swallowed his not inconsiderable pride and caved in, though just to rub it in the promoters made no mention of either the WBA or the WBC in their promotional material.
In the final twenty-four hours before the fight, Hearns sought quietude, relaxing in his room with a few close friends like Prentiss Byrd, watching television and even singing the odd Temptations song, even while his friends and well-wishers partied and danced at a premature “Victory for Detroit” shindig. On the day of the fight, he rose at eight o’clock, and an hour later, when half of Las Vegas was just going to bed, the two welterweight champions stepped on to the scales for the official weigh-in. Hearns was recorded at 145 pounds, a pound lighter than Leonard and two pounds under the welterweight limit. This caused eyebrows to be raised: the tall Hearns had been expected to come in right on the weight. Both combatants barely glanced at each other and left without saying a word. The war of words was over.