Hit Man - Brian Hughes [36]
The following round continued in the same vein. Hearns threw the first shot, a heavy left jab flush in the face of Leonard, who was having obvious difficulty seeing out of his left eye. He followed this up with a hard right to the body, which sent Sugar Ray back onto the ropes, and another power-packed right into the ribcage, which landed with a thump. Hearns was in full flow and was only warded off when Leonard threw a looping right to the head. This bought him time and kept him outside the length of the longer arms of Hearns. He managed to avoid being trapped against the ropes again but he was rocked when a hard right hammered into his jaw just as the bell rang.
Leonard squinted through his quickly closing eye as he returned to his stool. Angelo Dundee, the sixty-second master, greeted him with an exhortation that would become famous: “You’ve got nine minutes. You’re blowing it, son. You’re blowing it. This is what separates the men from the boys. You’re blowing it!” At the same time, he worked feverishly to reduce the swelling over his boxer’s eye. His words galvanised Leonard, who opened the round by hitting Hearns with a fast one-two. Hearns retaliated with two jabs but slipped briefly to the canvas. They continued to trade punches but Hearns was first to back away as Leonard pursued him, punching with both hands. His relentless assault drove the Detroit man back into the ropes, where he slipped halfway through between the second and third strands and sat down on the ring apron. Hearns shook his head to signify it was not a knockdown, and again referee Davey Pearl concurred. Leonard, however, sensed blood. He had now become the predator as he hit Hearns with a left hook and right cross to the body and was almost wild, like a shark that has tasted blood. Leonard caught Hearns with another left and right that had Tommy dazed before he increased the pace of his attack again and had him on the ropes, hitting him with unanswered punches. Hearns’s legs looked rubbery and Pearl was obliged to intervene and count to the mandatory eight just as the bell rang. It was a clear round for Leonard and the beginning of the end.
Leonard started the round by summoning some hidden energy and unleashing a blur of rights and lefts. He then dug a powerful right into Hearns’s tired body and then staggered him with a headshot, which turned his long, slender legs to jelly. Although these seemed to betray him, his courage didn’t and he tried to fight back, but the unremitting salvo of punches prompted the referee to move in close and check the damage. Before he could make an assessment, Leonard launched a further unanswered volley and referee Pearl had seen enough, finally waving it over at one minute and forty-five seconds of the fourteenth round.
There seemed to be a brief moment of silence. It was as if the crowd collectively realised that they had just paid witness to a modern-day classic. Then they erupted. Sugar Ray threw his hands skywards in a salute of victory. Hearns looked shell-shocked and sought solace amongst the desolate Kronk entourage.
When he stayed to hear the official announcement, it merely served to rub salt into the open wound of defeat. According to the three judges’ scorecards, Hearns was ahead at the conclusion of the fight. Judge Duane Ford scored it 124-122, Judge Charles Minker had it 125-121 and Judge Lou Tabat scored it 125-123. Had he hung on for one more round, he would have won. In the following days, there would be a furore about these scores. The bout was one of those that divided expert opinion. Many good judges felt Hearns’s skilful boxing had outscored Leonard’s more potent but more erratic flurries, while others felt Leonard’s greater aggression and harder blows should have received more credit. The venerable American broadcaster Don Dunphy had Hearns well ahead, as did colour commentator Dr Ferdie Pacheco. Boxing News editor Harry Mullan had Leonard three points in front, while his colleague Graham Houston gave Hearns a wide