Hit Man - Brian Hughes [66]
Behind the scenes, however, the promotion was riddled with the kind of machinations that typified top-level boxing. Jose Sulaiman, president of the World Boxing Council, was demanding $30,000 from Emanuel Steward as a payoff to Eddie Davis of New York, the number one contender for Andries’ title. Andries should have fought Davis, not Hearns, who wasn’t even a light-heavyweight, but Davis’s management consented to allow the Hearns fight to go ahead in return for a tidy sum, or what was known as step-aside money. Sulaiman should have known better. Because in boxing, the fighters might not be tuned in but the good managers certainly were. It occurred to Steward that he and Hearns had been short-changed themselves – by none other than Marvin Hagler, who was due to fight Leonard instead of Hearns. “If we get paid by Hagler,” Steward said, “we’ll pay Davis. But we don’t expect to get paid by Hagler, so Sulaiman and Davis will have to sort it out themselves.” Hearns in the past had paid large amounts of step-aside money to allow him access to big fights. Steward said John Mugabi had been paid over $300,000 to stand aside as the number one contender for Hearns’s light-middleweight title so Hearns could fight Roberto Duran, then Hagler. Mugabi then should have fought Hearns in March 1986 but instead took on Hagler while Hearns knocked out James Shuler. This made Hearns the top middleweight contender, with the promise of a rematch with Hagler. But Hagler chose instead to fight Leonard.
To help Andries prepare to defend his title, New Jersey veteran Ken Bogner was hired as his trainer. Bogner’s assessment was that Andries was a fighter rather than a stylist. He traded on his immense strength, endurance and dedication but possessed the subtlety of the Los Angeles Raiders’ pass rush. Bogner came into the camp six weeks before the fight and focused on trying to improve Andries’ jab. “You can’t teach him that much in a month,” Bogner said in the days leading up to the event. “I have taught him to bob and weave and move his head a little more frequently and he has started to pick it up a little.” Bogner was quick to emphasise his good points and waxed lyrical about his strength. “He is one of the strongest fighters I have ever seen,” he said. “I had him work for twelve fast rounds and he wasn’t even tired afterwards. He has won a world championship, so whatever he is doing must be working.”
Hearns devoted himself to the task at hand with an unusual level of commitment. Five weeks prior to the fight, he moved out of his house and lived in exile on the twenty-third floor of Detriot’s Pontchartrain Hotel. He called home only three times and immersed himself in solitude in his hotel suite while mentally preparing to win in an impressive manner. “I sit up in my bed and map the fight out in my mind,” he said. “I play it over and over again, picking out the right shots, the right punches that will be crucial to me.” He refused to dwell on negative scenarios and explained, “I never contemplate defeat. I just don’t allow myself a chance to think about any negative thoughts.”
There were plenty of others who did this for him, and the pressure on Hearns to capture his third world title began to increase. Bob Arum told the press that Hearns “was at the crossroads of his illustrious career.” He explained that the plan was for Hagler to face Leonard and, if he decided to continue fighting afterwards, to face Hearns again. “Tommy is a major fighter again if he can beat this