Hearns: Leonard Wins It

Thomas Hearns, who was stopped by both fighters, is picking Sugar Ray Leonard by a decision over Marvelous Marvin Hagler Monday night in Las Vegas.

“Leonard is a smart fighter,” Hearns told Alan Greenberg of the Hartford Courant. “He knows how to create problems. Hagler seems to have problems with boxers. I think Leonard’s side-to-side movement will bother him.”

Of his loss to Hagler, Hearns said: “My mistake was to not box. My original plan was to box Marvin Hagler, but I changed my plan 15 to 20 minutes before. When it was time to go out of the dressing room, my legs felt weak. I’d overtrained them. That’s why I changed my strategy. I knew I wouldn’t be able to box Marvin for 12 rounds. I’d been running eight miles a day. I had wanted to prove to the world that I could go 12 rounds with no problem. It was a mistake.”

Hearns didn’t say who he was rooting for, but apparently it isn’t Hagler.

“We don’t speak,” he said. “I don’t like him. He doesn’t like me.”

Add Leonard: In the period between his two biggest wins--over Roberto Duran and Hearns--he knocked out unheralded Larry Bonds in 10 rounds and scored a ninth-round KO over Ayub Kalule to win the WBA junior middleweight title.

Writes Wallace Matthews of Newsday: “In both fights, Leonard was hit hard and often. In both fights, his opponent--like Hagler--was a southpaw.”

Matthews adds: “Although Leonard finally stopped the game Kalule, he was shaken on several occasions by a right hand that he seemed unable to defend against.”

Last Add Leonard: His adviser, Mike Trainer, accepted an $11-million guarantee from promoter Bob Arum instead of a smaller guarantee against a percentage of the closed-circuit and pay-per-view television revenue.

“Trainer made the right decision,” Arum said. “If I were him, I wouldn’t trust me either.”

Trivia Time: How did Milwaukee southpaw Ted Higuera help Fernando Valenzuela tie a record in last year’s All-Star game? (Answer below.)

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: They keep calling him the Great White Hoax, but Gerry Cooney is a 6-5 favorite over Michael Spinks in their June 15 heavyweight bout. Mike Tyson is 6-1 over former WBA champion Pinklon Thomas in their May 30 title bout.

Don Maynard, Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver, on coming up the hard way on the Texas plains: “I was 12 years old before I realized my name wasn’t Git Wood.”

Mychal Thompson of the Lakers, on former Portland teammate Jerome Kersey: “I call him James Worthy Northwest. He’s the best-kept secret in the league.”

Said Detroit Manager Sparky Anderson, after Philadelphia catcher Lance Parrish said the Tigers didn’t treat him well: “If we treated him badly, then the Phillies must hate him because they signed him for $400,000 less than we offered.”

Trivia Answer: Valenzuela made Higuera his last strikeout victim as he tied Carl Hubbell’s All-Star record of five straight strikeouts. Valenzuela’s other victims were Don Mattingly, Cal Ripken, Jesse Barfield and Lou Whitaker.

Quotebook

Darlene Beckford, U.S. distance runner, on 36-year-old Maricica Puica of Romania, the Olympic 3,000-meter champion: “She’s no spring chicken, but she can haul.”