TRIAL BY FIRE : In Desert Heat of ‘81, Leonard-Hearns I Burned into History

Wednesday, Sept. 16, 1981, was a hot night here, but there were 25,000 people in a parking lot stadium in the Nevada desert. Two young boxers were about to engage one another for 14 memorable rounds in a contest that still stands, in the minds of many of those who were there, as the fight of the ‘80s.

It was a night when courage, skill and endurance were at center stage. But most of all, it was a night of savagery, a night when two immensely talented young boxers, each in his prime, fought with an intensity that an entire generation of boxing followers will never forget.

It was Leonard-Hearns. Seven years nine months later, we have Leonard-Hearns II here Monday night.

This time, only the site, Caesars Palace, is the same. Sugar Ray Leonard, a 3-1 favorite Monday, is 33 now. Thomas Hearns is 30. That night in 1981, Leonard was 25 and Hearns was 22.

Neither is the athlete he was eight years ago, but that won’t matter when they pick up their paychecks.

On Sept. 16, 1981, Leonard earned about $10 million when he stopped Hearns in the 14th round. Hearns made about $5 million in a fight that brought in about $50 million. This one is expected to bring in $70 million to $80 million.

Leonard will make at least $13 million, Hearns $11 million.

When asked about their 1981 fight, both fighters agree that what happened that night won’t have a bearing on what happens Monday. It was a long time ago.

Ah, but the memories remain. This one isn’t lost in time’s mists. It remains vivid, alive.

Like other great boxing events of the 1980s--Leonard-Marvin Hagler, Hearns-Hagler, Evander Holyfield-Michael Dokes--this one had ebb, flow, explosiveness, elation and heartbreak.

Both were welterweights that night. Both owned pieces of the world championship. Hearns (32-0) had never been beaten. Leonard (30-1) had lost only to Roberto Duran, a defeat he had avenged in 1980.

Leonard was a 7-5 favorite when they entered the ring, both wearing white robes, to the booming strains of the “Rocky” theme. Leonard weighed 146 pounds, Hearns a whippet-like 145. Monday, they will be in the low 160s.

During the ring introductions, someone looked at a thermometer. It was 97 degrees.

In the first round, Leonard wheeled around the ring laterally, throwing an occasional jab at Hearns, who stalked Leonard, flat-footed.

The second round was the same, and it was clear that Leonard was acutely conscious of Hearns’ vaunted right hand, which Hearns kept cocked. Early in the third, Hearns began throwing right-hand bombs, and the crowd came to its feet, roaring.

But he missed with them, as he would all night. One shot hit Leonard on the shoulder. Another grazed the top of his head. Leonard ducked under one on the ropes, escaping the punch, and his momentum nearly toppled Hearns over the top rope.

Possibly, that exchange at least slightly lessened Leonard’s fear of Hearns’ right, because at the end of the round he was throwing big rights himself. He went after Hearns, wide open, seemingly daring him to hit him.

Twenty-five seconds into the fourth, Hearns connected. A straight right rocked Leonard at center ring but only for a second. Leonard was clear-headed quickly.

After five rounds, Hearns seemed to be ahead on most cards, and chants of “Tom-mee! Tom-mee!” went up.

Then came the sixth. If Leonard-Hearns I is still the fight of the ‘80s, then Round 6 of of that bout is at least the second-best round of the ‘80s, slightly behind Round 1 of Hearns-Hagler.

Ten seconds into the round, Leonard cracked Hearns on the jaw with a sneaky right hand. With a minute left, Leonard badly hurt Hearns, on the ropes, with a left uppercut to the jaw. But just as it seemed that the Hitman had had it, he lashed out at Leonard and hurt him with a left hand. With the roar of the excited crowd rolling across the desert, Leonard staggered Hearns with a short, hard right.

Hearns was hurt and on the ropes when the round ended.

Leonard came out for the seventh and led with a thumping left hook to Hearns’ ribs, and the blow momentarily froze Hearns. He bent over and tried to hang on. His legs were wobbly, and it suddenly seemed as if the sixth had eaten up Hearns.

Midway through the eighth, Leonard caught Hearns in a neutral corner and hurt him with a long right. Leonard seemed to be in complete command of a rapidly failing opponent. But Hearns came out for the ninth surprisingly fresh and went up on his toes. He became a dancer instead of a stalker, and for four rounds Leonard couldn’t catch him. And Leonard had a problem--his left eye was rapidly swelling shut.

Hearns landed some long, powerful jabs and padded a narrow point lead he had held at the end of nine.

Amazingly, Hearns had survived. There he was, in Rounds 9 through 12, in cruise control, piling up points. The Hitman was coming down the stretch, in charge.

“Tom-mee! Tom-mee!”

Then, in a twinkling, it all changed.

In the 13th, a desperate Leonard caught Hearns with a right. Hearns lashed back with a right of his own, but Leonard shook it off and charged Hearns. With seconds left in the round, Hearns was helplessly sprawled on the ropes, and referee Davey Pearl had started a count over him at the bell.

In the 14th, Leonard hurt Hearns with a hard right, low on the left side of Hearns’ ribs. The conclusion swiftly arrived. Hearns was taking a horrible beating and had collapsed into the ropes when Pearl, with 1:45 left in the 14th, waved Leonard off.

“He took a lot of blows to the head,” Pearl said later. “He couldn’t defend himself. . . . If I think he’s going to get seriously hurt, I’m going to stop it. He didn’t argue when I stopped it.”

For Leonard, it was a great victory and an undisputed welterweight championship.

For Hearns, it meant heartbreak. After 13 rounds, every judge had had him ahead on points, by margins of four, three and two points.