CRITICS DELIVER A KO : Sportswriters Call Hearns a Victim of Theft in Ring

Ring officials called Monday night’s fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns a draw, but boxing writers from major U.S. newspapers were roundly critical of the decision.

Judge Jerry Roth called it 113-112 for Hearns, judge Tommy Kaczmarek had it 113-112 for Leonard and judge Dalgy Shirley called it even. Two Times cards had Hearns winning, 114-112 and 113-111. (Story, Part III, Page 1.)

Following are excerpts from other writers who covered the fight:

Joe Gergen, Newsday:

Thomas Hearns had every reason to be disappointed. He should have been angry, if not incensed. Instead, he smiled and requested another round of applause for his opponent.

Nice man. Strange reaction.

He had waited almost eight years just for the chance to throw a few punches at Sugar Ray Leonard. Those punches landed, frequently. Twice they deposited his opponent on the canvas. But they did not sway the judges.

No sir. Despite dominating the man who, in his absence, had tormented him all these years, Hearns was denied the victory he earned in the ring Monday night at Caesars Palace. Tony Kornheiser, The Washington Post

What else should Hearns have done to beat Sugar Ray Leonard Monday night? He knocked him down twice once in the third and again in the 11th round. He weathered the best of Leonard, furious storms of combinations in the fifth and the 12th.

His legs, which were supposed to be so wobbly, stayed sturdy. His chin, which was supposed to be so fragile, stayed strong. His emotional state, which had to be so jittery, stayed calm.

Tommy Hearns . . . was determined, resolute and, most of all, at the end of 12 intense rounds he was still standing.

Ray Leonard fought a super fight.

Tommy Hearns won it.

Alan Greenburg, The Hartford Courant:

It was a fantastic fight, better than anyone would have dared dream Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns could produce nearly eight years after their epic first bout. It was left to the judges to ruin it.

. . . Tommy (Hit Man) Hearns won this bout. Won it in style. He knocked down Leonard twice--in the third and 11th round--in their 12-round bout, something no Leonard opponent had ever done.

In both those rounds, Hearns had Leonard in dire straits. And when Leonard unleashed a last desperate, murderous assault in the 12th round, Hearns, whose legs and chin have been questioned in the past, managed to hold together and survive, to raise his tired arms in triumph, to wait for the unanimous decision that surely should have been his.

No such luck.

Mike Littwin, The Baltimore Sun:

Say this for Leonard: He has a fighter’s heart. . . . In boxing’s more primitive days, the man who was standing at the end won the fight. Leonard, throwing everything he had, hurting Hearns in the 12th round, was the stronger man at the end.

. . . But a draw? After two knockdowns? After eight years? To most experts, it seemed Hearns had been burned on the hot Vegas night.