View source for Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns

{{Short description|1981 boxing match}}
{{Infobox boxing match
| Fight Name   = The Showdown
| image        = [[File:Leonard vs Hearns.jpg|250px]]
| caption      = 
| fight date   = September 16, 1981
| location     = [[Caesars Palace]], [[Paradise, Nevada]], U.S.
| titles       = [[World Boxing Association|WBA]], [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] and [[The Ring (magazine)|''The Ring'']] [[Undisputed championship (boxing)|undisputed]] welterweight titles
| fighter1     = [[Sugar Ray Leonard|Ray Leonard]]
| nickname1    = Sugar
| hometown1    = [[Palmer Park, Maryland]], U.S.
| purse1       = $8,000,000
| record1      = 30–1 (21 KO)
| age1         = {{age in years and months |May 17, 1956 |September 16, 1981}}
| height1      = 5 ft 10 in
| weight1      = 146 lb
| style1       = [[Orthodox stance|Orthodox]]
| recognition1 = [[List of WBC world champions#Welterweight|WBC]] and [[List of The Ring world champions#Welterweight|''The Ring'']]<br>Welterweight Champion<br>[[List of WBA world champions#Super welterweight|WBA]] and [[List of The Ring world champions#Junior middleweight|''The Ring'']]<br>Super Welterweight champion<br>2-division world champion
| fighter2     = [[Thomas Hearns]]
| nickname2    = The Hitman
| hometown2    = [[Detroit, Michigan]], U.S.
| purse2       = $5,000,000
| record2      = 32–0 (30 KO)
| age2         = {{age in years and months |October 18, 1958 |September 16, 1981}}
| height2      = 6 ft 1 in
| weight2      = 145 lb
| style2       = Orthodox
| recognition2 = [[List of WBA world champions#Welterweight|WBA]]<br>Welterweight Champion<br>[[The Ring (magazine)|''The Ring'']]<br>No. 1 Ranked Welterweight
| result       = '''Leonard''' wins via 14th-round '''[[technical knockout|TKO]]'''
}}
'''[[Sugar Ray Leonard]] vs. [[Thomas Hearns]]''', billed as '''''The Showdown''''', was a professional boxing match contested on September 16, 1981, for the [[Undisputed championship (boxing)|undisputed]] welterweight championship.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns (1st meeting) |url=https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Sugar_Ray_Leonard_vs._Thomas_Hearns_(1st_meeting) |website=boxrec.com |publisher=BoxRec |access-date=4 September 2024}}</ref>

==Background==
Sugar Ray Leonard won the [[World Boxing Council|WBC]] welterweight title with a fifteenth-round knockout of [[Wilfred Benítez]] in 1979. He lost it to [[Roberto Durán]] by a close decision in June 1980 and regained it five months later in the infamous [[No Más Fight]], in which Duran quit in the eighth round. In June 1981, Leonard moved up to the [[light-middleweight]] division for one fight, knocking out [[Ayub Kalule]] in nine rounds to win the [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] light-middleweight title.

Hearns won the [[World Boxing Association|WBA]] welterweight title in 1980, scoring a second-round knockout of [[José Cuevas (boxer)|Jose 'Pipino' Cuevas]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. He made three successful title defenses, stopping Luis Primera, Randy Shields, and Pablo Baez.

Promoted as "The Showdown" Leonard (30-1 with 21 KO) fought Hearns (32-0 with 30 KO) on September 16, 1981, at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV to unify the world welterweight championship in a scheduled fifteen-rounder. They fought before a live crowd of 23,618 and a worldwide TV audience of some 300 million.<ref>{{cite news |title=Leonard, Hearns Set For Championship Bout |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19810915&id=K6NPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WwYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3542,7976235 |access-date=4 September 2024 |work=Ocala Star-Banner |agency=Associated Press |date=15 September 1981 |location=Las Vegas, Nevada}}</ref> It was one of the first major bouts to be promoted by [[Main Events]].<ref>{{cite web |author1=George Kimball |title=Leonard-Hearns I: The Showdown September 16, 1981 |url=http://boxingtalk.com/Leonard-Hearns-I-The-Showdown-September-16,-1981 |website=boxingtalk.com |publisher=BoxingTalk |access-date=8 October 2024 |date=19 March 2007}}</ref>

==The fight==
The fight began as expected, Leonard boxing from a distance and Hearns stalking. Leonard had difficulty with Hearns' long reach and sharp jab. By the end of round five, Leonard had a growing swelling under his left eye, and Hearns had built a considerable lead on the scorecards. Leonard, becoming more aggressive, hurt Hearns in the sixth with a left hook to the chin. Leonard battered Hearns in rounds six and seven, but Hearns miraculously regrouped. Hearns started to stick and move, and he started to pile up points again. The roles reversed: Leonard became the stalker and Hearns became the boxer.

Hearns won rounds nine through twelve on all three scorecards. Between rounds twelve and thirteen, Leonard's trainer, the legendary [[Angelo Dundee]], said the now legendary words "You're blowing it now, son! You're blowing it!"

Leonard, with a badly swollen left eye, came out roaring for the thirteenth round. After hurting Hearns with a right, Leonard exploded with a combination of punches and sent Hearns through the ropes. Hearns managed to rise, but was dropped again near the end of the round.

In round fourteen, after staggering Hearns with an overhand right, Leonard pinned Hearns against the ropes, where he unleashed another furious combination, prompting referee Davey Pearl to stop the contest and award Sugar Ray Leonard the undisputed world welterweight championship. Hearns was leading by scores of 124–122, 125–122, and 125–121.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Ed Schuyler Jr. |title=Leonard puts hit on Hearns |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19810916&id=RWsjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ae4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6228,827948 |access-date=4 September 2024 |work=The Spokesman-Review |agency=Associated Press |date=17 September 1981}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
After the fight, there was controversy due to the scoring of rounds six and seven. Even though Leonard dominated, hurting Hearns and battering him, all three judges gave both rounds to Leonard by a 10-9 margin. Many felt that the [[10-point must system|ten-point must scoring system]] was not properly used and those rounds should have been scored 10–8.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1981/09/28/825975/on-top-of-the-world-on-a-hot-summer-desert-night-sugar-ray-leonard-punched-thomas-hearnss-lights-out-and-became-the-undisputed-welterweight-champion''Sports |title=Illustrated'' September 28, 1981 |website=si.com}}</ref> While the 10-point must system is now regarded as the international standard for scoring combat sports, at the time the [[Nevada Athletic Commission]] had only recently adopted it for all fights it sanctioned. As such, judges used to scoring with older methods—such as the 5-point must system or round scoring—had little guidance as to whether or not a round could be scored 10-8 if it did not contain a knockdown. There was some talk also of the fight being ended sooner and for less reason than was usual for the era.

===Rematch===
{{main|Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns II}}
The rematch, billed as "The War", would happen eight years later June 12, 1989. Although most at the fight including the television announcers scored it as Hearns winning, the judges called it a draw and were loudly booed by the ringside crowd. With one judge scoring the fight 113-112 for Leonard, another judge scoring it 113–112 in favor of Hearns and the third scoring it even at 112–112.

==Undercard==
Confirmed bouts:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://boxrec.com/en/event/2085|title=BoxRec - event|publisher=}}</ref>
*[[Marvis Frazier]] knocks out Guy Casale in Round 4.
*[[Tony Ayala]] knocks out Jose Baquedano in only 69 seconds of round 1.
*[[Edwin Rosario]] beat James Martinez by a 10-round Unanimous Decision.

==Broadcasting==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! align=center | Country
! align=center | Broadcaster
|-
| {{flag|Mexico}} || [[Televisa]] 
|-
| {{flag|Philippines}} || [[People's Television Network|MBS 4]]
|-
| {{flag|United Kingdom}} || [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]
|-
| {{flag|United States}} || [[HBO]]
|}

==References==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Ayub Kalule vs. Sugar Ray Leonard|vs. Ayub Kalule]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Sugar Ray Leonard]]'s bouts |years=28 March 1981}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Bruce Finch|vs. Bruce Finch]]}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Thomas Hearns vs. Pablo Baez|vs. Pablo Baez]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Thomas Hearns]]'s bouts |years=28 March 1981}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Muhammad Ali vs. Trevor Berbick|vs. Ernie Singletary]]}}
{{s-ach|aw}}
{{s-bef
|before={{small|[[Matthew Saad Muhammad]] vs. [[Yaqui López]] II}}
}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[The Ring magazine Fight of the Year#1980s|''The Ring'' Fight of the Year]]
|years=1981
}}
{{s-aft|after={{small|[[Rafael Limón vs. Bobby Chacon IV]]}}
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Sugar Ray Leonard}}
{{Thomas Hearns}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Hearns}}

[[Category:1981 in boxing]]
[[Category:1981 in sports in Nevada]]
[[Category:September 1981 sports events in the United States]]
[[Category:Boxing matches at Caesars Palace]]
[[Category:Boxing matches involving Sugar Ray Leonard|Hearns]]
[[Category:Boxing matches involving Thomas Hearns|Leonard]]
[[Category:Boxing matches promoted by Main Events]]
[[Category:Boxing on ITV]]
[[Category:Boxing on HBO]]
[[Category:Welterweight championship matches]]