 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | June 12, 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBC super middleweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12-round split draw (112-113, 113-112, 112-112) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns II, billed as The War, was a professional boxing match contested on June 12, 1989, for the WBC super middleweight title. [1] The fight ended in a split draw, meaning Leonard retained his respective title.
In January 1989, promoter Bob Arum announced the long-awaited rematch between reigning WBC super middleweight monarch "Sugar" Ray Leonard and reigning WBO super middleweight champion Thomas Hearns. [2] The two fighters had met previously nearly 8 years before, with Leonard rallying in the 14th round to defeat Hearns by technical knockout after trailing on all three of the judge's scorecards. [3] Both Leonard and Hearns had become five-division champions in their previous fights with Leonard capturing both the WBC light heavyweight and super middleweight after defeating Donny Lalonde on November 7, 1988, while Hearns had won the lightly regarded WBO super middleweight strap only three days before, after earning a close majority decision against James Kinchen. Leonard then vacated his light heavyweight title, deciding to stay in the super middleweight division. Leonard and Hearns agreed to fight at a catch-weight of 164 pounds rather than the 168-pound super middleweight limit. A $500,000 per pound fine was to be paid by one fighter to the other should either come into the fight above the catch-weight, [4] though this turned out to not be an issue as Leonard weighed 160 pounds and Hearns came into the fight at 162.
Leonard was a 3 to 1 favourite. Hearns minor WBO belt was not on the line because Leonard refused to have anything to do with the WBO due to its involvement with fighters from apartheid South Africa. [5]
On the day of the fight, Hearns' younger brother Henry was arrested for the shooting death of his girlfriend at a house Thomas owned in Detroit. [6] Promoter Bob Arum went to the hotel Hearns was staying at to check on him and told the press "Tommy was angry at me for coming by and he said to me: This is not going to affect me. Look, I’m here to do a job--I’ve been waiting eight years to knock this guy out." [7]
Hearns scored the only two knockdowns of the fight, dropping Leonard in the third after grazing him with a right cross that caused Leonard to lose his footing and again in round 11 after landing consecutive right hands. Though Leonard did not score a knockdown over Hearns, he would have a big round five, winning the round 10–8 on all three scorecards after dominating Hearns throughout the round. Leonard would also win the 12th and final round on all three scorecards as well, though Judge Shirley would give Leonard a 10–8 round as opposed to the other two judges who scored it 10–9; had Shirley scored the round 10–9, Hearns would have been declared the winner by split decision.
In a hard-fought bout, Leonard and Hearns would go the full 12-round distance and ultimately fight to a split draw as one judge (Jerry Roth) scored the fight 113–112 for Hearns, another (Tom Kaczmarek) scored the fight the same albeit in Leonard's favor and the third (Dalby Shirley) had the fight even at 112–112. The draw was controversial as most who watched the match, including the television announcers had Hearns winning by enough to be surprised by the official scoring. The ringside crowd loudly protested the decision.
Both fighters, however, accepted the decision with Leonard stating "I think we both showed we're champions. I accept the decision." and Hearns declaring, "I respect their decision. I'm proud I had a draw. The judges could have ruled that I lost. So I'm thankful for what I have." [8]
Confirmed bouts: [9]
| Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Middleweight | 164 lb | Ray Leonard (c) | vs. | Thomas Hearns (c) | SD | 12/12 | Note 1 |
| Featherweight | 126 lb | Kennedy McKinney | def. | David Moreno | UD | 6/6 | |
| Lightweight | 135 lb | Manuel Medina | def. | Jorge Cazares | RTD | 5/6 | |
| Heavyweight | 200+ lb | Ray Mercer | def | Ken Crosby | KO | 1/6 | |
| Light Heavyweight | 175 lb | Andrew Maynard | def. | Stephen Schwan | KO | 1/6 | |
| Flyweight | 112 lb | Michael Carbajal | def. | Eduardo Nunez | KO | 4/6 | |
| Welterweight | 147 lb | Robert Wangila | def. | Buck Smith | MD | 6/6 |
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 United States | HBO |
Roberto Carlos Durán Samaniego is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: Lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight. Duran also reigned as the undisputed and lineal lightweight champion and the lineal welterweight champion. He is also the second boxer to have competed over a span of five decades, the first being Jack Johnson. Durán was known as a versatile, technical brawler and pressure fighter, which earned him the nickname "Manos de Piedra" for his formidable punching power and excellent defense.
Marvelous Marvin Hagler was an American professional boxer. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight division from 1980 to 1987, making twelve successful title defenses, all but one by knockout. Hagler also holds the highest knockout percentage of all undisputed middleweight champions at 78 percent. His undisputed middleweight championship reign of six years and seven months is the second-longest active reign of the 20th century. He holds the record for the sixth longest reign as champion in middleweight history. Nicknamed "Marvelous" and annoyed that network announcers often did not refer to him as such, Hagler legally changed his name to "Marvelous Marvin Hagler" in 1982.
Ray Charles Leonard, best known as Sugar Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professionally between 1977 and 1997, winning world titles in five weight classes; the lineal championship in three weight classes; as well as the undisputed welterweight championship. Leonard was part of the "Four Kings", a group of boxers who all fought each other throughout the 1980s, consisting of Leonard, Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler. As an amateur, Leonard won a light welterweight gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Thomas Hearns is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 2006. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra", and more famously "The Hitman", Hearns's tall, slender build and long arms and shoulders allowed him to move up over fifty pounds (22.7kg) in his career and become the first boxer in history to win world titles in five weight divisions: welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight.
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns, billed as The Showdown, was a professional boxing match contested on September 16, 1981, for the undisputed welterweight championship.
Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns, billed as The Fight,, was a professional boxing match contested on April 15, 1985, for the undisputed middleweight championship.
Demetrius Cesar Andrade is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, at light middleweight and middleweight. As an amateur, he won the U.S. national championships and Golden Gloves twice each, a gold medal at the 2007 World Championships, and represented the U.S. at the 2008 Olympics; all in the welterweight division.
Peter Quillin is an American professional boxer who held the WBO middleweight title from 2012 to 2014. He also challenged once for the WBA (Regular) middleweight title in 2015.
Timothy Ray Bradley Jr. is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2016. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC light welterweight title twice between 2008 and 2011, the WBO light welterweight title from 2009 to 2012, and the WBO welterweight title twice between 2012 and 2016.
Santos Saúl Álvarez Barragán, commonly known as Canelo or Saúl Álvarez, is a Mexican professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, from light middleweight to light heavyweight, including unified titles in three of those weight classes and lineal titles in two. In 2021, Álvarez became the first and only boxer in history to become the undisputed champion at super middleweight, holding this distinction until July 2024. He has also held the Ring magazine super middleweight title since 2020.
Gilberto Ramírez Sánchez is a Mexican professional boxer who is a two division world champion. He has held the World Boxing Association (WBA) cruiserweight title since March 2024. He previously held the WBO super middleweight title from 2016 to 2019, and is the first boxer from Mexico to win a major world title in those weight classes. He unified the cruiserweight title on November 16, 2024 with the WBO championship. As of April 2024, Ramírez is ranked as the world's best active cruiserweight by BoxRec, sixth by The Ring magazine, and seventh by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
James Toney vs. Roy Jones Jr., billed as The Uncivil War, was a professional boxing match held on November 18, 1994, for the IBF super middleweight championship.
Roy Jones Jr. vs. Mike McCallum, billed as Fire on Ice, was a professional boxing match contested on November 22, 1996 for the interim WBC light heavyweight championship. It was Jones' first fight in the light heavyweight division.
Manny Pacquiao competed in professional boxing from 1995 to 2021. Regarded by boxing historians as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time, Pacquiao is the only boxer in history to win twelve major world titles in eight different weight divisions. He is also the first boxer in history to win the lineal championship in five different weight divisions, as well as being the first boxer in history to win major world titles in four of the original eight weight divisions of boxing, also known as the "glamour divisions": flyweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight.
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Durán III, billed as Uno Mas, was a professional boxing match contested on December 7, 1989 for the WBC super middleweight title.
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Terry Norris was a professional boxing match contested on February 9, 1991, for the WBC super welterweight title.
Wilfred Benítez vs. Sugar Ray Leonard was a professional boxing match contested on November 30, 1979, for the WBC and The Ring welterweight titles.
Thomas Hearns vs. James Kinchen was a professional boxing match contested on November 4, 1988, for the NABF and the inaugural WBO super middleweight titles.
Iran Barkley vs. Roberto Durán, billed as Steel vs. Stone was a professional boxing match contested on February 24, 1989, for the WBC middleweight title.
Michael Nunn vs. Iran Barkley, billed as Thunder in the Night, was a professional boxing match contested on August 14, 1989, for the IBF middleweight title.