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On April 15, 1985, “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler (60-2-2, 50 KOs) battled Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns (40-1, 34 KOs) at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The fight is widely considered the best action-packed three rounds in the history of boxing.
Hagler, the undisputed Middleweight champion of the world, was facing the No. 1 ranked Middleweight contender in Hearns, who happened to be himself the Junior Middleweight champion of the world.
The bout was nicknamed “The Fight” going into it by Bob Arum and would later be labeled “The War”.
Detroit’s own Hearns, who had moved up from Welterweight, to Junior Middleweight, to Middleweight, had won the world title in the 147 and 154 pound divisions–defeating WBA Welterweight champ Pipino Cuevas (TKO 2) and winning the WBC 154-pound title from Wilfred Benitez by majority decision.
Hearns, considered one of the hardest knockout artists of all-time, had knocked out the first 30 of 32 fights by KO and had defeated a few Middleweights going into this fight.
Hagler, the king of the Middleweight division to say the least, had been the undisputed Middleweight champion since September of 1980 and defended his title 10 times.
He was looking ahead to breaking Carlos Monzon’s record of Middleweight defenses, which was 14.
The rest, as they say, is history as Round 1 is considered the greatest round in the history of the sport, according to Ring magazine.
Personally, it’s one of my favorite fights of all-time and it lasted just three rounds. It mercifully shows what this intoxicating sport is all about.
