Boxing · 1987 · Las Vegas, USA
The Super Fight
Nearly three years out of the ring, Sugar Ray Leonard challenges the undisputed middleweight champion and wins a split decision people are still arguing about.
Leonard def. Hagler, split decision
Result
~3 years
Leonard's layoff before fight
0 (retired)
Hagler's fights after
Marvin Hagler had been the undisputed middleweight champion for years, unbeaten in the division and fighting in a relentless, punishing style that had discouraged most of the contenders. Sugar Ray Leonard had been largely inactive for nearly three years and moved up in weight specifically to take him on, and was widely expected to struggle.
At Caesars Palace on 6 April 1987, Leonard fought it on his own terms, using lateral movement, flashy combinations and moments of pure showmanship to steal rounds on the judges' cards while Hagler pressed forward all night looking for the finishing punch that never fully landed. It went the full twelve rounds.
Leonard took the split decision. Hagler disputed it for years afterwards, and plenty of observers agreed with him that the work rate should have carried the fight. The 'Super Fight', as it had been marketed, still gets picked apart round by round, and Hagler never fought again.
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