Forget Mayweather-Pacquiao, this was the one!…

In a few months time we shall see the fight between Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao, it will be the richest fight of all time and if you want to watch it then get your credit card ready and make sure your satellite signal is in good order. It is being billed as the fight everyone wants to see, in truth, it’s one of the very few anyone is bothered about anymore. Like so many other sports, boxing has suffered from a distinct lack of not only world class boxers but characters in and out of the ring who can sell a fight.

This fight, which is long overdue because of Mayweather’s reluctance to fight a man capable of beating him seems like a last hurrah for a sport struggling to justify its sport tag in a modern world. The problem for many sports is that in the pursuit of technical excellence the fun, uncertainty and excitement has been replaced by media savvy, sponsor controlled cardboard cut outs. Nobody relies on pure talent anymore, nobody believes that they can have a few drinks and stay out all night with a glamour model because their talent will see them through. The game has, quite literally, changed.

In 1985 two of boxing’s hardest men met in one of the most brutal fights ever seen. Marvin Hagler was the undisputed middleweight champion of the world, he won that title five years earlier and held on to it with an iron fist, defending his title ten times before the Hearns fight which included beating Roberto Duran. Thomas ‘the hit man’ Hearns could boast one of the hardest punches of all time, by the time of this fight he had won thirty of thirty two fights by way of knock out. He stood toe to toe against Sugar Ray Leonard and knocked out Duran. He was that good.

These were huge characters and when that first round bell sounded they traded punch after punch. Hagler was badly cut and by the third round he knew the fight would soon be stopped because of it. As the blood ran down his face he battered Hearns into submission and cemented his place as one of the greatest fighters of all time.

Take a look at the first round, remember how big fight nights used to be on television? I love the passion in the commentary, if you were around at the time it is sure to bring back memories…