Arguably down 3-4 rounds in a 15 round main event..
...Sugar Ray Leonard was able to cement himself as one of the all time greats with the miraculous feat he pulled out in the 14th round.
Thomas 'Hitman' Hearns was royalty in the era of the 'Three Kings' (Duran, Leonard, Hearns) at welterweight. These legends all faced each other with completely different outcomes, and their clashing styles made the 70s and 80s all that more exhiliarating to watch.
This fight proved to some that Sugar Ray was the greatest of all time; Leonard was one of the only men to dismantle contenders in Duran and Hearns, and although many believed the fight was too close to call for Sugar, he still moved up to middleweight and fought the legendary Marvelous One... Marvin Hagler.
Sugar Ray had the biggest cajones in the world when he came back from his early retirement and conquered top tier fighters in Hearns and Hagler.
The Hitman posed a lot of problems to the shorter and less rangy Sugar, and if rounds were 12 as they are today, history would have been rewritten in favor of Hearns.
It was the true championship rounds (13-15) that determined greats back in the day, and Sugar was able to rally with the help of his coach's words and put fire into each one of his punches.
"We're blowing it Ray, we're blowing it!"
These words in Ray's mind from his longtime coach seemed to propel him to the highest peak of pugilism and allowed him to finish this fight!
In a magnificent flurry during the 14th round, Hearns had no energy to withstand the constant pressure of Sugar and was saved by the ref.
This is arguably the greatest comeback in boxing history, and it's well deserved. Sugar Ray was the greatest of his era.. was he the greatest of all time?
As a recommendation from @easyboi, I have included the knockout here!
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