40th Year Anniversary of Roberto Duran vs Thomas Hearns

This was a crossroad fight for both fighters moving up from the 147lb Welter division to the 154lb SuperWelter division.

Thomas Hearns was finally fighting in a weight class that suited his height and natural weight and is often mentioned as being the best 154 lb fighter in the world in spite of his short time in the division. Ironically, Roberto Duran was coming off of what most say is his most outstanding fight ever against All Everything Middleweight Champ Marvelous Marvin Hagler who had to put every ounce of his being into winning the last two rounds that won him a razor thin Decision over the mighty Duran. Yet the same Hagler would go on to completely steamroll Tommy when they fought 2 years later.

Insert ye aulden Mantra of styles make fights, but me thinks Marvin was in awe of Duran with a lot of respect for his abilities, and if Marvin had a weakness, it was that he loved to match wits with good boxers and it almost cost him his titles against Duran. With Hearns it was a grudge match with Tommy vowing to knock out Marv that really riled Marv up for one of the most fateful demolitions in Boxing history.

Anyway, as Hearns vs Duran turned out, for inexplicable reasons that later led to several rumors, Duran might as well been a County Fair Punch Dummy. Tommy knocked him down twice in the 1st round before finishing him in the 2nd with one of the most frighteningly concussive right hands in history. Spectators gasped in horror as Duran looked dead to the world, immobile with his face plastered to the canvas.

The good news was with Duran being Duran, he was just fine and getting warmed up for the extended finale of one of the longest and storied careers in boxing history. 

And of course, Tommy being Tommy was just getting warmed up for his long storied career in their shared era, so it was all a good Rock, Paper, Scissors Game of Fate with Duran first beating Ray Leonard, then Leonard beating Hearns, and fianally Hearns beating Duran. 

Valhalla was quite pleased as most boxing fans were with these storied warriors who made their shared era into another Boxing Epic for the Record Books…only in Boxing, Folks…