One fought undisputed Middleweight Champion Marvin Hagler. In fact Roberto Duran was at the time the only fighter to go the distance with Hagler as Champion, something only Sugar Ray Leonard would accomplish four years after Duran. The other fighter was trying to get into position to challenge Hagler for the Middleweight Championship. Thomas Hearns was a two division Champ at the time. He won the Welterweight title with a stunning knockout over Pipino Cuevas, and won the Junior Middleweight title with a 15 round majority decision over Wilfred Benitez.
Entering his bout with Hearns, Duran had won titles at Lightweight, Welterweight, and Junior Middleweight and had a gaudy 77-5 record. In his last fight before facing Hearns, Duran lost a close unanimous decision to undisputed Middleweight Champ Marvin Hagler over 15 rounds. In fact Duran was so competitive with Hagler that he only lost by one point on two cards and two points on another. He was actually ahead on two of the three cards after the 13th round. After fighting Hagler, Duran received much high praise for the fight he put up, because most Boxing experts had predicted a Hagler blowout going into the fight.
Thomas Hearns 38-1 was also on somewhat of a roll going into the Duran fight. Since losing to Sugar Ray Leonard, Hearns was 6-0. At this time Hearns was still trying to somehow resurrect his reputation as a great fighter, something that lost some of it's glow after being defeated by Leonard. The win over Benitez looked good, but Leonard had already defeated Benitez three years earlier. Although Hearns won a clear cut decision over Wilfred, he didn't look dominant or outstanding in the process. Now with Duran up next, Hearns had something to shot for.
Duran was the Nemesis of Hearns' conqueror Sugar Ray Leonard. Roberto handed Ray his first defeat back in June of 1980. In the rematch, Sugar Ray got Duran to say "No Mas", but the fight left a bad taste on the pallet of many Boxing fans. So Hearns viewed Duran as being the perfect fighter to restore his name against.
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Entering his bout with Hearns, Duran had won titles at Lightweight, Welterweight, and Junior Middleweight and had a gaudy 77-5 record. In his last fight before facing Hearns, Duran lost a close unanimous decision to undisputed Middleweight Champ Marvin Hagler over 15 rounds. In fact Duran was so competitive with Hagler that he only lost by one point on two cards and two points on another. He was actually ahead on two of the three cards after the 13th round. After fighting Hagler, Duran received much high praise for the fight he put up, because most Boxing experts had predicted a Hagler blowout going into the fight.
Thomas Hearns 38-1 was also on somewhat of a roll going into the Duran fight. Since losing to Sugar Ray Leonard, Hearns was 6-0. At this time Hearns was still trying to somehow resurrect his reputation as a great fighter, something that lost some of it's glow after being defeated by Leonard. The win over Benitez looked good, but Leonard had already defeated Benitez three years earlier. Although Hearns won a clear cut decision over Wilfred, he didn't look dominant or outstanding in the process. Now with Duran up next, Hearns had something to shot for.
Duran was the Nemesis of Hearns' conqueror Sugar Ray Leonard. Roberto handed Ray his first defeat back in June of 1980. In the rematch, Sugar Ray got Duran to say "No Mas", but the fight left a bad taste on the pallet of many Boxing fans. So Hearns viewed Duran as being the perfect fighter to restore his name against.
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