For Fight fans who haven’t got access to the Discovery+ streaming service, Find a Friend Who Has as it features an exciting documentary series.
Between November 1980 and December 1989 there were nine unforgettable fights between four giant talents – Sugar Ray Leonard, the marvelous Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran and Tommy ‘Hitman’ Hearns. I was lucky to have covered seven for SunSport.
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For unsurpassed talent, bloodthirsty adventures and skill and enough passage to empty a box of tissues, those glorious battles will still be talked about and debated nearly 100 years from now.
British director Matt Whitecross was hired by the American network Showtime to make a documentary of those epics.
Whitecross and his creator Fiona Nielsen have come up with a masterpiece, aptly named The Kings, that audiences will love for years.
It took two years to make and consists of four, classic one-hour films of such breathtaking grandeur that capture every nuance of those dazzling couplets.
The legendary quartet are interviewed in great depth before and after the fight and each one gives a fascinating insight into their complex characters and personalities.
Four fights stand out above the others, the first being the Leonard–Duran showdown, their return five months later, Hagler–Hearns and Hagler–Leonard.
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I remembered Leonard-Duran II and Hagler-Duran II, but the Magnificent Seven I saw are indelibly etched in my memory, although they happened four decades ago.
Had Hollywood scripted Leonard and Duran’s 15-round battle at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, critics would have dismissed it as too far-fetched.
He must have said that it is not possible for two men to trade such punitive punches for 45 minutes at such a high speed.
That Panamanian devil Duran got the judgment of the narrow points. Leonard lost his world welterweight title and his unbeaten record.
That fight was full of brilliance and bravery and is still the best fight I have ever seen.
When they met in New Orleans five months later, Duran claimed he had stomach cramps, cried ‘no mass’ in the eighth round and left – the most infamous and outrageous surrender in boxing history.
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Leonard had regained his title and prestige, but easily his most sensational victory came when his arm and leg speed, as well as his ring savvy, completely dodged Hagler for the world middleweight crown. Earned a memorable 12-round split decision to win.
Sugar Ray came out of retirement and five years into a fight – Hagler who was beaten for 11 years, never fought again.
Those of us ringside in Las Vegas when Hegler defended against Hearns will never forget the first round—the most brutal opening three-minute claim ever. As soon as the bell rang, they pounced on each other as if two violent lions were fighting over a carcass.
Blood began to flow from a deep wound on Hagler’s forehead.
The concerned referee Richard Steele asked, “Can you see, Marvin?” Hagler’s short answer was, “I can’t remember him, right?” Hearns before being knocked out in the third round.
Kings highlights the best of boxing as well as the worst.
Aside from Hagler, who retired at age 33, sadly, others did their best and found themselves beaten by inferior opponents.
The documentary about the Ali-Foreman rumble in the Oscar-winning jungle saga 26 years ago when they were kings mesmerized The Kings—and I can’t praise it more.
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