Most Americans have April 15th circled on their calendars as a reminder to file their taxes.
Forty years ago – April 15, 1985 – fight fans had that date circled for a far different reason: The long-awaited Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns vs. “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler Middleweight Championship Fight was scheduled at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Billed as “The Fight” it soon became known as “The War” after three action-packed rounds of prolific punching.
Hearns broke his right hand on a punch during a furious first round and opened a cut over Hagler’s right eye. Hagler weathered that storm and kept driving forward to eventually knock Hearns’ out in the third round following referee Richard Steele momentarily stopping the fight for the ringside doctor to give Hagler clearance to continue. (Do yourself a favor and watch the entire fight [just over eight minutes] below.)
Both The Ring magazine and KO Magazine deemed Hagler-Hearns the “Fight of the Year” and called Round 1 the “Round of the Year.” Many boxing fans still consider the first round the best in the sport’s history and the totality of the three rounds among the best ever.
Yahoo!Sports gave the fight the retrospective look (at this link) last week as the 40th anniversary approached and it’s well worth your time.
The photographer, Sports Illustrated‘s Walter Iooss Jr. is among the all-time great sports photographers. Remember “The Catch” photo? Yep, that was him. Check out his website here.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.