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EPISODE: Episode 31
The awesome Post-Ali era featured The Fab Four in this series, and on this episode we enjoy an analysis of the epic fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy “The Hitman” Hearns. Watch The Scoop from Monday to Friday featuring Canadian heavyweight champ Bola Ray, who lends his vast experience in the sport and provides his comments and analysis on boxing, on YouTube and TalkinFight.com/live. #boxinghistory #sugarrayleonard
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Transcribed:
Hello and welcome once again talking fight fans from around the world to another episode of the scoop, with champ bola ray on his ongoing series on the post ali era of the great rivalry and matchups between four great fighters.
He refers to as the fab four.
Maybe the old entire boxing world calls them the fab four, certainly not the beatles uh and tonight we’ve got another great episode, uh i’ll, let you introduce it, go ahead, how you doing tonight, i’m good i’m good well for tonight.
Well, today, the guys um that i’m talking about today were so dominant that they reigned supreme over a few different weight classes.
At the same time, both were world champions of different belts at the sa at this in the welterweight division.
At the same time, which created an epic unification uh boat, this is yet another classic belt of the fab.
Four that made the 80s so memorable, my name is bulla raymond.
This is the scoop.
The collision course was set for the two most iconic warriors in modern day, boxing his sweetness and not me, but sugar, ray leonard revered as one of the greatest boxing minds and ability of our time and tommy.
The hitman heard arguably the greatest puncher ever pound for pound during a pre-fight press conference.
Tommy said that his right hand can make this.
The easiest fight he’s ever had and waved his fist only to have ray respond.
Tommy makes a lot of mistakes and tries to knock everyone out with one punch.
I use my mind.
Maybe tommy would, if he had one okay at this point in their career, ray was using was seen as untested by some critics.
His win over roberto duran was more seen as roberto as opposed to ray winning tommy, on the other hand, obviously has a force in a few different divisions.
His with a record of 32 fights 32 wins with 30 knockouts um yeah.
He was nothing shy of impressive ray in a future.
Uh interview admitted that he was actually intimidated by ray by tommy, who, who was four inches taller than him, and had a four inch reach advantage of the fab four.
These two were the most similar in that their styles were heavily influenced by muhammad ali and ray robinson sugar, ray robinson that is um.
They both relied heavily on their jabs to set up their offense and navigate their opponents through throughout the fight ray was looking to a certain degree um at a taller, longer version of himself who had the most dominant eraser in the world at the time yeah.
He should feel nervous row.
One begins with rey on his bike.
Tommy’S in hot pursuit, now ray’s doing a great deal of or is having a great deal of difficulty getting around tommy’s or dealing with tommy’s jab continue to dance on the outside and which made things difficult for him to actually launch his own offense being tommy’s.
So much taller um, he was hoping to rely on his impressive reflux and timing, but uh well yeah encounter tommy that didn’t really work out.
That great remember this is the hitman and he’s the hitman for a reason.
Part of what made him so successful was his timing.
So ray would start attempting to doubt dart in to the counter and tommy would be gone.
Coming back with a counter punch on his own by the second round um.
It was evident that the strategy just was not working for ray tommy was out boxing ray from the outside and um with.
Actually, relative ease ray was attempt to dart in and counter punch and tommy would just result in tommy making take a step back and catching right over and over and over again in the corner.
In the second round, angela dundee uh rey’s trainer decided to change things up.
Um she told ray that you have to get inside.
You have to work get inside and take it to him in a future interview.
Ray commented on that suggestion and said it’s easier said than done.
It’S easy for him to say he’s not the one going in there on tommy um taking chances like that.
Isn’T the best idea if you want to remain on your feet by at the final bout, but he had to do it.
He had no choice after losing to duran was the worst feeling he’s ever had and he vowed he’d.
Never ever go there again.
So caution to win round three started with ray counter punching tommy’s cross with a hook of his own, which landed flush now tommy wanted to pay ray back, so he went hunting and by this time, instead of ray dancing around on the outside race took his ground And sat in the pocket and was slipping in close range, very dangerous, um it made for an interesting fight because it was like something’s going to happen.
Some one of these two are going to drop.
The two fighters remained in striking range with each other.
For the remainder of the of the round, where both the uh displayed in human speed and timing, where punches were thrown and the other would slip and virtually no one caught a consequential punch, one would throw the other one slip and come back with the shot and The first person would slip or he’d come back with a shot and the second person will slip again and it goes on and on and on as such, then a few seconds left in that round hearn caught ray with a clean cross in the top of his Head followed up with a solid body shot boom.
This had ray fall into the ropes and tommy, then unleashed a few more winning combinations or round winning combinations.
It was evident that ray couldn’t out box tommy on the outside, nor the inside.
This narrative continued throughout the fourth and fifth round, so ray landed, some great shots but got paid back and then some for his troubles, either on his way in or as he’s finishing, the combination and pulling out real lost.
The first five rounds easy round six.
Now this was a pivotal round.
The round started with the usual exchange which, by this point time, it almost looks, rehearsed ray, would throw a huge left hook, which tommy would slip come back with a big cross of his own, which ray would slip tom and ray.
Would come back with another hook and tommy would slip, but this time the second hook, tommy decided to just pull back instead of slip it and he got caught flush on his chin.
Tommy’S legs turned to rubber and he was in a date.
Uh rey came to life, ray, went to work to finish, tommy and so and tommy finished the round on his feet, but he was like.
I said he was in a daze.
He was, he was he was, he was hurt.
Taunting taunting him ray asks.
You all right, as the round was done now, the chess game gets has a new variable.
Tommy has a suspect, chin.
Okay ray was exhausted, going into the seventh.
After that, extending that display he was.
He was utterly gutted um in future interviews.
Tommy recanted that going into the seventh round, he just wanted to make take some much needed time to clear his head and catch his breath, but the strategy that he subscribed to made no sense to me instead of getting on his bike and dancing peppering ray from The outside, making it very difficult for ray to actually get inside on him, tommy decided to actually stand his ground and fire at close range.
His thinking was that he was going to bully ray and have rey go back to the ray of first and second round where he was dancing on the outside.
This was an epic fail.
Why? Because rey didn’t dance on the outside ray just took this opportunity to actually tag tommy like now, they’re in close range tommy gifted him like a better gift.
I cannot think of he gifted him.
His body and ray took full advantage of it.
Like he’s in striking range, he pounded him, pounded him and he just stood there in the corner.
Minister changed the game plan and told tommy.
He had to start boxing and remain on the outside.
This worked beautifully.
This was a complete roll reversal.
Now, all of a sudden tommy was the one on the perimeter and ray was the one hunting.
This was a scenario for the next three rounds.
Ray found.
It really well really didn’t have an answer for for this ollie look-alike now early in the 11th round, tommy catches ray with a straight right hand and for the first time ray went backwards like retreated rachel’s full a couple steps backwards, not showing that he was hurt, But cautiously tommy brings the heat and pounds rey for the remainder of the round.
Now.
Okay, that’s another round for tommy round 12 saw both fighters ex change up their game plan once again, where they stood in the middle of the ring and they just exchanged.
Tom was finding a great deal of success with his flicking jab, but he wasn’t throwing the cross.
It was almost as if he wasn’t.
He took his foot off the pedal to knock him out and just was looking for the w um accumulating points, and that was it ray, on the other hand, did even less.
He didn’t really throw that many punches and stood in like harm’s way and just ate ate those jabs, those flicking jabs yeah, they weren’t knocking him out, but he was rocking his head all over the place like compete, a pinata we’re now in round 13.
round 13 Saw ray, walk out into the middle of the ring and throw anything called fear and common sense out the window.
He came in and gambled everything on his on his two uh two support teams here gave him a jab and a crushing right that landed flush which sent tommy reeling back into the ropes ray did what ray does jumps him 25 unanswered punches tommy took a pounding From only to have then tommy, finally, roll out from one rope onto the adjacent rope and ray was in hot pursuit, jumps him again and starts pounding him.
Some more only to have tommy sort of fall through fall through the ropes.
It wasn’t counted as a knockdown.
The ref stops it tommy gets back in ray jumps right back on him and with seconds left ray catches him and drops tommy again, but this time it’s seen as a knock down all right, ray or tommy barely makes the count or the box, and the bell Goes off so he gets a much needed minute break now we walk into the 14th round and after that much needed minute.
Break tommy is way was going.
Everything was going his way for the first minute of the 14th round and all he was doing.
He was jabbing, he was on his toes.
He threw a couple combinations, but he was dancing and he was keeping his distance from ray, and that was all and good ray was stalking.
Tommy, like he was prey, and after the first minute, ray caught tommy with an overhand right which sent him crashing into the ropes as he’s falling backwards to the ropes ray, follows him with his hands up in the air.
Like i’m the champion all right and then he goes in for the kill, he starts, opening up on combinations, non-stop combinations, and then he starts calling the ref to stop the fight.
He does it once does it twice? Does it the third time and finally, the ref calls the fight 14th round ko win for leonard what a fight both these fighters gained so much credibility after this fight ray now could not be denied anymore, that he was the greatest of that time and tommy showed How much heart and boxing iq he has, they did have a rematch, which i did a segment on in my series of greatest robberies in boxing check it out, but uh outside of that they both earned each other’s incredible respect.
Um somewhat friends, i fought on a card in uh where tommy hearns was the guest of honor at the show.
So during our pre-fight uh press conference, i asked tommy.
Are you still friends with hagler and duran the way, you’re friends with tommy uh with uh ray? It’S always says who told you i was friends with ray: what was it? Okay, i’ll get my facts straight before i ask you another question: ray ray’s, a special individual he’s.
He very much is the prima donna of the group um we’re not enemies but we’re.
We have a great deal of respect for each other.
I i don’t think you could ask for any anything more than that um.
They helped each other be etched in boxing history.
They need they need each other.
So that’s my episode for today.
So with that, if you like this episode, please smash the like button and hit subscribe.
Believe and don’t forget the notification, though here’s your boy, baller well said young man, that’s that’s been a great series on just, and that was an epic fight by the way and your analysis of it was fantastic all the way through those rounds.
Uh yeah well done.
Uh, i’m sure that fight funds out there have one question just like i do, and the question would be out of those four who was your favorite who’s, your top guy? Who who was it? That’S my episode for tuesday of next week, all right, fair enough.
I have one more fight coming up on uh monday, which is uh leonard hearns uh, larry hagler, oh wow, okay, great fantastic, so the series continues.
The series continues: okay, looking forward to it fantastic thanks, very much ray appreciate it thanks very much good listenership good viewership.
Thank you.
It’S been a great great week, uh and uh.
That was so well done.
I’M really proud of you.
That’S great, and i will see you on monday over here, like share subscribe.
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