Forty years ago, on April 15, 1985, middleweight champion of the world Marvelous Marvin Hagler entered the ring at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, to make the 11th defense of his crown. In the opposite corner: former welterweight and reigning junior-middleweight titlist Thomas “Hitman” Hearns.

Hagler had won the crown against Britain’s Alan Minter in September 1980 – his second shot at a world championship in his 54th professional contest – his first title tilt having ended in disappointment and controversy when he had to settle for a draw against Vito Antuofermo 10 months previously. 

Famously, after stopping Minter in the third round in London, he was unable to savor his victory when Minter’s always-delightful fan base pelted the ring with beer bottles and glasses. Shrugging off that frustration, over the next five years he defended against the likes of Fulgencio Obelmejias, Wilfred Scypion, Mustapha Hamsho, and Tony Sibson, before being taken the distance by Roberto Duran – the first of only two occasions as champion when he had to hear the scorecards.

Hearns, having won a welterweight title via second-round knockout of Pipino Cuevas in 1980, was stopped by “Sugar” Ray Leonard in a unification battle the following year before moving up to 154lbs, taking a title from Wilfred Benitez, and then knocking Duran out cold – an accomplishment that would prove beyond Duran’s opponents in the other 118 bouts of his career, even if the Panamanian made his task easier by spending much of the build-up drinking and having sex in his hotel suite.

Heading into the contest, Hagler was 60-2-2 with 50 KOs, while Hearns was 40-1 (34 KOs). And while Hearns was the one moving up in weight to take on a dominant champion, their respective performances against Duran and a few perceived hints of decline in the middleweight kingpin added intrigue to their match-up.

Four decades later, Hagler-Hearns is considered one of the most dramatic-and-exciting fights of all time. But does the reality hold up to the mythology? Let’s watch along once more.

Round 1

Hagler, normally a restrained starter, throws a wild right immediately. He backs Hearns up, throws to the body and lands a right hand upstairs, but then Hearns throws a combination off the ropes, including a right hand that appears to stun Hagler. Hearns  fights furiously off the ropes and Hagler briefly holds.

When they break, Hearns gains a bit of distance and looks to keep Hagler at bay with snapping jabs and overhand rights. A couple of short rights land for Hearns, who is bouncing on his toes as Hagler stalks forward and snaps back Hearns’ head with a right hand.

Hagler is now cut above his nose as he bulls Hearns into a corner. The two men work in close quarters as Hagler lands a right and a left. Hagler is landing short punches in close, Hearns torquing more into his blows as he tries to back Hagler up and take the fight to center ring. Two rights and a left land from Hearns but then the man from Michigan is hurt for the first time as a right hand from Hagler sends him sliding along the ropes. As the bell rings, Hagler glowers at his foe while he walks back to his corner. 

Round 2

Hagler comes out fast again and lands a lead left. Hearns is moving, and looking to box and land uppercuts as Hagler comes in. The southpaw Hagler temporarily turns orthodox and appears to knock Hearns backward with a stiff right. Hagler is digging to the body whenever the opportunity presents itself. Hagler turns southpaw again and rocks Hearns with some stiff jabs. Hearns’ balance already looks off as he struggles to get his full force behind his punches. A left, a right, and another right land from a bloodied Hagler as he traps Hearns on the ropes.

Round 3

Hearns lands a straight right and Hagler responds with a right of his own. Hearns is circling as Hagler looks to chop him down with hooks and southpaw lefts. 

Referee Richard Steele calls time for the doctor to look at Hagler’s cut. The crowd groans at the prospect of this contest being ended early. After the ringside physician gives him the go-ahead to continue, Hagler decides to end proceedings early. He misses with a left, Hearns lands with a right, and then Hagler scores with a short right to the chin that seems to shake Hearns to his boots. Hearns tries to hold. Hagler lands a left as Hearns circles away, and then a looping right hook lands on Hearns’ temple and sends him careening sideways in all kinds of trouble. Another right crashes into Hearns’ jaw and the Hitman goes down on to his back. He just about makes it to his feet inside the count but he is in no position to defend himself and Steele waves it off. Total elapsed time of the contest: seven minutes and 52 seconds.

Because boxing fans are who they are, in the decades since there have been occasional voices such as this one and this one arguing that Hagler-Hearns is somehow overrated. A rewatch confirms what memory and common sense already knew: these people are wrong.

Was Hagler-Hearns the greatest fight in history? That’s a subjective assessment, but if you prefer the momentum swings and protracted violence of Diego Corrales-Jose Luis Castillo I or Micky Ward-Arturo Gatti I to name just a couple, I wouldn’t fight you over it. But the argument is something of a straw man; few have argued that it was the greatest fight ever. What many have claimed and still do is that it was the most exciting and violent eight minutes in boxing history, and that’s a more difficult case to argue against. 

“Hagler-Hearns” has become a byword for two fighters at the top of their game laying it all on the line, discarding any concept of feeling each other out, and just throwing bombs until one falls. They were two of the best fighters in the world at the time and remain two of the best ever to have laced them up and yet they fought as if their very lives depended on victory. Their clash remains a thrilling watch all these years later when almost every move has been committed to memory; imagine the excitement and adrenaline rush of seeing it unfold live. If you’re a boxing fan and feel the need to “Well, actually” this fight, then candidly there’s something wrong with you.

One other thing that leaps out on a rewatch is that, for all that it takes two to tango and for all that Hearns stood his ground and gave it his all, this was by and large a Marvin Hagler ass-kicking. He set the tone of the fight from the beginning and forced Hearns to engage in a close-quarters brawl from which he was never able to escape. It says a lot about Hearns’ vaunted punching power that he was able briefly to dent Hagler’s famously sturdy chin; it says more about that chin that it broke Hearns’ fist into pieces and denied him his ultimate weapon for all but the first couple of minutes of the contest.

Hagler and Hearns were rightly inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as soon as they were eligible; despite their two careers providing plenty of unneeded justification for their inclusion, their brief-but-violent clash 40 years ago remains Exhibit A in the case for the defense.

Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcast about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He presently co-hosts the “Fighter Health Podcast” with Dr. Margaret Goodman. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com