30 years later, Richard Steele recalls epic Hagler-Leonard fight

From barrooms to internet chat rooms, the debate still rages three decades later: So who really won that memorable middleweight championship fight in a hotel-casino parking lot three decades ago — Marvelous Marvin Hagler or Sugar Ray Leonard?

On Thursday’s 30th anniversary of the vehemently disputed title bout, the third man in the ring has a stronger opinion than he did April 6, 1987. No one was closer in proximity to the unfolding drama than Richard Steele, the referee. The bout, one for the ages, one replete with hype and controversy, was an epic ring confrontation. With a definable ebb and flow, the match tested the skills, determination and courage of both aging warriors.

“Now, looking at it 30 years later, I’m really shocked that I had that fight so close,’’ said Steele, the tall, always-in-charge Marine who lives in Henderson. “It wasn’t as close as I thought it was.’’

Steele, 73, sat with an RJ reporter this week and scored the fight watching a replay. Leonard won on his scorecard 117-113, a wide gulf considering two Nevada Athletic Commission judges had it much closer in the split-decision victory by Leonard, a 3-1 underdog.

This week, the RJ scored the fight a draw.

When ring announcer Chuck Hull gave the scores to the anxious crowd — punctuated by the dead-giveaway line “For the winner and new world middleweight champion” — Steele immediately felt trepidation.

“I was thinking, “Man, they’re going to steal this fight,’ ‘’ from Leonard, Steele said. “I knew Hagler had lost the fight. But when (Hull announced) ‘split decision,’ I said, ‘Oh, my God.’ ’’

Nevada judges Dave Moretti (Leonard 115-113) and Lou Filippo (Hagler 115-113) posted reasonable decisions. But judge Jo Jo Guerra of Mexico dipped his scorecard into the ink of infamy when he gave Hagler only two rounds, leaving Leonard a wildly lopsided 118-110 winner. (Guerra later said he mistakenly scored two rounds for Leonard.

For years, the outcome has been rehashed by boxing cognoscenti and fight mavens. Moretti has a simple explanation for why 30 years often seems like 30 seconds.

“I’ll tell you why: It keeps coming up,’’ he said. “There was all that excitement and electricity before the fight. I figured it would be like every other (championship bout), and it would die off. But it never does.’’

Indeed, the fight was a dramatic culmination of events. Because of Leonard’s detached retina and retirement issues – he had only one fight in the previous five years – the former welterweight king was under heightened scrutiny to get his license to box.

Leonard cherry-picked Hagler as a comeback opponent after watching John “The Beast’’ Mugabi give the undisputed 160-pound champion fits a year earlier. Leonard was sitting ringside with Michael J. Fox when he told the actor: “I can beat Hagler.’’

Hagler struggled but eventually knocked out Mugabi. But his dwindling reflexes had been exposed. Leonard, the ever-slick ring magician, was convinced that his fluid lateral movement, peppered by bursts of in-and-out flurries, would thwart him.

A month shy of his 33rd birthday, Hagler was lured into the fight against Leonard, two years his junior, by a guaranteed $11 million. Hagler’s final purse was $19 million, Leonard’s $12 million.

By fight night, everyone was whipped into a frenzy, including more than 15,000 fans in a temporary arena in a back parking lot at an iconic hotel-casino. It is not often that you find Frank Sinatra, Bo Derek and Telly Savalas in the rear of Caesars Palace.

Leonard recalled his palpable apprehension as he ducked through the ropes to enter the ring. “I had one thought in my mind — how hard that son of a bitch could hit,’’ he said from Pacific Palisades, California.

Hagler, who lives in Italy, declined to be interviewed for this story.

As the fighters met in the center of the ring, Steele, as he had done in the dressing rooms, said: “I want to caution you again – obey my commands at all times.’’ Although Leonard rarely had his ears boxed off during a Hall of Fame career, he apparently did not have his listening ears on that evening.

Leonard the ring butterfly quickly flitted about after the opening bell, but he wasn’t harmless. He held the back of Hagler’s shaved skull, flicked with an open glove and blatantly grabbed a rope strand. Leonard’s no-nos included repeated clutching, shoves and and a low bolo punch.

The Brockton, Massachusetts, blockbuster kept stalking — more like plodding. He often whiffed. “He should have made a war out of it in the first round — that’s what I was expecting,’’ Steele said. “I was expecting a really ugly fight.’’

Meanwhile, Leonard kept clutching Hagler as if he were his best girl, smothering Hagler’s malevolent advances. Steele kept warning Leonard; the challenger kept grappling. Steele shouted to Hagler, “Punch out!’’ to break free.

“Those were soft warnings,’’ Steele explained this week, saying he never deducted points because the flow of the fight was not interrupted and because Hagler “wasn’t complaining.’’

What would haunt Hagler was a decision carved of hubris. A natural right-hander who had converted to southpaw, he opened the first six minutes of the bout fighting right-handed. Mistake.

“When I saw he was right-handed, I said, ‘Damn, this is even better because I was a nervous frickin’ wreck,’ ” Leonard recalled.

Hagler had made a horrendous chess move on canvas, one TV fight analyst Gil Clancy seized upon immediately. “I just don’t like that (he’s fighting orthodox) at all. Why he does that, I’ll never know,’’ said the sage former trainer. By the eighth round, Clancy was a boxing prophet: “If he loses this fight because he gave away those first two rounds, he is not going to be able to live with himself.’’

Overconfident, Hagler made other tactical mistakes. The worst was accepting a 12-round maximum fight distance instead of the traditional 15, in exchange for a juicier guarantee. Leonard started wilting in the middle rounds but remained competitive.

“I was spent,” he said.

Before the scores were announced, Hagler and Leonard embraced. Leonard whispered into Hagler’s right ear. Later, the ex-champion would say that Leonard told him that he won. To this day, Leonard disputes the claim, saying he said, “Marvin, you’re still a champ to me.’’

“Even if I believed he won, would why I tell him?” Leonard reasoned.

With that, Leonard gave the loser a peck on the cheek. And Hagler kissed boxing goodbye.

Jon Mark Saraceno can be reached at jsaraceno@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jonnysaraceno on Twitter.