Marvin Hagler-Tommy Hearns 30 years on - The greatest fight

Marvin Hagler-Tommy Hearns 30 years on - The greatest fight On 15 April 1985, Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns engaged in one of the greatest fights in history at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Hagler spoke to BBC Sport about the before, during and after of what came to be known as 'The War'. Promoter Bob Arum called the fight between Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns "a referendum for boxing". The eight minutes and one second of mayhem that ensued validated the sport in the eyes of its supporters while strengthening the already widely held belief that it was such primeval savagery. "Even today when I look at the film, I'm so glad when that fight is over," Hagler tells BBC Sport. And Hagler won it. So spare a thought for Hearns, who entered the ring at Caesars Palace clinking and clunking with bombs and grenades and who eventually had to be carried to his stool, like a sleeping baby. The 1980s is now viewed as boxing's last golden age, at least in the United States. So it might surprise some to learn that Hagler and Hearns were viewed as potential resuscitators of a sport on life support. Viewing figures were flagging. When Muhammad Ali finally hung them up in 1981, it left the heavyweight division with an almighty hole, which the dour Larry Holmes was unable to fill. When Sugar Ray Leonard, the charismatic and gifted heir to Ali, retired in 1984, to some it felt like the sun setting on the sport. The early 1980s also saw an explosion of alphabet champions, so that single champions in recognisable weight classes became increasingly rare. In addition, the medical fraternity and politicians were lobbying hard for boxing's abolishment. On the eve of Hagler-Hearns, the Chicago Tribune wrote: "Boxing has had enough autopsies to hire its own morgue, and it has of late been widely regarded as doomed." The Washington Post went with: "Hearns-Hagler to the rescue." Much the same has been written about next month's eagerly