By the time that June 6, 1984 rolled around…..both Roberto “Manos de Piedras” Duran faced off against the WBC world light middleweight champion Thomas “Hitman” Hearns…..both had already established themselves as super great legendary boxers during the golden age of boxing from 1964 to 1995…..for there was no other era of boxing in which more legends of the sport of boxing entered the ring against each other…..and this was just another one of the many that took place in this incredible time in boxing. These two along with Sugar Ray Leonard and Wilfred Benitez were referred to as The Fantastic Four….and deservedly so.
Roberto Duran came into the fight with a 77 – 6 record….having held the undisputed world lightweight title for 8 years from 1972 to 1980….when he vacated the title to move up and defeat Sugar Ray Leonard for the undisputed welterweight title…..so, he was already a legend by the time he entered the ring with Hearns…..who on the other hand had entered this fight with a career record of 39 – 1…..with his only blemish coming in a war against another legend of the golden age of boxing in Sugar Ray Leonard…..as Hitman entered this fight having held world titles as a welterweight and light middleweight.Duran entered the fight at 154 lbs……while Thomas Hearns was at 153¼ lbs…..with the fight being held at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV….ant the referee was long time big fight referee Carlos Padilla….with Shelly Saltman, Walter Alvarez, and Golden Circle Productions promoting the fight. Both fighters were guaranteed $1.85 million…..as before the fight, Duran was stripped of the WBA junior middleweight title for fighting Hearns and not Mike McCallum, the mandatory challenger….for he could get much more money for fighting Hearns. The fight was shown on closed circuit television in over 200 locations and on pay-per-view in up to 2.1 million homes…..there was a crowd of 14,824 at Caesars Palace….as Hearns was a 2 to 1 favorite.
Hearns dropped Duran twice in the first round. At the end of the round, a confused Duran went to a neutral corner and one of his handlers had to go get him. After nailing Duran with a devastating right to the jaw in the second round, Hearns stepped back and Duran fell face first to the canvas. The fight was over.
