Leonard came back for Hagler, won on a split decision, and Hagler never fought again

Sugar Ray Leonard's first comeback lasted one fight. In May 1984, in Worcester, Massachusetts, Kevin Howard knocked him down in the fourth round, and although Leonard stopped him in the ninth, he retired again on the spot. "My confidence wasn't there," Leonard said afterwards. "I was very apprehensive. I had cold feet." Marvin Hagler, who lived about 70 miles away in Hanover, had been in the crowd.

Mugabi

Hagler beat Roberto Durán in 1983 and Thomas Hearns in 1985. Eleven months after stopping Hearns, on 10 March 1986 in the outdoor arena at Caesars Palace, he fought John Mugabi, who was 25–0 and had knocked out every man he had beaten. The fight had been put back from the previous November after Hagler hurt his back in training.

Hagler knocked Mugabi out in the 11th round, but Sports Illustrated called it the most testing of his fights as middleweight champion. Stephen Wainwright, Hagler's former attorney, said: "That's the first time I ever saw Marvin suffer a beating." Al Bernstein, the ESPN analyst, did not see decline. "I didn't think Hagler was slowing down," he said. "I thought Mugabi fought a terrific fight."

Leonard was at ringside, watching with Michael J. Fox. "Michael, I can beat Hagler," he told him.

The challenge

On 1 May 1986, in Washington, he said so in public. "Every time I see Marvin, I get the itch. If he wants to fight, I'll do it." He also said: "There is a burning desire in me now. At one time the flame had gone down, but the pilot light was always lit."

Hagler took his time. In July, at an emotional press conference in Brockton, he talked about retiring. In August his acceptance was announced through the promoters, Top Rank: he did not want, it was reported, to "go down in history as the man who ducked Ray Leonard".

Mike Trainer, Leonard's lawyer and adviser, then set about the terms. The fight would be over 12 rounds rather than 15, in a bigger ring than usual and with heavier gloves. Sources differ on the exact ring and glove sizes, but not on who asked for them. Hagler's side took more money in return. "We bought three rounds," Trainer said later. "I gave them the money and they gave me the rounds."

Hagler was guaranteed $12 million and Leonard $11 million. It was for Hagler's WBC title. He was 62–2–2 with 52 knockouts and had not lost in 11 years. Leonard was 33–1 and had not fought since Worcester. In five years he had boxed nine rounds.

Hagler was the clear favourite, and most of the writers covering the fight picked him. "I have to pick Hagler," said HBO's Larry Merchant. Leonard, meanwhile, had been fighting in private. "We brought in guys from around the country that were in the top 20, and Ray had four fights," said J.D. Brown, the matchmaker for Leonard's promotional company. "He was 4-0 with two knockouts." Trainer had pushed him to spar without headgear. "I needed to be hit," Leonard said. "I needed to be hurt."

Caesars Palace

They met in the outdoor arena at Caesars Palace on 6 April 1987. Hagler, a southpaw, spent part of the early rounds boxing orthodox. "I saw Hagler in an orthodox stance," Leonard said. "I wanted to say, 'Hold on. Stop this fight.'" Leonard won the first four rounds. The judge Dave Moretti later said: "I gave Leonard, like, five out of the first six rounds, and when you do that, the guy's only gotta win two more rounds."

Hagler did hurt him. "He buckled me in the fifth round with an uppercut," Leonard said. "That was the only blow that hurt me." But Leonard had a plan for the rounds he was losing. "A couple days before the fight, I told Ollie Dunlap to tell me when there's 30 seconds left in each round," he said. Dunlap was his assistant. Kenny Bayless, the inspector in Hagler's corner, remembered: "I could hear Ollie Dunlap yelling out, '30 seconds!'" Leonard used those closing seconds to throw flurries.

Sports Illustrated's William Nack called the ninth "surely the best round of the fight". Hagler trapped Leonard in a corner and Leonard fought his way out with flurries. "Marvin had him on the ropes, and Ray backed him off," said Dunlap. "That's when the fight turned." In the 12th, with the crowd chanting "Sugar Ray", Leonard threw the longest flurry of the night, a dozen punches in a row. After the final bell he dropped to his knees. Nobody had been knocked down.

The cards

It went to the judges. Lou Filippo scored it 115–113 for Hagler. Dave Moretti had it 115–113 for Leonard. José "Jo Jo" Guerra, from Mexico, scored it 118–110 for Leonard, which gave Hagler two rounds out of 12. The ring announcer, Chuck Hull, read out: "The winner, by a split decision, and new [WBC] middleweight champion of the world. Sugar Ray Leonard!"

It was Guerra's card that caused the trouble. "JoJo Guerra should be put in jail," said Hagler's manager, Pat Petronelli. Years later Bob Arum, who promoted the fight, called it just about the worst card he had seen. "That was ridiculous," he said. "Marvin got cheated because he had that Mexican judge."

"I feel in my heart that I am still the champion," Hagler said. "I hate the fact that they took it from me and gave it to Sugar Ray Leonard, of all people." Of Leonard's late bursts, he said: "That flurry stuff didn't mean nothing." He thought he should have been left to choose his own moment. "It's not fair, they should've let me retire with my title and decide later if there'll be a rematch. It should've been my decision and not the judges' decision."

Hagler said Leonard came to him at the end and told him: "You've won, man you beat me." Leonard's version was that he asked Hagler, "We're still friends, right?" and that Hagler answered: "Yeah, good fight, good fight."

Leonard said he had never cared about the belt. "I was never interested in his title. Just in beating him. I still think he's the undisputed middleweight champion." Trainer told him: "I'm so proud of you, it scares me."

The argument

The Ring made it both its fight and its upset of the year, and nobody has agreed about it since. Merchant scored it a draw and said: "Ray pulled off a historic con job to get the decision." Bernstein said: "I thought that the right scorecard was Lou Filippo's, a two-point win for Hagler." HBO's Barry Tompkins scored it for Leonard "by a point or two".

Hagler never changed his mind. "Real boxing people, they know I won," he said. Leonard, years later, pointed to another fight. "The second Hearns fight, when we got a draw, Hearns should have gotten the decision. I admit that. So don't you think if I thought Marvin beat me, I'd admit that, too?"

Italy

On 27 May 1987 Leonard announced his retirement again. "I won the fight and he knew it," he said.

In October Hagler was in Livorno, Italy, commentating on Sumbu Kalambay's fight with Iran Barkley. "They stole my title from me that night," he said. "The only way I would probably fight again is if Leonard came back and we fought for the title. But that is most unlikely." On 12 June 1988 Kalambay beat Hagler's half-brother, Robbie Sims, in Ravenna. The next day Hagler, who had watched it, retired, saying he was tired of waiting for a rematch. In November Leonard came back again, stopped Donny Lalonde and won two more world titles.

Hagler moved to Italy and made action films there, among them Indio in 1989. Leonard later offered him a rematch, reportedly for $15 million, and he turned it down. "A while ago, yeah, I wanted him so bad, but I'm over that," he said in 1990. Later he put it more plainly: "I never put on a pair of gloves again. Never had one gym workout."

1989

The other three were not finished with each other. In February 1989 in Atlantic City, Durán, 37, fought Barkley, who had taken the WBC middleweight title by stopping Hearns in three rounds. Durán put Barkley down in the 11th and won a split decision, 118–112, 116–112 and 113–116. It was his fourth world title in a fourth weight division, and The Ring's fight of the year. "I am like a bottle of wine," Durán said. "The older I get, the better." Barkley said: "It was his heart. It just wouldn't go."

In June Leonard defended his super-middleweight title against Hearns at Caesars Palace, almost eight years after their first fight. "That little monster has chased me for eight years," Hearns said beforehand. "I've never gotten over that loss. I think about it every day." He knocked Leonard down in the third round and again in the 11th. One judge had Hearns ahead by a point, one had Leonard ahead by a point and the third had them level. It was a draw. "I think we both showed we're champions," Leonard said. "I accept the decision." Hearns said: "I'm proud I had a draw. The judges could have ruled that I lost." Durán said Hearns should have been given the decision.

On 7 December 1989, at the Mirage in Las Vegas, Leonard and Durán met for the third time, in a fight billed as "Uno Mas". Leonard was 33 and Durán 38. Leonard boxed on the move for 12 rounds and won 120–110, 119–109 and 116–111, with tactics, he said, "that you try to teach young fighters". The crowd booed. Leonard's cuts, from butts and punches, took about 60 stitches.