The ironic thing was that they reversed their natural tendencies for much of the fight. Leonard, the boxer with speed and finesse, became the hunter, and Hearns, with his punching power, became the boxer with the effective jab.
This fight sealed Leonard’s greatness, and made Hearns yearn for another opportunity to prove he was better. They would fight again and the match would be scored as a draw, but most think Hearns won that fight.
Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Duran
Duran was a Hall of Famer who was a beast, and finished with a record of 104-16 with 69 knockouts. Duran thought Leonard was less of a man than he was, and said so publicly.
In their first fight, which was a 15-round war, Leonard ignored conventional wisdom, and stood in front of Duran the whole fight duking it out with him.
In trying to prove to Duran that he was not afraid of him, he fell into his trap. It was one of the best fights in welterweight history, but Leonard took the loss.
In the rematch, Leonard used his boxing speed, style, and counter-punching ability to humiliate Duran into quiting in the eighth round. Leonard also taunted Duran during the fight. No one had ever done this to Duran before.
Duran was knowm for his brutality—but he was reduced to a loser, quitter, and a traitor.
Nine years would pass before the two men fought again, when they were well past their primes. Leonard dominated that one as well. The “no mas” fight will always be remembered—and these men will forever be linked together, like Ali and Frazier were.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics
The Magic-Bird rivalry started in the college championship game in 1979 and continued into the professional ranks. No other personal rivalry actually carried over like this one did. That being said, the Boston-L.A. rivalry started long before Magic and Bird came on the scene.
Overall, the Lakers and Celtics have met 11 times in NBA finals since 1959, with Boston winning nine of them. Bird and Magic coming into the NBA was significant, because up until that time, the NBA was in a down period. The battles the two men would have against each other generated a tremendous amount of interest.
It was the slower, plodding, teamwork-oriented Celtics against the Showtime, fast-breaking, highlight-reel Lakers. Many times fans made it the mostly Caucasian Celtics vs. the mostly African-American Lakers.
This rivalry forced all the fans to pick sides. These star-studded battles revitalized the NBA—and Magic and Bird were the stars of stars. They rescued the NBA from low attendance and low television ratings.
Overall, Magic would get the better of it against Bird winning two championships (1985 and 1987) head-to-head versus Bird's one (1984).
Other Lakers-Celtics battles featured Bill Russell and Bob Cousy for Boston, and Elgin Baylor and Jerry West for Los Angeles.
Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson
We have to take a moment to mention these two separately from the Boston-L.A. rivalry—because of what was at stake when they played, the intensity of the battles, and the way the fans took sides and debated who was better. They were both great, but I would have to give Magic the slight edge.
Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain
These two warriors met 142 times in 10 years, were unquestionably the most talked-about matchup in basketball in the 1960s, and are still debated today.
Keep in mind that the game was a little different then than it is now. Bill and Wilt guarded each other every time they played. That wouldn’t happen today, because most times teams' best players don’t guard each other, so they can stay out of foul trouble.
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