00:00The scene set, Las Vegas, Nevada.
00:03Tommy Hearns against Fighting Jim.
00:05Yes, that's what they call him, Richards.
00:08A super welterweight fight in terms of weight classification.
00:13Tommy Hearns, as you look at him, 22 years of age.
00:16Record 24-0, 22 KOs, awesome power, great reach.
00:22He's six feet, one inches tall.
00:24For a lighter weight classification fighter, that reach can be awesome.
00:29In the meantime, with 22 knockouts and the 24 victories, they call him Hitman.
00:35Fighting Jim Richards hasn't fought in seven months.
00:40That's the record that he claims.
00:42We have no verification of that record.
00:46They're ready for the start of the fight.
00:49Fighting Jim, born in Antigua, now lives in Curacao.
00:53Fights out of him.
00:57Hearns in the gold trunks.
00:59Richards, the green, turns, a clever boxer with that long left jab.
01:05Good power in his left hook.
01:08A real knockout punch for him is a whistling overhand right.
01:12He is usually a quick starter.
01:1420-foot ring, big ring.
01:29Referee, familiar veteran, Harry Krause.
01:32Three judges will score the fight.
01:35Referee with no voice in the scoring.
01:37The judges, Dave Moretti, Lou Tabbitt, Al Miller, all veteran judges in the state of Nevada.
01:44Hearns, as expected, making the fight.
01:57See him go to the belly with the right, and then move upstairs.
02:00This should not take very long.
02:09This should not take very long.
02:09Countdown in the lower right-hand corner of your screen.
02:29Tommy with his left hand at his side, the right hand up, protecting the chin.
02:46Hearns, out of Detroit, has been boxing since he was 10 years old.
02:56Tremendously impressive young fighter.
02:59A good friend of Sugar Ray Leonard, a reigning WBC welterweight champion.
03:04I saw Howard Davis, in 76, in the National AAU Championship, out-pointed.
03:14Counter-right by Richards there.
03:26Concerning throw, Hearns, has been a far cry from the fighter who lost to Howard Davis.
03:34We are counting down now to the end of round one in Hearns' round.
03:44He said, Tommy Hearns, to the right of your screen, fighting Jim Richards to the left.
03:50Interesting by-play in Hearns' corner between rounds.
03:55Lee Stewart, the manager trainer, told Tommy he was keeping his left too low.
04:00Remember, I had suggested that he was keeping his left at his side.
04:05So, Hearns has that left up, following instructions.
04:09Wallace Smith and Don Thibodeau, also in Hearns' corner.
04:14Johnny Taco, Frank Zimmerman, Harold Zimmerman, in Richards' corner.
04:19That's a long left jab. Scores repeatedly for Tommy.
04:41I like the way he's working to Richards' midsection.
04:44Even though Tommy habitually is a quick starter, he is a good boxer, and he is kept.
04:58A minute and a half into the second round.
05:19Into the belly with a right, and then quickly out of range.
05:23That's what Hearns did, he's got a couple of seconds to go.
05:42Two minutes into the round.
05:45Two minutes into the round.
05:48Two minutes into the round.
05:52Ten-point must system of scoring.
06:02Three knockdown roll in effect.
06:06Not wave, this is not a title fight.
06:13Eight-ounce ever-last gloves being won by the fighters.
06:16And it appears that Richards may last the second round.
06:21Biggeray Leonard sitting here watching Hearns closely.
06:31He may come, he may come, but he will have to reckon with his old friend within the round.
06:37Here's the end of the round in half.
06:44The bell for round three.
06:46That's Tommy Hearns you're looking at in the gold trunks.
06:48The opponent fighting Jim Richardson in the green trunks.
06:51Two rounds gone by, easily won by Hearns using that left jab as you just saw to score
06:58and frequently going effectively to the stomach.
07:02But Tommy has not yet uncalked that left touch.
07:05His troubles, his manager trainer, Manny Stewart.
07:10Manny told Tommy to get that left hook first.
07:13That's the overhand right, I tell you.
07:21Raise up, let's raise up.
07:31There you go, there you go.
07:33Come on.
07:47Richards on his toes, trying to stay out of range of Hearns.
07:54And a surprising paucity of action.
07:56Come on.
07:58Good combination to the midsection by Hearns.
08:12And the crowd waiting to see if Hearns is going to put him away as quickly as most have anticipated.
08:18Quite flurry there by Hearns.
08:29Richards, trying to back out of trouble.
08:32Trying to cover up with his gloves.
08:34A good right, stunned Richards.
08:36Here's the first knockdown with that knife.
08:38All right, come on.
08:51Fight resumes.
08:56Richards is ready to go.
09:01That should do it.
09:02He's trying to get up on the second strand.
09:08No, it's over.
09:10And so, an evident mismatch from the very beginning.
09:15And the knockout for the still unbeaten Tommy Hearns.
09:20No contest at all.
09:24Not a pretty thing to see.
09:26Should be better matchups than miss.
09:33All right, let's look in slow motion at the first knockdown.
09:38Wright got in there and down Richards' wing.
09:42That's Hearns' real knockout punch.
09:44The whistling overhand right.
09:46Two minutes, 27 seconds of the third round.
09:50The winner by a knockout, Tommy Hitman.
09:53Clear.
09:56All right.
09:57The official time, 2.27 of the third round.
10:02Now, we will take a look at the second and finishing punch.
10:10First to Wright.
10:12He was already going down.
10:14And then another Wright.
10:16And so, it was over.
10:19For fighting Jim Richards,
10:21who hadn't fought for seven months prior to this.
10:24And who off what we have seen may not fight for another seven months.
10:29Or maybe long.
10:30Looking at the winner by a knockout, Tommy Hearns.
10:34And, boy, have you come a long way since I had you against the Russians.
10:40Right here.
10:40I've been doing an awful lot of training for this fight.
10:43Trying to get myself in good shape.
10:45And I felt I was in pretty good shape.
10:47Real good shape.
10:48Best, really, best shape.
10:50And I've been in it quite a long time.
10:52It took an awful lot of hard training.
10:54But we're going to get ready for this fight.
10:55Now, you're the number two ranked welterweight
10:58by both the WBC and the WBA.
11:02So, what's next for you?
11:04Well, right now, we're looking at a fight in Detroit, 29th February.
11:10And I've been fighting for a USBA championship there in Detroit.
11:13And it's Angelo Spottos.
11:17Mm-hmm.
11:17Spottos?
11:18Yes.
11:18But don't you feel at this point in time,
11:21you're ready for Roberto Duran and Sugarman Leonard?
11:24I feel that I'm ready for any other top guys, top four guys, you know, in top ratings.
11:30I figure I'm capable of having myself in there with any other guys.
11:34Are they ducking you?
11:35Well, I would say that they are, really.
11:38They are.
11:38How about Ray?
11:39He's your friend.
11:40Yes, Ray is my friend.
11:41Now, but you can't do it like that.
11:45Friends, you can't look at it as the way you're looking at it now, as a friendship.
11:49When it's time for business, it's time to take care of business.
11:52We're friends now, but when it's time for us to get in the range,
11:54then it's a lot different.
11:55I just want to make one observation.
11:57I watched Manny Stewart, who's sitting right behind you, between rounds.
12:01He is an excellent corner man, and you follow his instructions very well.
12:05It showed, even in this easy bout against an outmatched opponent.
12:09Well, no, I wouldn't say this was so easy for me.
12:13The guy, he was pretty tall.
12:15He made it, you know, quite difficult for me the first two rounds, you know.
12:19He made it a little difficult for me.
12:20So, I had to sort of like change my strategy around in order to get to this guy.
12:25Which was the value of Manny, because he told you exactly what.
12:28Congratulations to you.
12:29Thank you, Hal.
12:30Thank you, Hal.
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