The War by Don Stradley - book review

The War by Don Stradley

I read this book because the topic interested me. I must have read a second edition of the book because there was an addendum about Marvin Hagler written after Hagler’s death.  Stradley must have been told that he was biased against Hagler. I got that impression too.

Stradley actually offers fuel to the thought that the Hagler-Leonard fight was fixed. That fight ended in split decision. Leonard was declared the new champion. Hagler disappeared. People said Leonard didn’t win. He didn’t beat the champ. Hagler didn’t demand a rematch. Fix!

This book suggests that Hagler was not a charismatic champ that kids liked and adults wanted to drink with. Leonard was handsome and smart. He could be a better ambassador. Hagler seemed cranky. He didn’t sell a lot of tickets.

The funny thing was that Hagler was declared “Boxer of the Year” multiple times. He had fans.

In Angelo Dundee’s book, “My View From the Corner,” he says Hagler was tired when he fought Leonard. He said Hagler wanted to retire anyway. Stradley also says this. This book puts out that Leonard ducked Hagler until  Hagler was ready to retire. He also says when Leonard became a champ, he was booed. Sugar Ray Leonard was a good ring announcer and commentator. He wasn’t a fan favorite after all.

This book tells a lot of Thomas Hearns’ story. He too was under appreciated. He won titles in five different divisions. He didn’t avenge his losses but he came back after every one. He was smart, fast and powerful. He was seen as lesser than Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. He did lose fights to them, but his career lasted longer than theirs. His career had more championships. He was considered boxer of the year several times.

“The War” starts years before the Hagler-Hearns match. Stradley goes into the careers of the fighters. At the time, boxing was trying to capture public imagination. Muhammad Ali retired. Larry Holmes was effective as a champ, but boring. Fans looked to middleweight boxers for excitement. These fighters were lighter and faster. Boxing wasn’t on regular television. HBO had contracts for big fights, but not every big fight. A fan saw big fights like this one day later on regular television. Pay per view hadn’t become a thing yet.

The author describes the fight in exciting detail. Fans were stunned to see such action and violence. Hagler was cut and bleeding in the second round. Hearns was so knocked around that he looked dizzy. Hearns broke his hand in this short fight. According to punch count, the fighters threw a punch every second of the fight.

I went on-line to find the fight. It was a quick furious fight. There were wild swings and close powerful hits. Sweat everywhere.

They say Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were done as fighters after the Thrilla in Manila because that bout was so intense. This fight was the same for Hagler and Hearns. Sure Hearns had a career after this, but he looked diminished. No matter what he accomplished, this fight hung over his head.

Fans at the time said that had Hearns been able to box instead of slug it out, the end would’ve been different. Had Hearns’ legs been stronger, he would’ve lasted. We can never tell. There was never a rematch.

The book says this was one of the greatest first rounds in boxing history. Agreed. He says to check out Jack Dempsey vs. Firpo. That first round was insane. Firpo gets knocked down six times, some might be trips. He gets up and knocks Dempsey out of the ring! Dempsey gets up and they still keep going. There was no way in modern times that fight would’ve continued. Dempsey knocks Firpo down again after after he gets up!

“The War” was a good book about the times, the match and the aftermath.