Imagine if you could go back in time and have a front row seat to watch Picasso draw, Jackson Pollack splat or Julia Childs prep a roast.
Showtime’s four-part documentary, “The Kings,” allows the viewer to go back in time next Sunday at 8 p.m. and the following three Sundays to watch four of the greatest boxers in their prime to ever grace the squared circle.
“The Kings” chronicles the intertwined lives of Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran in and out of the ring.
Fight fans know them as “Sugar,” “Marvelous, “Hit Man” and “Manos de Piedra” or Hands of Stone, respectively. Non-fans will be impressed with the depth of the documentary because it’s more than just boxing. It’s the ’80s era complete with riots, an oil crisis, and a sagging economy.
All four fighters have been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, NY. They were the best of the era when fighting the best meant fighting each other.
It’s not like today when a former champion comes out of retirement to fight a novice who swiped his hat.
The documentary captures the rise and decline of the four starting in the late ’60s (Duran) to the end of the early 2000s (Hearns).
Besides interviewing the four great fighters at various times in their careers, the documentary taps into the experiences of trainers, journalists (including yours truly) and countless members of the boxing fraternity.
Their carousel of great battles started when Duran fought Leonard in 1980 and it continued with Leonard-Hearns (1981), Hagler-Duran (1983), Hearns-Duran (1984), Hagler-Hearns (1985) and ended with Leonard-Hagler (1987).
Frank Belmont doubts we will ever again see a fight with the buildup of Leonard-Hearns.
“You have to remember, pay-per-view was in its infancy,” said Belmont who directed the fight, his first major boxing gig. Simply called “The Showdown,” it was for the unified welterweight title. “It was an absolutely enormous event. HBO had the first delayed broadcast and ABC had the second delay.
“My cousin Dan (Duva, of Main Events) promoted the event,” stated Belmont who’s been in TV production for over 40 years.
David Dinkins, Jr. – yes, the Mayor’s son – produced Leonard-Hagler, Leonard-Hearns II and Leonard-Duran III. The four-time Emmy award winner wanted one point to come across the airwaves.
“I wanted people to get the sense of the moment,” said Dinkins, the senior vice president/executive producer, Showtime Sports and Event Programming. “Even in the middle of their careers you knew you were watching the best because they were in their primes.”
The vintage footage of the fighters and the politics at the times are front and center. From Presidents Carter and Reagan to the Challenger explosion, the film brings you back in time right to the front row.
There’s Don King ranting about a Leonard advisor, Ray Arcel trying to explain Duran’s “No Mas” to Howard Cosell, Leonard admitting he took a couple of shots and a line of coke before telling a crowd and Hagler that their super fight wasn’t going to happen. That era was that crazy.
But it is the fighters that carry the show with their extremely different personalities.
There is Duran who was Mike Tyson before Mike Tyson complete with a snarl and a pet lion and dealing with the suspicious death of his mentor Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos. He also had a front row seat to the United States’ invasion to remove dictator Manuel Noriega.
There is Leonard, the 1976 Olympic gold medalist, making his pro debut on national TV for the tidy sum of $40,000 and unheard-of amount at the time and making his peers envious and jealous.
There is Hagler who mauled you into submission then complained no one would fight him because he was black, southpaw, and very good.
And there is Hearns. If Thanos was a fighter, he’d be Hearns. He could knock you into tomorrow. Just ask Duran.
Hall of Fame broadcaster Al Bernstein worked both Hagler-Hearns and Hagler-Duran.
“Hearns and Hagler brought out the fan in me,” declared Bernstein who was on his way to a Hagler memorial in Brockton MA, the champ’s adopted home. Hagler died this past March. “Tommy was the ‘Elvis of Boxing.’ Something special happens when he enters the ring. Marvin was fun to watch. He was rough and tumble and would have his way with you.
“Don’t ask me to pick who’s the toughest,” said Bernstein with a chuckle. “All four Kings were tough.”
And his best fighter to interview?
“That’s a close call between Leonard and Hagler,” he said. “Marvin was unfiltered. He told you what was going on in his mind. Ray was a PR man on his own behalf, but you didn’t know if you were getting the unvarnished truth.
“Ray could be in the communications department of the White House.”
The Kings shows the fighters and the people – trainers, wives, parents, or lack thereof – in their lives, warts, and all.
Duran was attracted to alcohol, women and fun and not in that order.
Hearns did is best to raise the spirit of Detroit gutted by the collapsing auto industry.
Leonard morphed from America’s sweetheart in front of the cameras to a junkie away from the bright lights. “I spent over a quarter of a million dollars on coke,” he says in the documentary not to mention he beat his first wife and was sexually abused by a coach.
Hagler saw Newark go up in flames during the riots of the late ’60s and his mother escaped with his five siblings to Brockton the hometown of former heavyweight champ Rocky Marciano.
The Kings’ director Mat Whitecross of England spent two years crafting this film.
“Showtime gave us three hours, then four,” he said, adding, “I could have done twenty hours … my favorite bits wound up on the cutting floor.”
The weaving between the fighters, the era and politics was well thought out.
“My parents are exiles from Argentina, so we always talked politics,” he noted. “This film is a statement about the ’80s and four lives in turbulent times.
“Boxing is about struggle,” stated Whitecross who has directed numerous films and music videos on Cold Play and the Rolling Stones. “I feel conflicted about boxing like most people. I wanted to show boxing in its glorious highs and devastating lows. That’s why it’s loved and loathed.
“The trickiest part was trying to win over the boxers. I wondered would they speak to a Limey about boxing. It had the complexity of a Victorian novel.”
For the “Hit Man,” he was glad the documentary put the Kings in the proper spotlight.
“The people want and demand good fights,” said Hearns, his voice a little thick from the wars with Leonard and Hagler. Subtitles were used in the film to help understand Hearns. “Me and Ray showed how hungry we were. The fans demanded to see the best. Nobody put on a show like we did.”
His only regret?
“I always wanted to sit down with Marvin and try to convince him to do it again,” he said. The Hagler-Hearns fight is the greatest three-round explosion in boxing history. “I could never convince him.”
The documentary shows them eventually challenging Father Time.
Hagler’s career ended with the controversial loss to Leonard while Duran and Leonard both concluded their careers with losses to Hector Camacho. Surprisingly, Hearns is the only one of the Kings to end his career with a win, over someone named Shannon Landsberg.
“To this day people keep talking about the four kings,” said Ed Brophy, executive director of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. All four fighters were inducted into the Hall in their first year of eligibility. “They were great for the sport and the fans. It was a remarkable era.”
