Q 6

PLAYBOY: How do you rate yourselves as punchers?

Thomas Hearns: Marvin's got a very strong left hand and a good right jab. On a scale of one to ten, I rate Marvin an eight or a nine. I rate myself the same.

Marvin Hagler: I rate myself as a good puncher. I don't say I'm a one-punch knockout artist, because very early in my career my trainer stopped me from trying to be like that. I take my time; I hurt you, I give you an ass whipping and I make sure you're not the same man when we finish. Thomas was a very good puncher when he was a welter-weight, but I think you lose punching power then you move up in weight classes. But that's something I'll have to find out for myself.

Q 7

PLAYBOY: Have you each figured out how to win this fight?

Marvin Hagler: I'd rather not go into specifics, but once I get in there and start feeling him out, Thomas won't be a problem. He has knocked out only one middleweight, and he's fought only one southpaw. I'm a wiser, more mature boxer than he is.

Thomas Hearns: My plan is to keep him on the end of my left jab. I want to keep Marvin lunging and reaching and struggling to get at me inside. Then, as soon as he starts to step in, I'm going to drop that right on him. If I get one good shot at him with the right, it won't be long before the fight's over.

Q 8

PLAYBOY: What's the hardest you've ever hit an opponent?

Thomas Hearns: People remember my knockouts of Pipino Cuevas and Duran, but I didn't hit either one of them with everything. I still haven't landed that perfect right hand, but maybe I'll do it against Marvin--I think he's ripe for it. I have a date with destiny, and I am destined to get him.

Marvin Hagler: Well, I've hit a lot of people so hard they looked retarded. I guess one of the hardest punches I ever landed was against Loucif Hamani in 1980. I knocked him out in the second round and he was unconscious for about ten minutes.

Q 9

PLAYBOY: Do you ever worry about killing an opponent?

Marvin Hagler: Yes, I do. Every time I go into battle, I pray to God that I don't hurt my opponent very seriously. But I have a job to do, and the only way to do it is to take it to him. When I fought Hamani, I was very relieved when he regained consciousness. I don't know what kind of effect it would have had on me if he hadn't recovered. Hamani was a clever boxer, a sharp puncher and a very dangerous opponent. Against that type of fighter, you don't play around--you get him the hell out of the ring as soon as you can.

Thomas Hearns: My job is to do whatever I have to do to win, but I also know when to stop and when my opponent has had enough. I don't go into the ring angry and wanting to kill somebody, but boxing does involve life, death and danger--that's part of the job. Each time you knock out an opponent, his life is in danger. It's something I constantly think about.

Q 10

PLAYBOY: Do you worry about your own safety as well?

Thomas Hearns: Yes, always. And I know what that depends on--getting to my opponent before he can get to me. Really, if I don't do it to him, he'll do it to me. Well, better him than me.

Marvin Hagler: The older you get, the more you worry. But any time you step into a ring, your life is at risk. That's why, before every fight, you're always asked to name a beneficiary for your end of the purse.

Q 11

PLAYBOY: What's the hardest you've ever been hit--and how did it feel?

Marvin Hagler: Last year, Juan Roldan caught me with a good shot. He came at me like a steam roller, and he had to be the hardest puncher I'd faced in a while. When he hit me, one thought went through my mind: Time for you to die now, son of a bitch. It took me two rounds to figure him out.

Thomas Hearns: I've been either lucky or blessed: In 41 pro bouts and 163 fights as an amateur, I can't remember being hit too hard in the ring. The hardest I've ever been hit was by my father when I was 13, and it made me cry. I was up to some boyish mischief, and my father really slammed me. My father has always been like E. F. Hutton: When he says something, I listen.

Q 12

PLAYBOY: We couldn't help noticing that during the photo session for this interview, you both appeared tense and almost angry. Were you?

Thomas Hearns: I was looking at Marvin and thinking, I can't wait to get upside your head. I was looking at that head and thinking, I can't wait. And I know he knows how I felt, because he couldn't look me in the eye--he kept looking downward.

Marvin Hagler: The hardest thing to do in that situation was not to smack Thomas. Thomas had the same thing in him, too, because basically, when fighters are that close, they're usually going to tangle. So I had to make sure that he didn't tee off, and I had to make sure that I didn't tee off. As far as I'm concerned, the only time I want to be near another fighter is when I'm in the ring with him.