LAS VEGAS ( FOX5 ) — This date in history witnessed a battle for the ages.

On September 16, 1981, Sugar Ray Leonard took on Thomas Hearns in the very first pay-per-view boxing match broadcast from Las Vegas.

The bout, dubbed “the showdown,” is considered among the greatest boxing matches of all time.

Caesars Palace hosted the fight in a temporary outdoor ring.

It was made available to a million homes in 24 American cities and televised in around 50 other countries.

It’s estimated some 300 million people around the world watched the bout.

Leonard defeated Hearns in the 14th round, although Hearns had dominated much of the early fight, and scored most of the points.

The controversy surrounding the decision persisted until the fighters met in a rematch dubbed “the war” in 1989.

That

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