Here they are again, eight years later and each of them 15 pounds heavier, fighting for another title. No longer mere welterweights are Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns, the man who last time was winning heavily on points until Leonard stormed him with demolition swats that brought the referee to Hearns's rescue in Round 14. They'll be squaring off Monday night for the WBC super middleweight title, maximum 167 pounds.

No problem for Leonard is Hearns's four-inch reach advantage. Sugar Ray neutralizes these things when necessary by moving into close quarters, where Hearns's long arms are a handicap. Sugar Ray is gifted with the kind of chin that permits him to move in, when necessary. Leonard, who outsmarted and outpointed [Marvin Hagler], will be in there with the man Hagler dispatched in three, and there since have been other suspicions about Hearns's chin. The first commandment for those in there with Sugar Ray is: Don't let him get you in trouble. The ultimate danger lurks. He'll finish you off brutally.

There have been some signs that Leonard, at 33, is not as agile. The amateurish [Donny Lalonde] had him on the floor before being wiped out in nine, and in that fight Sugar Ray was described here as "slower of hand and tardy afoot." But the signs say that the taller Hearns has retrogressed more. And what a strike zone he offers. It can be surmised that Leonard since the Lalonde fight has taken all necessary precautions. It is being said here that for Sugar Ray, Hearns stacks up as the perfect recipe for a perfect evening, not necessarily a long one.