March 29, 2021 – His left eye badly swollen and nearly closed, Sugar Ray Leonard staggered to his corner as the bell signaled a merciful end to the twelfth of fifteen scheduled rounds. Leonard, the otherwise handsome and popular former Olympic Champion, was behind on all three official scorers’ cards in “The Showdown,” the welterweight championship bout between Sugar Ray and the younger, taller, and surprisingly versatile Thomas “the Hitman” Hearns.
Leonard’s manager, Angelo Dundee, spent years in Mohammad Ali’s corner, giving Dundee gritty insight into the superhuman effort required to capture and retain championship boxing titles. A crusty 26-year veteran of the ring, Dundee knew Leonard was in trouble. Deep trouble.
“You’re blowing it, son. You’re blowing it,” Dundee screamed to his prizefighter.
The fight lived up to its advance billing from the opening bell. Hearns, undefeated as a professional, seized the initial advantage, using his 80-inch reach to land repeated jabs to Leonard’s chin and chest. Leonard, considered an artist in the ring, found his considerable offensive skills impotent against Hearns’ superior power and length.
Two judges scored all five opening rounds for Hearns; the other judge awarded Hearns four of the five rounds.
However, a championship bout often turns on a single, well-placed punch. A classic bout turns once and then again and again. The Showdown was about to assume classic status.
Late in the sixth round, Hearns directed a blow toward Leonard’s head but found only air. Leonard countered with a right jab then a powerful left uppercut. Landing on Hearns’ chin with staggering force, it rocked Hearns’ stance and shook his confidence.
Seizing control, Leonard attacked Hearns relentlessly for the next three rounds. The prey became the pursuer and the pursuer, the prey. By the time the bell rang to close round eight, Leonard had evened the match on two of three cards and trailed by a mere point on the other.
Hearns emerged from his corner for round nine with a new strategy crafted by his veteran manager, Emmanuel Steward. Hearns began mimicking the Great Ali, dancing from his toes and firing stinging left jabs to Leonard’s head and midsection. Leonard responded to Hearns’ Ali with an impersonation of Joe Frazier. The Challenge now resembled the “Thrilla in Manila” contested six years earlier. But Hearns proved better at channeling Ali than Leonard was at imitating Frazier.
Four rounds later, Leonard’s battered face was nearly as grotesque as the official score. Hearns won each round on all three official scorecards. Dundee’s admonishment that Leonard was “blowing it” made it clear: it would not be enough for Leonard to win the remaining three rounds. He needed to win each decisively – or knock Hearns out – if he hoped to retain his championship belt.
The ebb and flow of this classic Hearns-Leonard bout resemble that of our fight with the COVID-19 pandemic. Rounds one through five remind us of March and April 2020, when the novel coronavirus staggered us with its uncommon reach and transmissibility. Our public health systems could not breach its defenses. Ventilators, personal protective equipment, and hospital beds were in short supply. Doctors and nurses, much like Sugar Ray, were reeling.
By summer, we altered the battle’s momentum, much like Leonard did in round six of The Challenge. Our healthcare systems regained their footing, testing levels soared, and infection rates and deaths declined. We weren’t beating the virus, but, like Leonard against Hearns, we were drawing even.
However, our COVID-19 battle has delivered more momentum shifts than the back-and-forth Hearns-Leonard bout. By last Fall and into the Winter, the virus seized control again, drawing comparisons to how Hearns shifted strategy in rounds nine through twelve. The virus delivered repeated body blows, sending infection rates and deaths soaring with each day. Once again, hospitals strained with COVID-19 patients, and experts feared a long, dark winter; confidence in our ability to defeat the virus waivered.
In early January, our public health experts could have echoed Dundee’s exasperation with Leonard between rounds twelve and thirteen, “You’re blowing it, son.” Vaccines were rolling out, but we were so far behind on points that the match might be over before the vaccines could rescue us.
Before Leonard left his corner to begin the thirteenth round, Dundee pressed him, “You only got nine minutes left.” Leonard no longer could rely on outboxing Hearns. He needed to fight with relentless fury – to take Hearns out!
Like Leonard entering the thirteenth round, we are bloodied, swollen, and behind on points. The virus is employing its version of the Ali/Hearns dance-and-jab, unleashing punishing body blows through highly transmissible variants. Time for our relentless fury in vaccinating all interested persons and taking the virus out!
Thus far, this round has found the virus and the vaccinations exchanging body blows, each staggering the opponent, none of them sufficient for a knockout. Having found our weak spot – unvaccinated adults – the variants are scoring points in the form of increasing infection rates. Pressed against the ropes and needing a knockout, the vaccines are responding with Leonard-like aggression.
Vaccination rates increased an average of 8% weekly for the past month. More than a third of adults have received the first of two doses of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine; nearly 20% are fully inoculated. With immunity provided via prior infection, total immunity may be as high as 50%. Deaths in the U.S. are declining, and hospitals have room for other patients. We have fewer weaknesses for the virus and its variants to exploit. Still, a draw or even a close win in the remaining rounds does not win the overall match. Like Leonard, we need to land a decisive blow.
With ten seconds left in round thirteen, Leonard delivered a devastating barrage to Hearns’ head and body, sending Hearns through the ropes. Referee Davey Pearl ruled it a knockdown, giving the round to Leonard and raising his belief that he could win. But he still trailed on all three official scorecards.
Leonard charged across the ring at the start of round fourteen. Determined to press the advantage, Leonard was relentless in the attack. Hearns became increasingly defenseless, and Pearl stopped the fight with merely fifteen seconds remaining in the round. Leonard was still behind on all three cards but won on a technical knockout. One of the most intense championship bouts in boxing history ended abruptly with an unlikely come-from-behind finishing attack.
As we near April, cases are on the rise again – a sign that the B.1.1.7 variant is preying on the unvaccinated. New cases are nearly three times higher than last May. However, we are vaccinating 2.7 million Americans each day, a million more than at the end of February. The 20% of U.S. adults fully inoculated is double what this rate was a month ago. Deaths with coronavirus are half what they were four weeks ago.
Punch. Counterpunch.
How will our battle with Covid-19 end? Behind on points, can our vaccines deliver the finishing attack we need?
Contributing writer:
Mark A. Van Sumeren, strategic advisor, Medical Devices & Integrated Delivery Networks
Health Industry Advisor LLC, provides a regular report on COVID-19 numbers for the health care industry.
For more information, or to sign up for the report, contact Mark at Mark.VanSumeren@HealthIndustryAdvisor.com; or visit www.HealthIndustryAdvisor.com.