THE SHOWDOWN: LEONARD WINS SPLIT DECISION : Hagler: ‘I Feel in My Heart I’m Still the Champ’; Leonard Agrees

LAS VEGAS —  Suddenly, after 13 furious defenses of his world middleweight championships, he seemed small, lost . . . almost insignificant.

When Marvelous Marvin Hagler left the ring Monday night, a loser for the first time in 11 years and 37 fights, he was immediately surrounded by seven armed policemen, who, with arms intertwined, rapidly walked Hagler back to his dressing room in the Caesars Palace tennis pavilion.

As he entered the building, only the top of his bald, sweaty pate was visible in the midst of the taller policemen. Then, through the khaki shirts of the police was the unmarked face. It was oddly at peace, almost passive.

In double time, they led him down a narrow hallway to a door with HAGLER printed boldly on a white card. Hagler and his cornermen quickly disappeared inside, behind a slammed door. Outside, sad-faced Hagler people, wearing T-shirts with WAR II on the back, stood quietly outside.

Moments later, a young man from the Leonard camp suddenly appearred, shouting: “Oh, look at those faces! They don’t believe it!”

The Hagler people glared at the noisy intruder. One stepped forward but was gently cautioned from doing so by a comrade. Wisely, the taunter withdrew.

Jay Edson, a Caesars Palace security man who led the way from from ring to dressing room for what might have been Hagler’s last fight, said Hagler’s manager, Pat Petronelli, showed a flash of anger at the fight having been a 12-rounder, the maximum distance for World Boxing Council fights.

“As we left the ring, he turned to Jose Sulaiman (WBC president) and said: ‘That’s the trouble with 12-round fights--a fighter like Marvin needs to have 15 rounds.”

Petronelli, like everyone else in Caesars’ 15,000-seat stadium, felt Leonard was tiring rapidly at the finish. But Hagler, too, was drawing on dwindling reserves at the end. He was landing hooks to Leonard’s head repeatedly in the final two rounds, but Leonard, exhausted as he was, didn’t crumple.

Hagler said Leonard told him afterward that he, Hagler, had won.

“He came up to me and said, ‘You beat me, man.’ I looked over at his cornermen and they were all looking down, like like they’d lost.

“I feel in my heart I’m still the champ. I congratulate Sugar Ray Leonard, but it’s not his fault they make a bad decision.

“I took all his best shots, I applied all the pressure. . . . I fought my heart out to keep my belt. I rocked him three or four times and the bell saved him several times. And he should’ve lost points for holding.

“A lot of things in boxing are politics. . . . I’ve been a true champion in my sport, and now this. I’ve never seen a split decision go against a champion. If Leonard takes my title, he should’ve had to knock me down, beat me up bad, and he didn’t.”

Hagler was obviously disappointed, and he referred very quickly to the trouble he has with judges in Las Vegas. He lost his first title bid on a controversial draw with Vito Antuofermo here. But he admitted that Leonard, who he had pursued for years, fought a “courageous fight.” He could pursue him, but it doesn’t look like he’ll ever catch him.

Hagler must now hope for a rematch. Leonard will not likely be quick to oblige, if at all. In the ring, after the fight, he said, laughing, “(it) depends on the contract.” But later, he refused to elaborate on as towhat he’d do.

Meanwhile, the guy with the best view in the house, referee Richard Steele, called the bout “The greatest I’ve ever been involved in, the greatest I’ve ever seen.” He said the two taunted each other throughout.

“For sure, they weren’t friends when they was fighting,” he said. “Some things they called each other, I couldn’t repeat (Leonard said afterward that Hagler called him a ‘Sissy.’). Neither guy was ever seriously hurt, but both were stunned, shook up.”

Leonard, wearing a white yachtsman’s cap at the post-fight interview, all but waved a truce flag.

“I would like to congratulate Marvin Hagler for giving me the opportunity to make history tonight,” he said. “To me, he’s still the undisputed middleweight champion.”

HOW THE JUDGES SAW IT

Official scorecards for the Marvelous Marvin Hagler-Sugar Ray Leonard WBC middleweight championship fight in Las Vegas Monday.

JUDGE DAVE MORETTI HAGLER 9 9 9 9 10 9 10 10 10 9 9 10 --113 LEONARD 10 10 10 10 9 10 9 9 9 10 10 9 --115 JUDGE LOU FILLIPPO HAGLER 9 9 10 10 10 9 10 10 10 10 9 9 --115 LEONARD 10 10 9 9 9 10 9 9 9 9 10 10 --113 JUDGE JOJO GUERRA HAGLER 9 9 9 9 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 --110 LEONARD 10 10 10 10 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 --118