ketchel vs hagler......

Woa there a second!

Flynn was a durable heavyweight who went the distance with heavyweight bangers like Gunboat Smith. The only person (apart from Ketchell) who knocked him out anywhere close to his prime, was Sam Langford, and it took him longer to do it.

I must respectfully suggest that there is a great desl of doubt about whether Hagler could have stopped this fighter.

 

And perhaps if he had been a bit older and more seasoned as he was when he fought guys like Gunboat Smith then he would have gone the distance with Ketchel too. As it was he was a green kid who had (and would continue to have) a propensity to lose to middleweights and who really had no business being in the ring with a fighter of Ketchel's experience. The primary source reports confirm his dismal showing, offering up basically nothing. One paper reported "Ketchel hit Porky when and where he pleased and by the second round had the Boston man looking like a joke." The Smith fight-version I'll give you, but this version doesn't sound to me like someone who would last the distance with Marvin Hagler at all. And definitely not the version who should give Ketchel "giant killer" status.

(btw, anyone know Flynn's weight for this bout?)

 

Look, I have no doubt that Ketchel was a very strong, hard hitting, tough, well conditioned animal ... however, from what I have seen I cannot imagine him surviving against a razor sharp, fast and murderous punching Hagler .... In a boxing match, not I street fight, I pick Hagler big.

 

He was still a natural middleweight. He can't be held up as a fighter who could procure Ketchel the status of "giant killer" which is so regularly bestowed upon him, can he? Especially considering that thier bout was a middleweight title fight

 

Did Sullivan loved to complain a lot too?

 

Good parallell. And yes, tricky little middleweights seemed to be the pesky bane of many a heavyweight back then and many MWs have the scalps of the ranking HWs of that era.

 

I knew it!!!

 

The problem with what you are sayin g here is that we have never seen Hagler in with a heavyweight, let alone knocking out a durable one, however inexperienced.

I can see no justification for assuming that he would replicate Ketchells feat.

 

Getting floored numerous times by Twin Sullivan a mere 6 months earlier is an indicator to me that he wasn't so durable at this point and as such it should be no surprise that Ketchel stopped him shortly after. Looks like Ralph Calloway bounced him around a bit too.

I see plenty of justification for envisioning a Hagler KO victory.

 

And how much of a "heavyweight" was Flynn at this point? A quick Boxrec perusal shows he was weighing 185 two years later, so I'm assuming he was probably closer to the LH limit at this time. That's hardly a big heavyweight. Based on all the evidence we have I think it's safe to assume Hagler would have a pretty good chance of halting the Flynn that Ketchel easily demolished.

I really don't see Ketchel's KO of Flynn as being that much of a "feat". Definitely not one that makes him a killer of heavyweights. If he'd pulled it off with the later version of Flynn however....