Ultra-aggressive,swarming type fighter with a tremendous offense but suspect conditioning and very easy to hit,and his ability to pace himself over the long haul - especially against a well conditioned,very durable,sharp,heavy-handed counter puncher - being questionable......it's usually the type of fight I'd favour a guy like Mah-vin Hagler. Then again,there's likely a very good reason Hagler never had it in him to jump up a weight class and test the waters there.Wouldn't be in his comfort zone at that weight and the very sight of a particularly intimidating fellow like Johnson may have been a little too much to handle. Either way,Hagler would lose the event.
I can't see Hagler competing well at Lt. Hvy. He wasn't very tall and the extra weight he would have carried would likely have slowed him down. Marvin Johnson wasn't great but he was a legit Lt. Hwy. His chin and stamina weren't great but I think he would have overwhelmed Hagler in the early rounds and either held on for a decision win or stopped him late. Johnson's stamina was sapped against big punchers with strong body attacks such as his fights against Franklin. He had plenty of stamina against fighters that couldn't hurt him such as his fights with Galindez and Parlov. I just can't see Hagler hurting him to the body or matching his whirlwind style.
Not certain that Hagler would knock Johnson out. It was big hitters that did this at the weight after a sustained beating more often than not (and some didn't, neither Galindez nor Mwale managed it) so I think these two will come head on, and it's all down to Johnson getting all over Hagler until the smaller man takes the game away from him. Then it's whether to Johnson falls apart down the stretch. Less likely here then against Saad or Mustafa IMO, and Johnson will have less problem with the firepower, I imagine Hagler would've been a respectable hitter against the bigger guys, but no puncher. Hagler was strong, but built for middleweight. Johnson and Hagler go to war, but the naturally bigger and stronger man punches out the decision, with Hagler scoring well in the exchanges sometimes, and power boxing a few rounds, but ultimately being outworked and also damaged. Johnson W15 Hagler.
