Would it made a difference if Leonard didn't duck Hagler and fought him earlier

when hagler was fresher and eager to smashed him?

Hagler: He's looking right at me, and then that's when he came out with that, "It will never happen." I was like, Who does this guy think he is? He always had to act like a superstar.

Leonard: I was at 147 pounds, and I didn't have a problem making weight. So I thought fighting Hagler at 160 was too far off. Hagler did not really come into play until I moved up another weight division, to 154, and fought Ayub Kalule in June 1981. That's when I first thought, I could really do this. Then I went back to 147 for the Hearns fight that September, and after that I really started seeing Hagler as a fight that could happen. I didn't publicly say I wanted to fight Hagler. But I thought about it.

III. "What Ray wanted in those days, Ray got."

Leonard: When I first retired [at the press conference] in '82, that's when I started to feel something missing from my legacy. It was Hagler. Being retired, having suffered a partial detached retina, that's when I really thought about him. I saw my career coming to an end, and that realization made me want the fight to come to fruition more than ever.

Leonard: I had fought Hearns and Duran already. Then, during those years, Hagler fought Duran, and Hearns fought Duran, and Hagler fought Hearns. Me versus Hagler was the only one that hadn't happened. I didn't lose sleep, but it stayed with me. Also, I was doing Hagler fights on HBO, and I interviewed Hagler at his home for one of the shows. I'm sitting there, asking Hagler how did he feel, what's next, what's your future, and everything. And I was like, Whoa, this is really strange.

Leonard: I was sitting there with Michael, and I'm watching Hagler get outboxed by a guy who is known as a slugger, John "The Beast" Mugabi. I said, "Michael, I can beat Hagler." He said, "Yeah, Ray, yeah." Everyone thought I was being a smart-ass. But I really saw a sign [in that fight]. I mean, I always felt I could outbox Hagler. If Mugabi can do that, I can do an even better job. That had the most bearing on my decision to go ahead with a Hagler fight. I felt he was at a point that he didn't have that same fire in his body or in his heart. He wasn't the same guy.

Hagler: Anyone who says I was slowing down from the Hearns fight and the Mugabi fight — no, I wasn't. But maybe I wanted them to think I was? If I looked good out there, Leonard would never come. Everybody's looking [for] a possibility. [If] I'm vulnerable, they could win. For me, I could have retired after Mugabi. But there was one more guy that I wanted to fight.

 

cont..

Leonard: I've heard this theory that I ducked the fight until I saw Marvin slowing down. That's bull****. As he gets older, I get older, too! And I'm out of the ring! When I hear these things, I laugh. I'm a smaller guy, and I've had one fight in five years and a detached retina. If I did wait until I saw him slowing down, don't I slow down, too?

Leonard: The way Marvin thinks, if you're not a threat, Marvin's cool with you. So we sat there at Jameson's, my restaurant, had a few glasses of champagne, and he just started telling me things. He said, "I'm not motivated, I cut easy." He was telling me things that normally a fighter wouldn't [say], because I'm retired. He felt like I felt when I was retired. You don't have that same commitment in your heart, or that edge that we had from day one. I think you become civilized. You're not the fighter you used to be because now you're flying in private planes, you're staying in suites, girls tell you how cute you are. That's not conducive to being a great fighter. He had one foot out the door, I think, after the Mugabi fight. He had all the fame he wanted, he'd made a substantial amount of money. There's not as much reason to keep fighting.


Hagler: I might have retired if not for Leonard wanting to fight me. But I guess you want to prove to yourself that you're the best out there. I didn't want guys to say, "You know what? Hagler never gave me the opportunity to fight him. I would have beat him."

Ray Leonard Jr.: I had to deal with all the kids at school saying, "Hagler's going to knock your dad out." My dad was going through a really rough time with the drugs and everything, and there was a lot of infighting within our family, so I was actually kind of happy that he was going back into the ring. My mother and everyone else said, "Why are you doing it?" For me, it just gave me a sense of peace.


Do you think leonard waited for hagler to get old? kind of mayweather doing to pac :yep

for full info:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6983512/hagler-vs-leonard

 

I just quoted the two. if you read the whole story there are other personalities who got interviewed. interesting boxing history

 

he ducked him. he waited for an older hagler. FACT hi:

 

someone is mad

the slickster ducked the brawler :yep

something like froid , your BF, doing to pac right now :yep:hi:

 

the other one is brawler the other one is runner and clown.

style baby :deal

go figure :hi:

 

hello KK. if you read the whole article, hagler was begging for this fight before those partying, coke etc. leonard just made a lot of excuses and honestly picked the person whom he thought he could beat. He didn't want any part of hagler. you are right though he beat one of the best MW, but there was something in hagler that leonard didnt want. that's why he fought the old, tired hagler.

this is what froid doing to pac now :yep