Who did you perceive as being at a greater disadvantage for Hagler vs Leonard?

There should be no debate.

leonard was at the bigger disadvantage, even though he played smart and got his way for ring size etc in the negotiations.

 

Excellent question .. no doubt that Leonard pulled off an amazing performance regardless of who you thought won .. however he was brilliant in his selection of timing , terms and conditions and playing Marvin ..

Hagler was showing serious signs of wear and tear .. we was a slowed down version of the early 80's Marvin .. wars and wear and tear .. he looked slow and hittable against Mugabi and Roldan .. Ray saw this and knew it .. Ray was also a younger man with much less mileage fighting an older man , active but post prime ..

Leonard was very smart in negotiating the terms .. he played Marvin's ego, giving him the bigger purse for a much larger ring and heavier gloves. Big advantages for Ray.

Ray was also simply in Marvin's head, always was ..

As much as I felt for Marvin, he over trained coming in too light and came out and fought a stupid fight .. Ray pulled ahead and by a narrow edge stole the fight in the ring and won it by a landslide as an event .. I was at the fight and it was pandemonium ..

Going into the fight the fear was of Ray getting slaughtered .. no doubt about that .. what he pulled off is unique in boxing history .. putting that aside , I feel a prime Hagler beats up a prime Leonard at 160.

 

Leonard was at a bigger disadvantage in my opinion, he was naturally the smaller, weaker man, who was largely inactive, and fighting a wrecking machine who hadn't lost a fight in a very long time.

Prior to the Leonard fight Marvin last lost in 1976..
All being said I still to this day think Marvin won the match...

 

Leonard himself admits he waited for Hagler to lose interest in boxing and then fought him. Leonard also spent months having real fights behind closed doors against top contenders. All the BS about Leonard's "inactivity" is just folklore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2EghkPPt2Q

 

Hagler was at a disadvantage....John Mugabi beat the **** out of him, although Marvin won.. I believe that fight before the Leonard fight took a lot out of Hagler.

 

I agree with those of you who saw Marvin slowed down from all the wear and tear. Several times during their bout a tiring Ray was wide open but Marvin's slow shots just sailed off course over his head. Marvin got old right before our eyes.

 

u kno me, I'm always honest, even giving supporting evidence, even the kind leonard fans like to keep ignoring such as comments that can clearly be heard during the tape

Hagler was cuz he was shot. if leonard fans cared about the controversy, they shouldve pressured him to fight Hags N get it done like a man as soon as possible, meaning 1983. that's what Ali wouldve done

after all, he was suppossed to be the best so if he wasnt done with fighting, why didnt he just prove it instad of waiting 5 yrs???

 

Here's a way to assess that. Simply watch film of SRL in his prime, watch film of Hagler in his prime, then watch the Leonard-Hagler fight and ask yourself who looks the LEAST like the prime version of himself. The answer is without a doubt Hagler.

SRL looks relatively the same. The speed, reflexes, dazzling combos, footwork, etc. are all intact. I see little difference between this SRL and the prime welter version. Watch Hagler-Sibson or Hagler-Minter and see if that monster bears any resemblance at all to that battle-worn pug who fought SRL in '87.

I don't see it.

 

Like most I thought Leonard would be destroyed. Even taking Haglers age and wear / tear into account no-one I knew was backing Ray for these reasons:

His eye injury.
His failed comeback and loss to a much lesser fighter.
His lack of tuneups which I thought would show itself as "rustiness".

Regarding Hagler, I don't remember paying much attention as he seemed so dominant. He said he would punish Ray and I believed that. I don't remember thinking Leonards speed would make MH look slow, I just didn't give SRL a prayer.

SRL had us all at a disadvantage as he got himself into incredible shape and the ploy of just coming back to fight the champion paid off and he was so much better than expected.

 

This

And this

 

wonder why he didnt come out sooner if he was so good, especially when he'd been cleared to fight 5 yrs earlier and fought 3 yrs earlier

too bad Ray couldnt achieve the same level of success against a guy his own weight whom he was favored to beat, a man who actually hit him fast and hard

it really comes down to the speed factor and nothing else.

compare the speed factor-old worn out yesterday's news-on the way out Hagler in his last fight vs the speed of young up N coming Norris

I wouldve been more impressed with a win over Norris.

 

Norris was at a bigger disadvantage against Mullings because of the delicate state of that fine,china chin ...

 

Leonard was at a bigger disadvantage - Marginally. Hagler may not have been quite as good as he was two/three years previously,but compared to Leonard he'd been active. Also,Ray was moving up to Middleweight for the first time after not fighting for three years.