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

This. There really is no argument.

 

Hagler. He was out negotiated, allowing Leonard to pick 12 rounds, and a larger ring.

 

I prefer to call it a wash and just call 'em roughly equal in their handicap or fitness to fight...and just go by the fight itself.

(which Hagler should have edged)

 

Hi Sal.
Sure there is. Go back and read my post

:smoke

 

If the SRL-Hags fight proves anything it is that you can shake rust, but you can't shake mileage.

 

Well said.

 

Hagler wanted the Leonard money, same mistake Duran made for the instant rematch....I think Hagler was at a disadvantage because more was expected of him, he was the bigger man and Champion, I thought he was going to knock Leonard out so if the fight was close I already thought Hagler lost standing based on my expectations

 

Nah. To me, this argument is all about defining "disadvantage" as "risk" and in that department, it's ALL on Leonard's side as to level of risk taken. There wasn't a soul who thought Leonard's head would still be anchored to his shoulders after that fight. All the "Hagler was slow, he was old, etc.", ALL of that was discussed after the fact. Every bit of it.

Leonard was the one who came in at a totally untried weight (against a natural middleweight) after a three year layoff. Hagler may not have been the Hagler of old, but no one anywhere was saying he wasn't going to kill Leonard.

If it so happens to have played out that Leonard somehow retained much of his speed and reflexes and Hagler suddenly looked old, well..........that's not playing disadvantages. That's just what sometimes happens in the ring. Every perceived edge was for Hagler going into that fight.

 

I think that's an important point. What is perceived beforehand versus what is fact. The fact is that if you knew nothing about these fighters(never saw them fight either) and I showed you prime footage of both and then showed you their 1987 fight and asked you who looks like they've lost the most, you would undoubtedly say "the bald guy".

 

Sure you would, but nobody had an idea of that beforehand. That's my whole thing........

 

Not sure what you're getting at there....?

 

Oh, gotcha.........all of that pained me to write, I should add; I was (and am) a Hagler fan, and I'm ambivalent about Leonard.

It was what it was, though, and this is one of those examples of people taking a point in time like that and recreating history as if all that we know NOW was understood THEN. That''s simply not the case. It's easy enough (though still unfair) to brush aside Leoanrd's win now as cherry picking on an old guy, but at the time it was viewed as a titanic thing and an amazing upset.

It's still a great accomplishment, regardless.