I think the 3rd could be even, the 4th definitely Hagler. The first 2 rounds were uneventful, but Leonard did enough compared to Hagler's nothing, I reckon, even with his excessive back-pedalling. The 'dive in/clinch" stuff was getting a bit ridiculous by round 4 from Leonard though, and Hagler was landing punches that physically moved Leonard then. Leonard landed a bolo punch quite low on Hagler's trunks that seemed to get an actual round of applause from ringsiders, so God knows how this stuff was seen by the judges
that punch was AT BEST on the belt. hagler handled it like a pro...nut shot or not he just would keep coming. it's maybe the most famous tricky fight to score for rounds like that...where the crowd would pop huge for not much. even still hagler was just too inactive for my tastes to take more than one of those
Yeah, it landed on Hagler's left leg ! Maybe Hagler should have been more Hopkins-like in such a situation ! Awful refereeing not to have a word about that, to say "keep 'em up" at the least. Steele was in exactly the right place to see that.
let's be honest, he was **** in that fight. and many others. leonard held way too much and straight up rabbit punched at times.
Yeah, I wouldn't go as far as to say everyone was "bewitched" or "conned" by Leonard's performance, but when you look at things like Guerra's scorecard, Steele's lax refereeing, and a whole bunch of ringsiders applauding a low blow ... I see why some people have taken that line ! I think it was close enough to go Leonard's way, even though I never got that particular score myself ... and truthfully, Hagler fought a pretty lame fight throughout.
I scored it for Hagler Leonard flurried and looked good, but better shots were landed by Hagler and I gave him close rounds for aggressiveness.
honestly, i think a lot of the issue comes from how frustrating it was once hagler put his foot on the gas...he could have destroyed leonard if he went for the kill in the early going. it make the rounds leonard shades (most of the ones he wins) that much more difficult to justify
Bottom line. Leonard was ALWAYS an expert at playing to the crowd, and the judges. It was almost as if Hagler needed to WIN his own title rather than retain it.
Spot on, and Leonard got away with murder in the fight; hitting on the break, hitting after the bell, holding etc.
From my notes, I had it 5-4-3 (or 6-5-1) Leonard. Not a great fight or particularly impressive performance by either man (especially Hagler). Hagler looked slow (feet, hands, and thinking), failed to cut off the ring (especially once he tired), and made some terrible strategic gaffes. Leonard ran, held, hit&held his way to outpointing Hagler. Both men looked awful (tired and sloppy) by midway through the fight. R1 - Ray Leonard R2 - Ray Leonard R3 - Ray Leonard (just slightly) R4 - Even (maybe slight SRL edge) R5 - Even R6 - Ray Leonard R7 - HAGLER R8 - HAGLER R9 - Even (maybe slight Hagler edge) R10 - HAGLER R11 - Ray Leonard R12 - HAGLER