Hearns vs Qawi

Many thought he'd walk through Spinks, but he barely touched him. Spinks used his height, reach and lateral movement and an occasional combination to keep Dwight off balance for all 15 rounds.

 

Seriously this forum is getting crazy.there are people picking hearns a natural 154 pounder against a proved great natural lhw...(cruiser 180 pounder). With the stupid pretext of the height and reach? I imagine that you pick also hearns over tua or bert cooper right? Lol

 

Tua was naturally 225-230.
Cooper was natural 195 lbs

Both guys were bigger and hit much harder than Qawi.

Hearns carried weight very well. He looked strong at 175 lbs.

I'm not saying he would for sure win, but it's not the mismatch many on here think.

Saad was ripe for the picking
Martin was straight ahead with little defense
Eddie Davis, who troubled Qawi in his prime was straight ahead and 5'9.
The one guy who combined height, reach and movement - Michael Spinks, made Dwight look ponderous.

 

:good

 

See your point but don't agree. By the time Hearns got up to Lt. Heavy, he didn't have the legs to stay away from a Qawi. He still had the jab, but as I wrote earlier Qawi had a knack of not getting hit cleanly esp with the right hand. In my veiw Qawi would walk Hearns down, and as Hearns become more stationary usually by the 5th, 6th rd. Qawi would begin to catch him, stopping Hearns between 9,10 rds. Its just a bad match Hearns.

 

Qawi cut the ring off by keeping his lead foot between his opponent's feet, and had the best slip and counter jab of his era. Hearns is getting his body battered here, and we saw what SRL's body attack did to Tommy in their WW unification. Foreman and Michael Spinks couldn't legitimately deck Qawi, so how's Hearns gonna hurt him?

A continually pressed Hearns will gas late over the championship distance, and not reach the final bell. Dwight showed in the opening stanza against a very good Eddie Davis that Qawi was perfectly capable of wiping somebody out from the opening bell. No way Tommy matches his stamina.

No decision here. Hearns doesn't reach the final bell before wearing down.

 

Robinson would make marciano look ponderous too. You need a chin, the physical strength and being in your prime class weight to handle a rival like qawi.spinks was naturally much bigger than hearns , with a much better chin,much more power than hearns at 175, in fact spinks is one of the 3 best lhws in history. Hearns is not even in the debate of a top 20

 

I remember years ago a youtuber picking hagler to beat foreman lol.and he made a long elaborated argument explaining As hagler would get up and survive the early attack and stops george late. Lol the people is that fanatic

 

I rate Qawi uber highly. I think he was a great fighter at 175.

 

Hearns is my favorite fighter of all time however -

Comparing his chances against Qawi based on the Spinks match is a bridge too far. Spinks was a big light heavyweight and one of the best bangers of all time there. I would not be surprised if he hit as hard as anyone at 175 ever. He had one punch ko power in both fists.

Early on in the fight he could Qawi with a big bomb and got his respect. After that the threat of the right hand was always there as he pumped the left with good effect and often doubled it up with hooks and uppercuts.

Thru the fight, despite how well as he boxed Spinks still wore some very heavy punches.

As good as Tommy's right hand was Spinks was a full level harder at 175 and he had way more power in the left. He was also an incredibly awkward target and at one time was rated in the top 3 or so defensive fighters in boxing.

Bottom line is that Spinks is infinitely better than Tommy at 175. If a guy like Hagler moved up Spinks would have walked all over him, and so would Qawi. Big strong natural 175's and both great fighters to boot imo.

It's not inconcievable this could be over inside 3 rounds.

 

Great post! :good

Tommy is one of my faves, but he's going to get caught with that right hand at some point.

 

For good reason. Even before he challenged Cuevas, he was being touted as a potential four division champion from WW to LHW. Most teen prospects would have crumbled and disappointed as underachievers beneath the weighty pressure of such premature expectations. Conversely, other ATGs rise up to far surpass all projections.

"Mission Accomplished!" can be the legacy for Hearns, Robinson, Louis, Pep and some others who indeed achieved the almost impossibly high demands placed upon them at early ages. ("Almost impossibly," because they did it.)

 

Qawi would kill Hearns.
It might taken him 2 or 3 rounds longer than Hagler did to catch up with Hearns .... and that's if Hearns fights his smartest fight ... but he'd crush him when he finds him.
KO5

 

Even by that measuring stick, Qawi hit Spinks enough to stop a Tommy Hearns.