Is Thomas Hearns resume as good as Sugar Ray Leonard's?

No Leonard's is better but hearns did age better. Fighters primes were much shorter than they are today. I remember Leonard Hearns 2 both fighters were regarded as over the hill. So it doesn't get nearly the historic merit of the first encounter.
Remember Foreman vs Gerry C. It was derisively billed as the Geezers at Caesers. And GC was only like what 33?

 

Hearn's ha d a terrific and dramatic career but he did lose his two biggest fight's by KO ... Ray's was short due to injury but he was both a better fighter and had a better career ..

as far as the Leonard Hearns rematch , much is made of Hearns being robbed because of the two knockdowns but you rarely hear that the rest of the fight was very even and in the last round Leonard had Hearns hanging on for his life and far closer to a KO loss than either knockdown impacted Leonard ..

 

I thought Tommy nudged the rematch but it's not the robbery people claim and yes if the fight went longer he likely would of been stopped again

 

They were both incredible resumes. I rate Leonard's as a bit better but not by much. Hearns had some underrated wins like Virgil Hill which doesn't get mentioned much. The losses to Iran Barkley are what probably put him a notch below Leonard in my opinion.

 

I don't have an opinion of which one has a better resume.
I do believe Hearns' resume of wins over good opponents sometimes gets overlooked though (while people love to imagine him in head-to-head matches) and I think Leonard's achievements have become a little overvalued (but of course that's subjective too, since we all have dfferent values).

 

I think Hearns has more depth while Leonard has better signature wins and fewer losses. Thomas had a lot of forgotten wins over good fighters In underrated performances like Jim shuler for example. Or his destructive early stoppage of pipino Cuevas. There was so much s****om in the 80s wlth the fabulous four that a lot of fighters and fights went unnoticed or forgotten.

 

My first thought is Leonard by quite some margin, but with closer thought it becomes at least close I suppose.

Both have wins over Duran and Benitez, but Hearns's were more emphatic. He also didn't lose to Duran (met a lesser version, though).

H2H I think they are 1-1, but Leonard won the prime meeting. He also has the win over Hagler, but Hearns has the one over Hill.

Maybe then it comes down to the rest of the resume, where I think Leonard has the somewhat deeper one excluding everything mentioned above (at least at WW) without losses like the Barkley ones.

 

I don't think so

147 - they were at a fairly equal level of accomplishment - then Leonard beat Hearns. You could argue that Duran and Benitez, though, were better than anyone (Cuevas) Hearns had beaten at 147 lbs. Overall advantage at this weight: Leonard.

154- Both won one of the alphabet World titles. Hearns did beat a better opponent, though, to win his title. However, the fact Leonard had already beaten the guy Hearn's beat (albeit at 147 lbs) somehwat nullifies this advantage. Duran did starch Duran, though. Also, athough way past prime, Leonard did lose to Norris at this weight. Overall advantage at this weight: Hearns.

160- Leonard beat the undisputed World Champion - who had already destroyed Hearns. Hearns won a portion of the title over a guy (Roldan) who had already lost to the guy (Hagler) Leonard had beaten. Also, Hearns was starched by a fairly mediocre Iran Barkley. Overall advantage: Leonard. Even though he only fought once at this weight, Leonard's win over Hagler was the ultimate prize. Thus, Overall advantage at this weight: Leonard

175 - Both won an alphabet World title. Hearns won a portion of the title twice, Leonard just once. Hearn's opponent (Hill) was probably better, though than Leonard's (LaLonde). Overall Advantage at this weight: Hearns

168 lbs - Leonard won a portion of this world title when he beat LaLonde. Head to head at this weight, Leonard and Hearns fought a Draw. Some thought Hearns won. They were both past their prime and it wasn't for a unified title in one of boxing's original 8 weight classes, so the significance of this fight is lower than their Unification fight at 147 lbs. Overall advantage at this weight: Leonard

Overall - advantage Leonard - he beat Hearns when they were both prime and he beat the guy who destroyed him. As said, he also had already beaten a guy Hearns beat for one of his titles.

 

I think it is as good or better. Hearns knocked out Duran even though it was at 154. I don't think Leonard would knockout Duran at 154. At least not early.

Leonard got a bit of a gift decision against Hagler and some would argue the second Hearns fight. Their resumes are at least close in comparison. It depends on how you view some of their fights honestly. There is no black and white definitive answer.

 

Really interesting thread and I have enjoyed reading the posts. I think edge would go to Leonard. As I think about it, it appeared all of Leonard's fight at a certain point were epic PPV type matches or at least made it feel like that. Hearns was more workman like and I recall the USA Friday Night Fights type appearance. I appreciated the latter don't get me wrong.
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Ray has Tommy by a little which is way he invariably rated comfortably above him on various lists.

Ray offset his loss to Duran and beat Tommy H2H initially and Marvin as well. They both beat superb versions of Benitez. Tommy's win over Cuevas should not be underdone, at the time Cuevas was utterly feared and no-one would have been surprised if he beat any of the big players at 147 of which he was very definitely one.

Tommy's loss to Barkely hurts him a bit, he smashed him from pillar to post and then got caught. The win over Hill is a big one considering Hill was extremely highly thought of and Hearns was a big underdog.

In the wash tho Leonard's win over Hagler is the big one and it slides him above the rest of his era for mine. Duran i consider half an era earlier or more.

 

I think Leonard beat a lesser version of Hagler than Hearns lost to. That's why he faced him.

 

I think Leonard beat a lesser version of Hagler than Hearns lost to. Even with the Hearns Knockout of Duran,Duran still went on to more success.