A fairly fast pace in the fight, Antuofermo came on strong in the second half. But, Hagler didn't need the cushion he'd built in the early rounds; he was still out-boxing Vito in rounds 9-15, for the majority, in my opinion.
Nice to see this one revived ! Even after all this time I see Hagler winning it by at least a couple of rounds.
Vito is/was a guy never ever given much credit with that style of his. What a tough and determined guy in there. And don't forget the conditioning necessary to fight like that. Being a bleeder from his early days even, he was never the sort to change things at all just because he was bleeding. nope. Not Vito. If anything, swelling and being busted up made him work harder. The sport is full of frontrunners and on top style fighters. The rare breeds have become the Antuofermo's of the boxing world. You know, guys where flash and handspeed are at the bottom of their skillset. But they win anyway. Subtract that handspeed from lots of fighters and what level fighter does that fighter become?
This could have been one matches where a person a ringside would score it differently than someone watching on television. As others mentioned Antuofermo forced the action, and Hagler did not and coasted at times. Hagler might have been tougher than leather on the outside, but mentally toughness at times for him was an issue.
I know that I certainly do not. A guy who keeps fighting to get his shot at the Championship, in his 50th professional bout, is mentally tough.
The other factor of course is how tough it is and was to get a guy like Vito to relinquish that title. He just refuses to submit or roll over or anything of the sort to lose that title. An opponent definately has to take that tile away & far easier said than done.
I watched it last night with sound down. Had it more or less the same but five rounds to vit and ten to Hagler so yep a robbery.
I cant honestly c it any other way. Dont know what the he#l Cosell was watching but it wasnt this fight
I will too cause im in the minority here but i remember watching this many times with the same conclusion. Just because Hagler stepped off the gas in some rounds does not mean he still wast boxing Vito's ears off. Its called effective aggression and in my opinion it wasnt on Vito's part except for a few rounds certainly not a few points seperation on my card. Clear decisive win on Haglers part with no favoritism involved.
I think Hagler received a very bad deal on the official scorecards in this fight, as well as the Duran and Leonard fights.