Manny Pacquiao or Thomas Hearns- Greater Fighter?

and I think they are very equal. I would pick Hearns on domination. I think he was more dominant, yet he lost to Ray and Marvin. yet he beat Cuevas,Duran, Benitez and Hill..

 

Why is it we give 80's fighters a free pass on steroids as though they just got in to boxing twenty years ago?

 

But Tommy got Ray in the rematch. Manny was the favorite, last I saw the odds going in it was Pac -125 , Thurman +105 .. and welcome back man

 

Thank you. It is always nice to see you on here to be honest. You are always such a fair person. I appreciate that. That is true Tommy got him in the rematch. And Manny is incredible. Last night showed us that. Both were great in different ways. I have not been on here for awhile. The fight last night got me on. I was following the fight on the board here.

 

Naturally the further back you go the more favored fighters are or the more they are admired. Maybe because the names have been in our consciousness for so long and have lasted all this time in our minds, that the longer the name is known the more credit they get. It almost builds up the greatness of a fighter the more time goes by since they fought. If two fighters seem equal from today era compared to a fighter in the 1980's, chances are the fighter from the 1980s will be favored. And the same goes for an equal fighter from the 1940's compared to the 1980s fighter. The 1940's fighter wil be favored. By equal I mean elite or top fighter. Robinson against Leonard. or Leonard against Floyd. People will pick Robinson over Ray and Ray over Floyd. In 30 years Manny and Floyd will get a free pass and the negative things will not be focused on as much.

 

I'm not really a fan of accusing anyone of steroid use unless there's a reasonable accusation or better still, actual evidence. Floyd saying Manny was on steroids doesn't constitute a reasonable accusation in my view.

As for Hearns, where's the accusation coming from?

 

Agreed, Hearns didn't seem that type to me personally. I mean if the argument is well it was the era and everyone was doing it .… then it's a wash anyway

 

I think Tommy Hearns is one of the 20 greatest fighters of all time. I think Manny is one of the 30 greatest fighters of all time.

 

p4p - Pac decisively for my book
better h2h against all comers at their peak - Hearn's decisively in my book.

 

The problem is Manny, a 126 pound fighter in his prime , moved up and Ko'ed 147 pounders. a guy who Eric Morales raked over hot coals became a ko puncher

 

Fair enough, bud. We both believe Manny doped and I suspect that Tommy did as well. Both are icons of the sport and have much to be proud of.
Let me ask you these hypothetical questions; if Manny fought in Tommy’s era do you think PED rumors would still plague him?
Or if Tommy fought in this era, going from getting knocked out at 147 to winning titles and stopping guys at 190, do you think people would accuse him of steroid use?
I think the internet age, or lack of, has a profound impact on how we view these questions.

 

Hearns accused Leonard of doing steroids in 1989.
Often the guys who are quick to accuse are doing something themselves.

 

Tommy certainly had that steroid look at 147 didn't he.

 

Firstly Hearns didn't get knocked out at 147, he was still on his feet. Secondly he was still somewhat green and become a better rounded fighter later after learning to clinch and survive when hurt. A third point would be that he was a touch skinny and fragile at 147 and the fourth would be that he was stopped by what a great many consider the second best Welterweight ever. So there's a lot going on there Jack.

It's not impossible Hearns took steroids later career but i'd be very surprised. Hhis big height, reach and explosive fully leveraged punches served him well even as he moved up. He didn't however quite have that ridiculous one punch power he had prior tho i think.

 

Maybe Hearns took steroids to move up through the weights, his biceps at super middle v Kitchen were 15-15.5 inches, te same as Ali`s in the 60`s, ironically they had the same reach also, but against Ray Tommy`s body wasn`t as defined as when he fought Andries so steroid use is unlikely and he was too thin at 147 to have taked PED`s, steroids help quicken revory while weight training so that you can gain muscle quick therefore cram more traing in which is why fighters take them to put on weight, Ray was more riped in his fight with Hearns than I seen him in any other fight.