Ok lets cut it to the bone. I said, exactly - "Read the articles going into the bout - Hearns was considered almost, if not, shot." Look closely and you will see that wasn't my own actual description, it was the articles of others. Absolutely after Kinchen there is articles that did believe him to be "almost, if not, shot." Take particular note of the description. Now after this you responded with "And if Steward knew Tommy was shot, what does that say about him by training Tommy during his shot years?" It was never once said that Steward considered Hearns "shot". Steward considering him declined, past his best, etc not shot as such. You've grabbed the word "shot" and run with it.
I don’t know why the Norris fight would even be a factor in determining Leonard’s status on the greatness scale or whatever. I’m no expert but I knew he was going lose that fight. Leonard looked fluid and fast against h Hagler. He looked pretty quick against Lalonde, Hearns, & Duran. Norris would be the first time in his comeback he was fighting a YOUNG fighter known for his speed. I just figured he was in for a shock once he had some really fast across from him. I’ve only watched some of the fight but Leonard looked pretty old. He’s one of the best fighters I watched. Good resume. The Hagler fight I haven’t watched in years. I know it didn’t feel like beat Hagler but rather stole rounds. Still a good strategy and took some guts to pull it off. It felt like he won but then he was fighting a a beast in Hagler. Just that he lasted a few rounds seemed like a miracle. That was probably a factor. Less was expected of him. Still a great fighter though.
All good but the other 175 champs at that time were better than LaLonde. And Hagler didn't cherrypick.
It can be reasonably be asked why, after pretty much cleaning out the Middleweight division he didn't step up to Lt.Heavy? A Spinks fight would've been Hugh. And was available. So in essence..........
Hagler was just too small to go up that much weight .. And the Lhw's were just too good ... It would have ended up a lot like Napoles going up for Monzon
Yeah, Hagler facing Duran was certainly cherry picking, even though Duran's performance in that fight and later against Moore makes it look differently in hindsight.
And then Duran faced Hearns in the fight after Hagler. As strange as it sounds I wonder if Duran’s people saw that matchup as a cherry pick after Roberto became the first Hagler challenger to go the full 15 rounds distance with him and Hearns at that time not scoring a knockout at Jr.Middleweight for almost 2 years?
Not a cherry pick, but they would have been fairly confident that Duran would win. Duran had two very good outings prior to Hagler, and looked good against Hagler. Duran had never been KO'd, whereas Hearns had been stopped badly by Leonard. Hearns was a firm favourite though, based on his age and natural size, I guess.
I don't know how old you are and if you were following the sport at that time, but Hagler never expressed a desire to move up. In fact, he had openly expressed a desire to break Monzon's record for title defenses at 160 during the middle of his reign. There was never any buzz amongst the boxing community about Hagler moving up other than Spinks's and Qawi's challenges. Absolutely none. Having written that, I am not a gambling man, but I would bet the house that had Leonard and Tommy been a couple of years older, there is no way on God's green earth would those 2 have traveled north to face Spinks or Qawi. Well, upon further thought, maybe Tommy. Possibly