Was Marvin P4P a better fighter than a prime Ali? Was Hagler harder to beat at 160 than Ali was at heavyweight in his prime?
Pound for pound,Ali was better - more skilled,and was far better at improvising strategy in the ring whenever necessary. Both had that tough warrior spirit and pride. Two of the greatest ever. I feel lucky that they came along in my time as a boxing fan.
Personally I prefer the blue collar favourite, hard as nails, chip on the shoulder, Hagler but there's no way he's better than Ali.
I'll never forget Hitman Hearns exploding one of his bombs on Hagler's chin in the first round of their fight. Marvin hardly seemed to even flinch! Incredible....absolutely incredible.
I love Ali but he was never more skilled than Hagler. Faster yes, but jabwise - both extremely effective, Hagler's jab was p4p much heavier and he could jab from both stances; Ali's footwork was flashier, Hagler's slipping and blocking was more subtle, but Hagler's combination punching, inside punching and proficiency with either hand showed more variety than Ali. Ali was p4p better but skill was not the reason.
Hearns was loading up those bombs, aim-fire. Not a flicker on Hagler's face. Hearns must have been thinking wtf !!!
I don't remember Ali being that proficient with the right uppercut, left hook or with body punches. If I'd have been in his corner when he boxed Joe Frazier I'd have been screaming at him to throw the right uppercut and then the left hook. In later years the left hook looked pitiful and was just an arm punch. His straight punches though, accuracy timing he had the lot with them.