Cheers Greg. Mate i have little trouble with someone having a mostly one division fighter extremely high if they did truly worthy things in their own division. Matt has both Louis and Ali in his top 10 and i'd never argue to the contrary. He has Pep #13 for what it's worth so you sit virtually the same with him. I mean he had well over 200 wins so that's a pretty big "feather" in his cap. We are pretty much on the same page and the only difference might be to what degree which would be up to personal preference i guess.
168 doesn't really count either. WBO in 88 at 168 doesn't mean much. Hearns' longest title reign lasted three defenses.
With expect to the heavyweights, it has to be considered that there is no limitation regarding the weight of the combatants. Joe Louis actually fought men who outweighed him by more than thirty pounds. I have no problem ranking Ali and Louis in the top ten atg because although they only fought in one division, there was the possibility of a large weight discrepancy between them and their opponents.
Hearns may hav had short title reigns but he fought the best in his divisions and the quality of the opponent has to be considered. It is not like he was ducking someone.
Hagler is overrated. He's lucky the only slickster he had to face was a near shot, one-eyed career welterweight in Leonard. I think he would have struggled mightily vs slicksters.
If you challenge yourself in higher weight divisions there is a chance you lose. Duran is not looked at any less, by knowledgeable boxing fans, for ending up on his face against Hearns at 154.
Sure, Duran is. His entire career post Leonard 1 was a hot and cold **** show. Mayweather, Roy and Pacquiao are better examples.
You are aware that Pac was never undisputed in any weight class? If so, it seems inconsistent to criticize Hearns for only having three title defenses at most in any weight class. How many did Pac have at 135?
Because p4p is not a real thing. It was something made up to give all smaller fighters below heavyweights their dues because everyone knew that the in reality the heavyweights because of their size strength an power were the best fighters in the world.
Yes, weight classes are simply handicaps. The lower in weight you go the higher your handicap. The Heavyweight champion is the best fighter in the world.
Thanks John & yes, we're on the same page, if not quite the same line, which is fine. p.s. nice feather pun. I considered responding that we could find some "middle" ground on Hagler's 1-division career, but concluded it would have been neither as original nor as funny ;-)
