Any thoughts on this intriguing fantasy match up? Even though Rodriguez never won a title at 160 he fought plenty of fighters around that weight such as Nino Benvenuti, Bennie Briscoe, George Benton, Ruben Carter, Holley Mims, Joey Giambra, Wilbert McClure, Denny Moyer. Rodriguez's boxing style, skills and speed would most certainly have been a tough style for Hagler to handle but could he still overcome that puzzle and beat him convincingly?
I am not one who is good at comparing styles to come up with a winner. Partially, just because I am not good at it and partially because I believe that way of coming up with a winner is only effective when the fighters are basically of same level talent. Rodriguez was a wonderful boxer who gave his all on a regular basis. As the OP mentioned, he beat a lot of quality opponents but, except for one shining moment when he topped Hall of Famer Emile Griffith for the welterweight crown, he lost when fighting for titles. This is a belt that Emile won back less than three months later. (The good old days when rematches happened quickly. Get off my lawn!!) When Rodriguez fought at 160 he was still solid but a few years past his prime. If we take his prime post-welterweight years when he basically fought as a junior middleweight he was still very good. He had 104 fights in the 1960s with just eight losses. Six were by split decision! However, the two KOs were handed to him by future champ Curtis Cokes and welterweight kingpin Nino Benvenuti. I just don't see anyway in which Rodriguez goes the distance with the naturally bigger Marvelous one. I will take the relentless Hagler via middle round KO.
Hi Fogger. I am with you, I don't see Rodriguez lasting the distance with a tuned in Hagler, there was a thread recently about the fighter that you were most disappointed in, in my case it was Rodriguez, he came to these shores to fight the underrated Bunny Sterling, I was so excited, was so looking forward to seeing a very good fighter in the flesh, oh dear !! he was abysmal, truly awful, admittedly he was past his prime, but nonetheless, his performance was shocking, they say you shouldn't meet your idols, that was certainly true in this case. stay safe buddy, chat soon. Mike.
How bad was his performance when you saw Rodriguez? I'm guessing it was one of those performances where there was too much grabbing and holding involved although to be fair he was already worn down with more than 100 fights in his belt by that time.
Hi Flo. Very bad, he had no coordination, was slow of foot, forgive me , but his bum stuck out like a waiters tray, and his punches lacked any kind of power, it was hard to reconcile this fighter with his achievements, as Bob Hope once sang " thanks for the memories " . stay safe buddy, chat soon. Mike.