Tommy Hearns not many can beat him at 147

The best would also have to have to ability to carry out a gameplan necessary to thwart Hearns's style, and precious few have such ability. Gavilan lacks the power, which is why I see his chances as slimmer, while a guy like Burley might be a fair call. Not much more than that, in my honest opinion.

Despite the fact that very few, if any Welterweights to have ever fought would be able to dictate the pace against him? They would be the ones needing desperately to make adjustments in any matchup with Hearns (without taking a pasting in the process). That would always be the case, and as such I think he qualifies as an excellent ring general.

 

Yeah like i said it's a good point, but it can ultimately sum up to speculation depending on your viewpoint.

 

Your last line sounds like something that should be on the Gay Channel but that's probably my dirty mind.

In terms of technical skill there isn't much between Hearns and Leonard. Hearns outboxed Leonard because Tommy utilized his physical gifts and made Ray fight on his terms for much of the fight. People say that Tommy wasn't a great ring general but when you make another ATG fight your fight that isn't all that bad. Where Tommy loses out is the man just cannot resist getting into a brawl.

Doing that against the best fighters ever in the welterweight division is asking for trouble but even then, Tommy's power may save him on most occasions.

Tommy btw was physically and experience-wise immature for the Leonard fight. He'd do better in any further fight and indeed he did do better 8 years later. If Leonard had not suffered the eye-retina damage (allegedly caused by Tommy's piston jab) then Tommy's got a good chance to beat Leonard, especially if the fight takes place at 154.

The bottom line for me is that if Tommy can resist getting dragged into a brawl he can beat just about anyone at 147.

But the question for me is - can Tommy Hearns ever resist getting into a brawl?

 

I find that pretty hard to believe. Let's face it, without Leonard's power, Leonard was through. Inexperience, poor ring strategy notwithstanding. Hearns was outboxing him comfortably and without Leonard's power it would have been close to a shut out. Nothing suggests that a fighter like Gavilan could outpoint Hearns. I don't think he's a better boxer than Leonard, and even if you want to argue that he is a bit better, what does it matter? Hearns is a LOT better.

I wouldn't call him an excellent ring general, but ring generalship or lack thereof had nothing to do with his loss to Hagler. He was always going to lose that fight, one way or the other.

 

Tommy Hearns is so good at 147, I don't even see how Sugar Ray Leonard could ever beat him. He can't win a decision against the taller boxer and doesn't possess the durability and grit needed to grind Tommy down. Least compatible out of all the greats imo.

Edit: Of course, I've seen the opposite happen. I just want to point out that some fights are more than the sum of their parts. On paper, Hearns is awful for Leonard. A complete nightmare.

 

Outside of the Sugar's.I would give Walker a shot.Griffith and Rodiguez outside chances.Mclarnin the same,and maybe a scrapping type of hustler like Ted Kid Lewis a longshot.
Trinidad is too susceptible to jabs, no head movement as Wright showed.
Napoles too vulnerable to cuts. Ross had no power.Walcott would be outsized,imo.Britton was a fine boxer but nothing that Hearns can't cope with.ODH a long shot.Curry the same.Gavilan has a decent chance imo,around 60/40.But Hearns is a tall order ,no pun intended for any Welter.

 

Griffith is one guy i don't thnk would match up well with Tommy.

He works everything off the jab a bit too much and doesn't hit hard enough to reliably hurt hearns often enough.

 

I thought Hearns fought a fantastic tactical fight vs Leonard. His normal gameplan didn't work and he had the ability to not only adapt vs a great opponent but to adapt and actually dictate the fight score wise against the odds.

It's a tribute to Leonard's greatness that he came back against a stiff and awkward tide and found a way to win. Hearns did the best he could on the night. His experience did come into play a bit, particularly his ineptness at that time to clinch when in big trouble. I thought the fight was a strategical delight.

As for Hagler, well hindsight hurts him greatly in this one. Going into the fight he had just TOTALLY blown away a guy that had just given Hagler a decent fight over 15 rounds and never looked like being stopped punishment wise vs such greats as SRL and Hagler. At that very time it wasn't thought inconceivable that he could take Hagler out too.

With hindsight it was a poor strategy but one could hardly blame Hearns, who indeed felt invincible at that time, from thinking he might be able to blow away Hagler after his mind boggling effort vs Duran.

And lets remember his strategical brilliance vs Benitez and Hill. I say vs Leonard too tho you obviously disagree, but i feel he just wasn't good enough or experienced (fighting when hurt) enough on the night. Realistically Leonard was a stage of development/career ahead of Hearns at the time.

 

I think Gavilan could last the distance, whether he could pressurise Hearns enough or hurt him with single shots to beat him I don't know, but personally I think if Gavilan hurts Tommy then the Motor City Cobra would just go back to boxing, where his height, reach, footwork and jab would see him through with a lot of ATG Welters, let alone if he wanted to fight, and put combinations together punctuated by THAT right hand.


Now, I often criticise Leonard for being a bit of a cherry picker, and taking fights at the right time, but even if he had retired after the Hearns fight he would get my full respect for beating that version of Tommy, who is a nightmare for most at 147.

Who thinks Tommy might've beaten Ray in a (Close to) immediate rematch at 147 or 154?

 

I agree.

I think Napoles would have a reasonably good chance, unless Tommy cuts him with the jab, which is completely feasible.

 

I think i am in the minority that thinks he wouldn't, i'm pretty sure that leonard would have learnt from the 1st fight that he wasn't going to outbox hearns and therefore wouldn't try, leonard started pretty slowly in there 1st fight, he didn't get into it till about round 6.

I see leonard starting much faster and looking to take tommy out from the get go, and getting to him earlier around about the 12th