Hagler - Duran : Why such a cautious fight ?

Just an off-night, a bit of a lame performance, a confused strategy. All fighters have one or two nights like this.
And I still think Hagler ended the fight clearly in front.

 

totally agree and perhaps a little to much respect

 

on the other hand, duran wasn't duran that night either. not until the 12th anyway.
i thought duran was more un-duran than hagler was un-hagler, if that makes sense.

 

All things considered it could have been a pre-arranged result.
Hagler lets him go the distance, Duran refrains from going all-out too.

But that's just a conspircy theory.

But I prefer my earlier explanation. It was just one of those nights where a great fighter or two lack their usual vigor.

 

IMO, Respect.
I thing Hagler didn't want to give Duran a clear shot at landing that right hand & vice versa.

Reputations defo played a major part aswell, Never heard of a conspiracy theory tho?
It's been a while since I last seen the fight, maybe I'll re-check it out again.

 

If Hagler learned anything in the Duran fight, it was not to lie back and let the rounds pass by. Pat and Goody Petronelli, Hagler's handlers, learned a lot that night, too. "Who would have thought that Duran could outbox a Marvin Hagler?" Pat Petronelli asks. "We told Marvin, 'Lay back and counter-punch.' He's going to come at you. Duran took us to school."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1127003/index.htm

Quotes after the fight:

"People think I'm going to go crazy in there, like against Leonard," Duran said before the fight. "But, no."

"I knew that Hagler was waiting for me to get inside to fight with him," Duran said afterward, "so he could get his punches in with force."

"I fought him at half-distance," Duran said. "I was waiting for him to unload so I could score on him. Whichever hand he unloaded, I was ready to counter. He didn't confuse me with anything. I was beating him without mixing it up too much."

Petronelli's foreboding deepened. "Duran waited and waited and waited for Marvin to lead," he said. "We had to change our tactics and go on the offensive, which isn't really Marvin's style." So at the end of the third, Petronelli told Hagler, "This ain't going too well. Put the pressure on him."

"He'd slip and counter, slide back and wait for me," Hagler said. "When you're trying for a knockout, it's the hardest thing to get. That's what I was after, but you have to let them come. He wasn't there. Duran is too crafty to go after for a knockout. You leave yourself open, and he takes advantage of it."

"I turned my head to be careful of his right because it's his most dangerous hand. His left is dead. The hand he most relied on was his right," Duran said.

"I wasn't getting my jab off the way I generally do," said Hagler, who was more effective when he switched from a lefty to a righty stance, which brought him two feet closer to Duran. "It seemed everybody was disappointed that I didn't knock him out. I felt that way myself. But he wasn't that vulnerable to a knockout. It was hard to hit him with a solid punch. I didn't catch him with a solid shot."

"I was a little scared because he was coming in straight up," Duran said. "I could reach him with any right, but actually I was scared to throw the right hand."

"He came to tear my head off," says Duran, "but when he saw that I could hit him hard, with strength, he got scared and became a coward. That's why he didn't take too many chances and mix it up with me. Everyone was saying he was a destroyer, but when he hit me, he didn't do anything to me. His punches absolutely did me no damage. He got scared every time he threw a jab because I could get my right in under it. That's why he held off so much."

"I'm not a fool either," Hagler would say, "going in to get hit. You don't barrel in there on a guy like Roberto Duran. Why take unnecessary punishment unless you have to? I'd been effective and was winning the fight, so it isn't like I had to go in there and take the punishment to bomb him out."

"The better man won," Duran said, after two judges had given Hagler the victory by one point, the other by two.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1121476/1/index.htm

 

Thanks for posting this. I'm tired of everyone talking about the too much respect angle. Hagler was confused by Duran. Duran knew how to fight him. This is why Hagler was unconvincing. Even so, he still won.

 

great post as always:good

 

IMO, Duran crawled into Marv's head, just like Leonard later did. I realize that many who idolize Marvin will take issue with that assertion, but I stand behind it.......and feel that Marvin could have done better with both had this not happened.

 

I agree 100% Hagler started 2 apply the pressure in the 6/7th but then just seemed 2 back off handing the intitiative back 2 Duran, he was definetly less than marvelous & i can see how the judges were swayed towards Duran in some of those close non-action rounds, hagler nearly blew it:smoke

 

The thing that never impressed me about Duran was his lack of combinations. His jab was thrown now and again, and he let go with his lead right. But Duran lacked combinations and forcing out his punches. Thats something Hagler did when he needed to, he stepped up and put his foot on the gas. Duran simply lacked variety with his punches.

 

I agree, but i recken the judges only being human proberbly expected more from Hagler & less from Duran if you get my drift, the same thing happended in the Hagler/Leonard fight, yeh Marvin looked/was the more busy BUT he never seemed too impose his will conclusively, unfair i know, but thats how yer can have yer title pinched from under yer nose:smoke

 

Duran done ok considering he was a natural lightweight with limited physical tools and lack of firepower at the weight. IMO, If Hagler came out smoking and decided to really go after Duran he would have maybe won inside the distance. However, thats no sure thing. Hearns at jr middleweight hits harder than Hagler at middleweight. Perhaps Duran would have taken Hagler's best punches on a regular basis.

 

False assumption. It wasn't Hagler who was cautious but Duran who put on a very competitive performance. Give credit where credit it due. Duran is a great fighter. Look at the Barkley fight.

People love to do this against Duran. When he whipped Leonard's ass in Montreal people tried to say Leonard "fought the wrong fight." So Hagler was "strangely cautious" and Leonard made a "tactical error." Blah blah blah.

No, Duran is a hell of a fighter.