Marvin Hagler - not in the top twenty

How do you like that? Pound-for-pound list.

I don't think he deserves to be there.

Not that he wasn't a great fighter, and had he existed in the 1930s boxing scene I'd expect him to have accomplished a lot more.

Dominant middleweight champion and arguably the best at the weight - it's not something to laugh at. But when you're talking about quality of opposition, quantity of wins and weights scaled, there are many fighters who should rightly be placed above Hagler.

Typically, you'll see something along the lines of:

20. Marvin Hagler
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34. Jose Napoles
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41. Carlos Ortiz

Shouldn't be like that. Napoles and Hagler have vaguely similar career lines, except Napoles beat subjectively but probably better fighters, and more times. Ortiz swapped a couple of losses and draws with better fighters than Hagler - Locche, Loi, Laguna - and managed to dominate in the end. He was champion at lightweight and light welterweight.

Here are their notable opponents for comparison, all things fair and equal:

Marvin Hagler

Sugar Ray Seales
Eugene Hart
Willie Monroe (x2)
Mike Colbert
Kevin Finnegan (x2)
Bobby Watts
Bennie Briscoe
Loucif Hamani
Marcos Geraldo
Alan Minter
Fulgencio Obelmejias (x2)
Vito Antuofermo
Mustafa Hamsho (x2)
Tony Sibson
Wilford Scypion
Juan Roldan
John Mugabi

Roberto Duran
Thomas Hearns

--

Jose Napoles​

Angel Robinson Garcia
Bunny Grant
Tony Perez (x2)
Baby Vasquez (x2)
LC Morgan (x3)
Alfredo Urbina (x2)
Carlos Hernandez
Adolph Pruitt (x2)
Eugenio Espinoza
Herbie Lee
Leroy Roberts
Eddie Pace
Ernie Lopez (x2)
Edwin Mack
Manuel Gonzalez
Billy Backus
Jean Josselin
Hedgemon Lewis (x2)
Ralph Charles
Roger Menetrey
Clyde Gray
Horacio Saldano
Armando Muniz (x2)​

Eddie Perkins
Curtis Cokes (x2)
Emile Griffith

--

Carlos Ortiz

Joey Lopes
Johnny Busso
Dave Charnley
Kenny Lane (x3)
Len Matthews
Battling Torres
Cisco Andrade
Douglas Vaillant (x2)
Paolo Rosi
Arthur Persley
Kazuo Takayama
Teruo Kosaka
Maurice Cullen

Duilio Loi
Joe Brown
Flash Elorde (x2)
Ismael Laguna (x2)
Sugar Ramos (x2)

--

Marvin Hagler has a strong record consisting of solid names and few losses. It puts him at about #30 on my list, I think.

Napoles, too, beat few greats, but his opponents as a whole were slightly stronger, and Napoles would probably have been suited better at lightweight had he got a title opportunity. #23, or something.

Hagler beat more contenders at the lower end than Ortiz, but Ortiz faced the far better opposition at the other end. Slightly above, #28.

There are just too many great fighters in history to rate Hagler in the top twenty.

 

Yeah. But Hagler is the target today, as he's often rated that highly whereas the others aren't.

 

1. Henry Armstrong
2. Harry Greb
3. Ray Robinson
4. Sam Langford
5. Benny Leonard
6. Ezzard Charles
7. Roberto Duran
8. Willie Pep
9. Archie Moore
10. Barney Ross
11. Bob Fitzsimmons
12. Muhammad Ali
13. Joe Louis
14. Joe Gans
15. Mickey Walker
16. Tony Canzoneri
17. Jimmy Wilde
18. Jimmy McLarnin
19. Sandy Saddler
20. George Dixon

A lot of old fighters, but back in the old days the circumstances meant you just achieved more. Less money. The

 

I'm secretly working on a top 100 :yep

Up to #30. Might have #50 done later so I'll post that half.

 

Haha. ****.

You'll be pleasantly surprised though I think. With any luck, it'll open up new doors for people who've barely heard of the fighters on my list. I'm trying to be as objective as possible.

Hagler may even end up at #40. Sounds blasphemous, and it's really hard to break out of it, but it's not a 'most famous' list.