Why did Hagler fight orthodox in the early rounds against Leonard

Did he think he would win rounds against a guy like Leonard by switching stance? Him giving away those rounds by fighting orthodox is what costed him the fight and he had no one else to blame but himself. I scored the fight a draw but it always bugged me about those early rounds. Why did he do that?

 

I have no idea why Hagler did this. Stupid decision.

 

I assume he thought that Leonard would've trained to fight a southpaw, and as such would catch him out.

 

Complacency is the answer. Like most of us,Hagler did n't think Leonard had a prayer,so Marvin was treating the early rounds like a glorified sparring session.

 

Probably several reasons. Most prevalently, I'd bet it was this.

Sometimes I'll spar a guy orthodox just to neuter my offense a bit so I can actually work on some things. I think Hagler stormed out at bell 1 thinking he could literally end it on his terms and boxed to try to have "fun".

 

Because he could.

Hagler was always going to struggle with Leonard's speed in the early rounds irrespective of his stance, so I think the whole emphasis on Hagler making a wrong strategic move gets way more air play than it deserves.

 

x2 Hagler is a fantastic switch boxer, another point is switching stance mid way through a fight can confuse an opponent and break their rythm, plus it will conserve energy too

 

For shits and giggles,basically.As we all know,Hagler was a complete novice at fighting as an orthadox.And it's not like he was known for consistently switching stances over the course of a fight or anything.

 

because hagler liked to fight stupidly in big fights once in a while

 

Hagler started landing more easily when he went southpaw, thus evaporating any claims that coming out orthodox was fine during the early rounds. Clancy watched Leonard in sparring and claimed that he struggled with southpaws in camp. This makes sense as Hagler started to land more as a southpaw against Leonard.

 

This is what I also believe. He outsmarted himself as a result.

Yes, he could switch hit, but how many highlight reel moments and fight winning instances did he produce from the orthodox stance? Switching was a ploy he used too often, and everybody expected it. LaMotta went southpaw rarely enough that it was a surprise when Jake did it, like during the crucial final round of the close and critical career extending rematch with Bob Murphy. (Off-hand, this is the only footage I recall of LaMotta doing this as a professional. In film of him as a Diamond Belt amateur, he's also seen switching.)

 

to get to the otherside

 

I think he did it to prove to Ray that he was just as good as him if not better than him, that he did not have to go and try to blast him out of their like he did to Hearns as he thought that he could out box him, with either stance and that he proved no threat to him unlike Hearns who he thought might of been able to outbox him.

At the end of each round Hagler seemed to have him, but each round was cut short and Hagler thought I will have him next round but he never got there, Leonard is a tough kid and hung in there and had just enough of a lead in the eyes of the judges.

 

cause his strategy was....[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1QCBF3h_tM[/ame]

 

He was thinking he would knock Sugar Ray out in the later rounds, didnt put much importance in those earlier rounds, and so clowned