-Lennox Lewis doesn't sniff the top 10 -Greb is so overrated it's nauseating and suicide-inducing -No one beats Gans at LW -Hagler would lose to Hopkins
Duran beat Hagler Monzon would lose to most great MWs, including guys like Leonard, Hearns, Jones etc. Bob Foster was nowhere near being great Ali's decline between '67 and '71 is massively over-stated Leonard would have beaten Hagler easily prime-for-prime Napoles would have pissed all over all but very few Welterweights in history
Ray Robinson is #3 Pound for Pound beind 2.Prenell Whitaker and 1.Benny Leonard Roberto Duran is a great boxer but overrated
I don't think any of those opinions are really unpopular. I've seen plenty that think these things, including myself on a few counts.
What immediately came to mind is my feeling that: Leonard decisively whipped Hagler, like 8-4 or so, and that's with me being biased towards Hagler... Holmes thoroughly whipped Witherspoon. It wasn't close. Spoon only had one moment in the fight, and he let it slip away. More on second thought: Monzon is vastly overrated. He probably loses to most MW greats. The Ali decline '67-'71 is overrated. As great as Louis was (and as much respect I have for him), he would probably lose to Lewis, Tyson, Liston, and more. All for different reasons, of course... DelaHoya won vs Quartey by one point. It was close, but Oscar won. Chuvalo's chin is overrated. There are plenty of others who could take it better.
Okay, I'll play and give a serious answer. I would just slightly to quite strongly favor Larry Holmes best for best against all but 3 or 4 heavyweight champions in history. The ones I don't favor him against, I believe he could take 1/3 against in a trilogy. At his very best, conditioning, motivation, health, etc, that's how good I believe he would've been no matter who was in front of him. Just the right mix of will, skill and physical attributes that I believe he is H2H only really under Ali and maybe Louis, as an all around total package. :confIt's largely suspicion and that's why I wouldn't strongly argue for it, because he didn't have the ultimate opposition in his prime to really put it to the test, but deep down, I give him as much benefit of the doubt as I can give a fighter.
Marvin Hagler on his best night beats Monzon, Hopkins, Robinson, Greb, Jones, and anyone else who has ever fought at 160lbs. Hagler was one of the most complete fighters in history, there just wasn't sufficient natural mw opposition around in his era for him to conclusively prove this.
Is that an unpopular opinion? I always assumed that most who had seen this particular fight saw it as one of those clear,decisive fights that was incorrectly scored as a close fight by the judges.