Just looked back at Tommy`s fight v Barkley and he was much slower in that bout than in an a bout in 1986 v Medal, I always felt Tommy was easier to catch above 154 because of the longer reaches, he also looked okay v DeWitt but got caught more than he did at the lower weights, then Tommy looked slower at 175, but okay v Roldan, but had trouble with Roldan`s strength, so which of these fights did Tommy show signs of being jaded first?
I'd say around 1988, during losing to Barkley. But saying that, he do go on to almost beat Leonard and defeat Hill. I do recall, after he was kod by Barkley, the general feeling was that Tommy had seen better days and was on the way down, losing to a fella like Iran. As in life though, you can never tell in boxing.
Hearns was bossing and dominating Barkley in their first fight before he got caught. To a large extent the Barkley fight was a styles thing. I think this fight and the Hagler fights shows the difference between Hearns and Leonard. Hearns while a top outboxer had to fight his opponent and win the exchanges. He never found a way to adapt to bigger, stronger men who could take his punch and outgun him inside. He had to fight them. Where as Leonard realised after the Duran loss that sometimes he needed to box and move his way to decision (Duran/Hagler) and other times he needed to pressure his man and pull a KO out the bag (Hearns)
Hard to say, as the weight jumps between '82 and '86 add question marks as to the real cause of whatever decline he might have had. Was it the extra pounds slowing him down, fighting bigger guys or was he just losing his edge? Probably a bit of ea h, so I'll say, '86-'87. That probably started it.
He started to drop w me after Hagler .. he never was a great middleweight .. his chin and stamina were always in question .. he did continue to move up and based on styles had big wins like against Hill and Anders but he was vulnerable against the best and sometimes not so great .. he lost twice to Barkley, he hung on for his life against Kitchen and Roldan .. everyone says he won the Leonard rematch but he was hanging on for his life at the ned of that one too ..
Apparently I’m a crazed conspiracy theorist for saying it began as soon as he moved up from Welter. The reason being he beat better opponents during his brief run at 154, despite the fact that he’d have beaten all of them at 147 just as emphatically, Duran aside.
That is not an entirely accurate assessment of that first fight. Hearns came out fast looking to blitz Barkley but Iran was going hard to his body and affecting Hearns and taking his legs. Watch Tommy's legs leading up to the end. By the way, I predicted the winner of the fight and the round, way back when.
Good assessment. I think he did indeed have a lot left after 1988 but definitely saw some decline by that year. As time went on he relied more and more on his experience and physical height and strength rather than quickness or work rate. I wish the hell he had retired before losing to Uriah Grant.... yuck!!
I think he lost a little post Hagler and most certainly post Barkley. Post Hagler he was more suited against boxer types vs slugger pressure fighters and again, most certainly post Barkley. He'd lost some sharpness.
