If Hagler had just corrected his boxing stance, he would have killed Leonard on even that night. But he didn’t because he’s a big, mentally deficient idiot. Now he has a loss against a shot WW IN HIS OWN MW DIVISION to show for it loollll!!!
Stance wasn't the real issue, but it certainly would've helped him to come out southpaw from the 1st bell. No, the bigger issue was his passivity, attempting to win a jabbing war from long distance. He should've attacked Leonard similar but not as reckless as he was with Hearns. Pressure the fighter who was out the ring for almost 5yrs. Make him use those legs early. Help them weaken by forcing the fight, and body punching. His attack plan should've resembled Chavez's fight with Camacho. Study hard pressure.
But Leonard was past it too and Hagler was active and at his own weight. Hagler dropped the ball. He had every advantage.
That we have Clint and it looks like it's that time of year again. Regardless of perceived or real skulduggery Hagler held the vast majority of the aces. He was active and still capable. What matches were ever won over a reigning ATG? Matches with that sort of layoff against a bigger stronger active ATG not beaten in over a decade. There was a reason the match opened at 4-1 against SRL. Leonard struggled and had to get off his ass to get the job done against an ordinary fighter in Howard. Factor this - If they fought in 82 Leonard would have undoubtedly been tighter odds to win. Guys like Eddie Futch wrote Ray off due to inactivity and never seeing such a feat. Leonard was testing the waters (both performance wise and injury wise) he was never going to fight Hagler at that point first up. He performed crap so retired. Saying Leonard had more in the tank than Hagler because of two fights he had afterward is totally irrelevant as Hagler never fought again. If one is in the camp that Hagler actually won then it is even more irrelevant. There's every chance Hagler would have stopped Tommy at that point, in fact it's odds on. Lets not even talk about an average weight drained light heavy. Hagler at this point in tiem may have been too good for him.
I simply don't agree with parts of your post here, but we have already gone over this many times so I'm simply not going to do this again. We just are going to have to agree to disagree concerning this topic (again, lol). My question is, where's Mag1965 during this when he always claimed we were each others' stooges, lol?
- Ultimately, Leonard was more psyched up for the fight than Hagler. - Hagler had reached the end of the road and that was plain to see in the Mugabi bout. - He was ready to retire and didn't even want the Leonard fight by then. - But, people (who would also benefit from the money involved) kept telling him how easy this was going to be (and probably believed that themselves). - Combined with the money and the constant massaging of reality, Hagler was effectively coaxed back into the ring. - But, he wasn't thinking like a killer anymore and was simply going through the motions with, as @surfinghb1 put it, an expectation that he could outbox SRL. - Instead Hagler had to run him down and force a fight (and he did). Either way, I still think Hagler got the better of SRL, but no amount of stirring makes this topic smell any fresher - quite the opposite.
Yeah. The Wba had Graham as their mandatory challenge after Hagler beat Mugabi in early 86 but Hagler refused to fight him and eventually the Wba stripped him of their belt. Bomber Graham may have turned out to be a British poor man’s Michael Nunn but he was still a unbeaten tricky elusive southpaw at the time and Hagler clearly wanted no part of him at that point in his career especially after the struggle against Mugabi plus he would be fighting for chump change. Hagler like Billy in predator was scared of no man and was more interested in money than titles at that time but it was still a duck.
He was about to retire and is quoted as saying so. Thats a fact. It even took him a couple of months to respond positively to Leonard's "challenge" as he was done with the sport. Thats a fact also. So no, it wasn't a duck. Imagine Marvin Hagler being afraid to fight Herol Graham LMMFAO. I would expect that in the general.
I really believe that Marvelous Marvin Hagler figured that Sugar Ray Leonard had been out of circulation too long to be a legitimate threat in April 1987. That was a strategical mistake on Hagler's part, to fight orthodox, maybe he should have confused Ray by switching stances back and forth. And he could have fought more aggressively, also Hagler was too light coming into this fight. Not making any excuses for Hagler, but he had just fought a war with John The Beast Mugabi on March 10 1986, and they do recommend as you get older it is wise to fight often to stay sharp. I know that he wanted to fill his pocket with cash fighting Leonard, but it would have been a good idea to fight again before fighting Ray.
