Hagler v Hearns is one of the most overrated fights ever.

Exactly. Some fights just have to be "experienced".

 

If anything, I think the second and third rounds are a bit underrated in terms of action and drama. Hearns boxed pretty well in the first minute or so of each of those frames, landed some nice shots, and had Hagler bleeding all over the place.

Hearns landed 26 of 61 in round 2, an impressive 42 percent scoring ratio, and over 50 percent of his punches in round 3. Yet still lost the round clearly and got flattened in the third. Any round like that should be considered objectively good, when considered in a vacuum. And, when taken in overall context, both of those rounds become that much better.

 

Agreed!

I was in highschool when this fight happened. To put in perspective just how good and how meaningful this fight was to boxing, months later people were still talking about it.
No fight in my lifetime compares to the furious pace of that first round. You set aside the first round and just the second and third rounds contained more action than every Floyd Mayweather fight put together.
So no, I dont agree that this fight is overrated, and I dont think its true that after the first round it was a forgone conclusion it was Hagler's fight.
In his right hand Hearns possesed arguably the most explosive shot p4p in boxing history, so no it was not over by a long shot.
In the span of 3 rounds this fight contained everything, brutal inside warfare, punching with power, and yes even boxing. Hearns had to adapt to try to box when it was evident Hagler was'nt going anywhere, and for Hagler, he had to chase. It was not a forgone conclusion Hagler would be able to cut the ring off on an on his bike Hearns. So Hagler had to adapt his stride and rhythm going to an evasive on the backfoot Hearns. Then the blood came, yes this fight had blood, and then then the ending and the way that right hand by Hagler took everything left Hearns had as he went limp.
Hagler-Hearns was nothing short of sensational!


Two fighters Hagler and Hearns at or very near the prime of their careers #1 and #2 p4p, you dont get that in boxing nowdays, fighters are afraid to face eachother when both are at the top.
I watch this fight at least once a year and never get bored watching it.

 

Absolutely!
The thread starter say's that past the first round the fight is overrated, I think it becomes that to him when he compares those rounds with the frantic pace of the 1st round.

 

I love reading stuff like this.

 

Watching it live was an out of this world experience. As a fan of the sport, you could feel the adenaline pumping inside of you.
The first thing I think about when someone say's Hagler-Hearns is "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler with his ballcap on that say's "WAR"
There is story to tell when it relates to Marvin Hagler and how disrespected he felt by the media going into the Hearns fight.
Leonard was the media favorite and a great portion of the media was picking Hearns to win by knockout. The thinking was Hearns obliterated Duran who Hagler did'nt look all that great against.
That really ate at Hagler's psyche.
The leadup to the Hearns fight is when Hagler began to wear that cap and look what he gave us.........
RIP MARVELOUS MARVIN HAGLER!

 

I never said it was the best fight ever. I don't think it was. The idea of the context of it within its time seems to be escaping you, despite the posts pointing it out.

 

I don’t know that first round Tommy looked every bit like a cobra, so dangerous it was edge of the seat. And you know Marvin ain’t backing down to anybody so the drama just couldn’t be any higher. Still gives me the chills

 

Leonard fans the US media included wanted a Hearns KO as it would make drive Leonard's stock who was retired at the time up the roof.
Dont think for one second Hagler did'nt know this.

 

Well this thread has gone opposite to the way it was intended but it's turned into one of the better ones lately and allowed a lot of us to relive what we were doing when it actually transpired.

 

fight of the 80s.

This fight had it all and the Hitman finally peaked while Marvin's best days were probably over.

Tommy's humiliating r*ping of Duran really peaked the public's interest in the fight. It was like watching a man beat up his woman. Like watching King Kong terrorize T Rex

i was surprised Duran had a head left

Would hagler do better???

Most weren't even sure if Tommy could be beat at this stage. What could Hagler do to the hitman that Duran COULDNT do???

As I saw it, hagler did a hell of a lot better than Duran! He really showed Duran what street fighting is about as he smoked Hitman in a non stop assault

probably the best fight ever

 

I think the testimonials from all who lived to see it live (on closed circuit mostly of course) tell the story — this fight is a great fight because it had lasting IMPACT on all who viewed it.

I doubt anyone, whether they were for Hagler or for Hearns, left not thinking they had witnessed a great fight. And that wasn’t a passing impression, like a movie you liked but a week later can’t remember much specific about it. Decades later people are describing their experiences and emotions as if it happened tonight.

If that doesn’t define what a great fight is, I don’t know what does.

 

You've made great points in this thread and are bang on again.

The point you make about it not mattering what camp you are in, you knew you got a great fight is a real light bulb moment. The fight was a CELEBRATION OF BOTH FIGHTERS as it takes two to tango and what a tango it was. Both gave all they had and both left a sizable chunk of themselves in the ring that night - neither were ever the same fighter again. Hearn's never took a punch near as well again and Hagler was a different fighter vs Mugabi.

I find that most of the narrative about it just being one good round and the conclusion was inevitable after a couple of minutes etc etc is from those that did not have the pleasure of experiencing the WAR in real time. Look at all the posts in this thread

 

From an unpromising premise this has turned into a great thread that is a celebration of why we love boxing.

I don’t have first hand experience of watching the fight live like a lot of you guys do. I was still pretty young when the fight happened so don’t recall it at the time. I ended up watching it for the first time once I was properly into boxing about 8 or 9 years after it happened.

But I’ve seen lots of different versions of the fight over the years in terms of commentary - Reg Gutteridge for British TV, Al Michaels and Al Bernstein on US TV as well as the HBO crew and what’s clear in each of those versions is that all of the commentators were blown away by what they were witnessing. A few choice (possibly slightly paraphrased) quotes that live in my own memory that sum it up the excitement for me:

Reg Gutteridge: (talking about the reality of what he’d seen after the first round v the pre-fight hype) For me, it’s surpassed it!
Al Michaels (after the first round): Fantastic, incredible round!
Al Bernstein (after the first round): One of the best in middleweight history!
Al Michaels (at the end of the fight): It didn’t go very far, but it was a beauty!

Everyone watching it was in no doubt they had just witnessed greatness.