Could It have made a difference,if Hagler had come out faster against SRL?

Hagler's biggest mistake was coming out as an orthodox when he is a natural southpaw. Imo speed had nothing to do with it.

 

I feel if he did and at southpaw it may have been a different fight all together.

 

The Mugabi fight showed signs Hagler was hurting bad, helluva poker face it was rough. Hagler with Leonard to me should’ve came out to hurt him bad, don’t let Leonard build the fight and think it out, come out Southpaw for war and impose your will for a dog fight.

 

I agree with you.
Quite a few have the opnion Hagler vs Mugabi was a one sided beat down.
It wasn't.
Both fighters took tremendous punishment in that fight.
And it very well may have ruined both fighters.
It definitely broke Mugabi mentally, he never showed that type of determination again.

 

Yes of course. He thought he was going to easily outbox Ray ,, thats why he came out righty for 2 rounds. If it didnt work the first round, then why come out and do it for the 2nd ?? Hagler blew it plain and simple

 

Bang on everywhere. It's surprising how many think Hagler would have and should have come out banging and often did. A helluva lot of intangibles went into the explosive start between Hagler and Tommy, it was a unique event really particularly for Hagler.

 

I can’t argue strongly against any of the perspectives submitted.

The rational is sound from all corners even if not in concurrence.

I know Hagler wasn’t necessarily a balls to the wall fighter unless pressed but his start to the Leonard fight was notably passive, just imo.

If Hagler had run though the smaller, inactive Leonard in just 4-5 rounds, as many appeared to believe he would, then Marvin might not have received the credit he craved.

I agree that Marvin probably thought that anytime he chose to step on the pedal, he could easily end the fight.

As such, for max. effect, I think Marv wanted to outbox Leonard via an orthodox stance before knocking him out for the most comprehensive of victories.

The first problem for Hags was the real time revelation of Leonard’s amazing recapture of himself. No one accounted for that.

Perhaps also, I think that Marvin might’ve found Leonard’s punch stiffer than what he anticipated.

Finally, when Hagler decided to drop the folly of his early round start, revert back to southpaw and step up his attack, he then found out that the old fuel tank wasn’t what it used to be.

Even though Leonard was fatiguing badly, old Hags wasn’t that far behind him in that regard.

Thats just one way I’ve seen the fight but there are several other equally arguable permutations as to how and why it went down as it did.

Random thought - Hagler fought southpaw against Duran, from go to whoa, right?

I just quickly scanned through the fight and only saw Marv fighting as a righty - but of course I didn’t watch each and every round.

I wonder in which other fighter Marv might’ve started out orthodox in the opening rounds.

 

Hi Pugguy.
Excellent breakdown of the fight and fighters, shows a real and earnest knowledge of both combatants, many thanks, I would agree with you that Hagler did underestimate Leonards capability's, as did we all, and was somewhat surprised and shocked at the weight of Leonard's punches, add this, Ray was not " scared " of Hagler, I mean Marvin was a formidable fighter, and would put apprehension in many an opponent's mind, not so with Leonard, I believe that had some bearing on the final outcome, anyway great post, would expect nothing less.
stay safe buddy, chat soon.
Mike.

 

BRAVO!! Spot-on analysis--agree with every word!!

 

Cheers Mike.

I remember the fight like it was yesterday. Gobsmacked by Leonard’s performance but still had an ominous feel that the bubble would burst at some point, especially when Ray began to gas - but then he got his 2nd, 3rd winds etc, and flurried his heart out when he could.

I like them both but I was rooting for Ray purely due to the underdog angle.

 

This is spot on, Hagler's hand speed had diminished so much he looked to me like he was throwing punches underwater and he made Ray look quicker than he was. I remember when Ray first said he wanted to come back and fight Hagler there was not a reply from the Hagler camp for some time. The Mugabi fight took a lot out of Marvin, the Petronelli's saw it, Angelo Dundee saw it, Dr. Pacheco commented on it as well and Ray Leonard clearly saw a diminished Hagler. I recall watching the fight with a group and we all had the same reaction, "When is Hagler going to get going? Actually the Hearns fight was an outlier for Marvin , storming out of his corner and attacking straight off was never his style though he should have attempted it, By mid fight it seemed clear Marvin wasn't the same fighter, his reflexes wouldn't let him pull the trigger. Over the years I've read a few things about why Marvin retired and I believe he and his team knew this was where he was now and if he continued he'd lose to a far lesser fighter

 

So pretty much Hagler should not have been quite as balls to the wall as vs Hearns, but in pre-Mugabi condition should have been hotter and pressed/out dogged SRL, I mean yeah I could see Hagler taking a good amount of fight out of SRL earlier on and then switching stance and being a little more measured in deeper water to solidify the win, being cautious was never going to cut it with SRL's speed

 

This is an excellent breakdown.

 

Thanks Boss. Much appreciated.

 

The Petronelli's don't get a free pass on this. What exactly were they doing between rounds? And their pre-fight preperations.

Big advantage in the other corner & it was something I had always wondered about. Think of Marvin w/ Dundee or Steward or Futch; the great trainers. Then think of Leonard w/ Petronelli's.