Is there any 135 pounder in history that could beat Thomas Hearns

Hearns was a great champion and in welterweight he was really difficult to beat, in addition to his technical skills, at that weight his height and his reach were a great advantage over his opponents.

When I think of two great champions who were strong at both 135 pounds and 147, Barney Ross and Henry Armstrong come to mind. Physically they were disadvantaged compared to Hearns but they had the qualities to make life very hard for the Detroit Cobra. Both had a great jaw, Ross was very versatile, had stamina and was tough, Armstrong had a great workrate, was very aggressive and had high level stamina. I don't think it would have been impossible for them to find the right key to beat Hearns in welterweight, it would have been tough but Ross and Armstrong had the class to be able to do it.

 

All I was saying was that SRL was very close to being a lightweight when he was younger.

 

You'll get no disagreement from me there. In fact that statement applies to every boxer who ever fought above LW.

 

Robinson was 5'll" which is very tall for a lightweight

He was like a smaller version of Hearns. As good as he was, I don't think that he had that same devastating right that Hearns had.

He was 145 when he fought LaMotta who outweighed him at 160

 

Oh yeah, I visualized the Forrest fights too…I’d absolutely favor Hearns. I picked Mosley as having a chance as he carried his speed, power and athleticism with him from 135 straight to 147. Those are the things you need to beat Hearns….none of his victors beat him by outboxing him, even Leonard.
And to that point, Hearns did much better in my imaginary H2H against Hagler and Barkley than he did in real life.

 

Thanks, ETM!!

 

Pernell Whitaker might do better than Benitez, he wouldn't win