A brawl hagler vs duran.

i don't even feel Duran would last as long as Hearns just because he wasn't the same fighter at that time as before like i said before. Hearns was a beast he just came to the ring with the wrong game plan. Besides the psychological experience of Duran, tommy was just a better fighter then Duran at that lmw or mw limit. i don't think most fighters of that era stand a chance fighting Hagler in that style and emerging victorious, it was Haglers playground in a brawl like that.

 

Hearns didnt have much of a choice other than to fight for his life and return fire. Something had seriously crawled up Hagler's ass and he was going to have his dome knocked off before he engaged in any kind of boxing. His sense of urgency and pressuring was unfathomable. He had the chin.

 

Actually it was Hagler who had only one chance and he knew it.

He wasn't going to outbox Hearns -no one did, not even Leonard. Not even Benitez. Hagler was shorter, slower, and his thudding power wasn't going to do much from the outside -he had to bring it inside the danger zone of Hearns' far more dangerous form of fast-twitch power.

Hagler had to pray that his chin held up as he made a fight of it. He risked it all because unlike way too many fighters today -he was wise enough to know how he wasn't going to be beat Hearns.

I think he was lucky that Hearns KOd Duran with such ease. See it went to his head and he thought he could do the same to Hagler. Had Hearns boxed aggressively but from his perimeter, it could have been a different fight. Hearns' ego matched Hagler's best chance to win.

 

Yes you're right Stoney, Hagler was going to do everything humanly possible and then some to avoid boxing with Hearns and Tommy took the bait but I also give credit to Marvin for catching him off guard (I'm sure Steward knew he was going to come aggressively but Tommy's facial expressions say something different) and putting on relentless pressure. Marvin was walking through and shaking off blows few in history ever could.

 

I agree. Hearns stopping Duran gave him the thought he could stop anyone, and you could tell Hearns didn't respect Hagler much. Hearns style sure was reckless. Both of them. If most top fighters fought like that and threw away boxing skills for wars like that, who knows who would win fight. Would be unpredicatable.

 

Good point, i was going to include SRL and forgot about Geraldo, tho he took a dive. Certainly showed his fear tho.

 

Duran would have no hope of hurting Hagler. Leonard was a decent puncher still at 160 and his power was unnoticed.

Duran himself backed away from the inside work pretty early in the bout due to Hagler being too strong. A brawl would have increased his chances of getting stopped, tho Hagler was known to poop out a bit later in some bouts. Duran would have tired earlier regardless imo, due to the natural weights.

Edit

Duran could have got lucky via a cut in a brawl, his only realistic chance.

 

Great post, missed it first time.

 

i've seen you pull some fantastic posts, but none more concise and compact as this. To say it's spot on would be an understatement.

I'll also add that Hagler knew he could cut at times, and Hearns long range jab and missiles had the potential to force the issue.

 

funny about that cut on Hagler's forehead. I alway wondered where it happened, but never focused on the fight enough to figure it out. One day I set out to figure out when the cut happened. And I figured it out easily. at 1 minute 20 seconds and one minute 19 seconds left in the first round, Hagler is all pumped up and working inside on Hearns, and he throws a right hand to Hearns body which makes Hagler move to his left and his head goes right into Hearns mouthpiece, at the same moment Hearns throws a right to Hagler's body, making Hearns go to his left and the timing was that it caused a big cut- so it was the mouthpiece sticking out which cause the cut. Hearns fought with his mouthpiece out when he was tired and breathing heavily, as he was-. The cut was caused by the mouthpiece. It was easy to find once I put my mind to it. Probably insignificant anyway. It was no one's fault. Hagler moved right into the mouthpiece and Hearns punching also moved in the opposite direction at the same time. In brawls it happens.

 

Quite a shame Hearns broke his hand so early into it. Many say it doesnt matter, and I give Hagler full credit for his trademark win, but the hell if that didnt significantly alter things. Nobody disputes Hearns was an ATG puncher. I happen to consider him elite among the elite. The fight wasnt over when Marvin shook off the right, but when Hearns broke it. His greatest weapon was disarmed, against a possessor of one of the greatest chins ever staging a relentless attack.

Then again, Tommy's legs were shot.

 

I personally can't see Duran winning a brawl against Hagler. Truth is I became a boxing fan because of Hagler but my favourite fighter is probably Duran. But they are similar in some respects and as the saying goes, a skilled bigger man usually beats a skilled smaller man, all things considered. Both had great chins but I think Hagler brings more power into the fight.

 

Sure is a shame a rematch did'nt happen.A year later Hearns was stronger than he was,it showed with Shuler.And Hagler slipped a bit

 

It seems Hagler was always rather disparaging of Hearns during the time. I wasnt really feeling his 'outrage' over Hearns pulling out of their scheduled 1982 fight with an injured finger. Ironically, he'd end up fighting him with a broken hand. Then about a year later after the Mugabi fight, Hagler had this to say:

Its like the guy is completely oblivious that Hearns, who was on his 3rd weight class when he fought Hagler, just might go down as the best fighter Hagler ever beat which of course he is. He's a genuine hardass and long been one of my favorites, but Hagler's tendency to go BONEHEAD was rather frequent. Another example: Let Me Box with Sugar Ray for four rounds. Bonehead.

I guess what isnt is that he never moved up to fight Spinks. Smart.

 

I mean Really... You'd think somebody so insecure that they felt he need to legally change their first name to Marvelous and moan over how they get no respect after literally every fight would think to themselves, 'Hey, this guy is the greatest fighter I ever beat. Perhaps I shouldnt talk so much about how he isnt really ****. since I want to be considered great and all that stuff.'

Hell, even Roberto Duran quietly conceded Ray Leonard's greatness immediately after the Brawl in Montreal. Today there are a host of youtube warriors quick to tell you how terrible Ray Leonard really was as a fighter. How hes Nothing. So what was Duran's greatest win again in their view... Esteban DeJesus?!?

Historians, observers and fans know the reality, of course. Its still pretty amusing.