Alexis Arguello or Thomas Hearns- Who was greater?

Arguello. He was tougher and more proven and better schooled

 

Two of my fav fighters. Both ducked no one and always fought the best and took on the most difficult challengers. Not like today with Mayweather , Pacquiao and Canelo with this catchweight and Peds cheating. Only three fighters share the same values today Terence Crawford , Lomachenko and Naoya Inoue. ( TC and NI challenging for 3rd world title currently )

 

AA aka ETM: 77 (62kos) -8 (4kos)
first fight in 1968. 3-2 by his first 5 fights, the makings of a average fighter with no hope.
By 1972 he lost 3x, stopped twice, really on his way to being nothing special, 19-3. by 1973 he began to develop some skills IMO by trial and error and when he fought Kid Pascualito that was his first real test.
Then WBC FW champ Jose Legra ...The ETM was knocking out greats and legends.
1974 he lost again to WBA FW title holder Ernesto Marcel --there is some footage on the fight, not good at all, but enough to tell it was an ebb n flow fight both took and gave punishment. Marcel retired after that, just like Legra.
By the time the explosive thin man came to America, his game was polished. No more state titles he's the WBA FW champ. KO'd Rueben Olivares, beat Bobby Chacon, the 1st to beat Rueben Castillo , Rafael Limon --captured SuperFW title.
Every top contender, names we don't really know like Boza Edwards, Jose Luis Ramirez, then american televised whooping like a then undefeated Ray Boom Boom Mancini, moved up again now the LW champ.
Meeting his match at Super LW --14 years into his career against Perpetual Motion Pryor.

Arguello's career is more decorated, won his biggest fights. I didn't know that AA retired for about 1/2 decade and came back 1-1 per box rec. By then he had proven everything.

 

Admit I had to box rec Hearns, I fogot he fought & beat Benitez.
Just brutal power. More so than AA by a mile. But he was on of those Manny Steward fighters that could put on a dozen lbs in between weigh ins.
Cuevas, Duran & a decent Doug Dewitt. I shouldn't have been surprise to see him make LHW & CW and win.

But his KO losses to Haglar & Barkley was way more brutal than AA's losses IMO. But beating Virgill Hill in Hill's prime could be called a minor upset? Hearns truly was a great fighter, but he went on to fill out and fight and win at Cruiser Weight. Arguello never drained himself as far as I know to make Featherweight..he was naturally skinny.
So, too, was Hitman ,but when he filled out, totally different from the division he retired compared to the ETM.

ETM was more well rounded IMO and had a better chin.
Hearns had greater power and could starch or get starched in a moments instance, while Arguello kinda faded thru the rounds when he lost.

2 great fighters for sure!

 

Hearns best wins to me are kinda like Hopkins..winning years into his prime -after moving out of his standard division: Virgill Hill

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Arguello destruction of Mancini was a thing to behold, but I will go with Castillo has his best for me

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Tough call. Both fighters had excellent power esp for their respective weight classes. Arguello was a better all around puncher when considering he could could stop an opponent with the left hook, left uppercut as well as the straight right hand. Hearns probably was the better skilled boxer as far as pure skills go. Esp when considering he did outbox Benitez, and R Leonard. Two ATG's who are universally credited with being very highly skilled boxers. Both fighters would fight ANYBODY. Both fighters stopped opposition that until they fought them was thought to have an "Iron Chin". Both were warriors, but sometimes it got in the way of a sound fight plan. Especially Hearns. It's too close to call in my opnion.... Flip a coin, can't go wrong with either one.

 

I edge Hearns . Cuevas,Benitez,Leonard,Hagler,Duran,Hill and many fights on the superfight level.. Hearns by a little. Both were great. I think Hearns ran into his top level Pryor many times..

 

These are tough because both guys fought top notch guys. How do you compare the guys Hearns and Arguello fought. The fact is never does a guy have an opponent who is 100 percent top. Duran might have fought the best Hearns ever was. Hearns might have fought the best Leonard in 1981. Arguello sure went up against a prime Pryor. or close to it. Amazingly. Pryor and Hearns won their first titles on the same day. August 2, 1980..I cannot say Hearns was greater than Pryor peak for peak, but Hearns persevered better and took care of himself better so he had a much longer career. Also. Pryor's style was not made for longevity as much.

 

I know this thread is not about Virgil Hill. but Virgil sure messed up. He called out Hearns every chance he got.. He really wanted that name on his resume thinking he would beat him easily with a counter left. He underestimated that top level of fighter and how they much better than the typical guys and losing to the older Hearns in 1991 did not help Hill's legacy. I really do not think his legacy ever recovered. Hearns was great, but by that point he had been knocked out by Barkley and almost stopped by Kinchen and was looking worn out. It would have been right for Hill to think Hearns would be easy to beat, but Hearns used his jab and preserved his legs.. Maybe the same thing happened to Holmes vs. Spinks. And as for Arguello, he was thin but he fought courageously for most of his career and he was tough inside. Different type of fighter than Hearns. Arguello vs. Duran would have been very interesting.

 

Hearns biggest wins are probably Cuevas, Benitez and Duran all in or within half a division from his starting point.

 

I go with EL FLACO EXPLOSIVO but it is close and i have no problem with who pick hearns

 

It is a close call between them. See Tommy Hearns was impossible to outbox. He had more speed than Arguello. I think Tommy Hearns was every bit as quick as Ray Leonard. If I was an opponent going in to face ETM or Hearns I would rather face Arguello.

I would rather look at it from that point to view thank nitpick their resumes.

I wouldn' t want to fight Tommy Hearns. I like my retinas undetached.

 

Did you have Hearns beating Leonard in their rematch?