Bernard Hopkins vs Marvin Hagler.

Cyclone Hart was asked who would win between Hopkins and Hagler...He said Hopkins would.
Hopkins skillset is generally well recognized by fellow fighters and the boxing world, if not here on ESB..haha.
Hopkins record against southpaws is beyond formidable. But with that said, prime Marvelous Marvin was a force...if Hagler found himself being outpointed, I feel he would go for broke...in an effort to change the tide of a fight if losing. Upping the pace, and attempting to drag Hopkins into more of a fight...It would be close. But cannot pick Hopkins over Hagler. Because this just may come down to who wants it more...not just skills.

 

As someone on here said, this would come down who may want it more. I think hagler fought with a hunger, myabe born of desperation. True Hopkins fough southpawas well, but this is Hagler, whole other monster. he could switch orthodox/southpaw seamlessly. Had good power and great conditioning. And here`s the key, he would not let Hopkins dictate and slow the pace of the fight. I think he would take Hopkins out of his comfort zone and make him fight a fight that isn`t in his best interest. Hopkins is able to school the fighters of this ear, but I don`t see him getting it over on Hagler. Hagler UD

 

Switch southpaw and orthodox seemlessly? Really? Hagler looked awful fighting orthodox.

 

I thought he looked alright in his early-mid career as a righty

 

No

 

Bernard Hopkins: flavor of the week. It has been one damn long week, red.

I'll ignore the bit about Hopkins never beating a guy like Hagler because, as you should well know, Hagler never beat a guy like Hopkins, so that's a bit of a wash. These are two extremely skilled, evenly matched, brilliant, well-rounded, great fighters. Anyone who says otherwise is either biased or just flat out bad at analyzing boxing.

Hagler could do everything, he was wonderful, but he didn't always do the right thing or the smart thing. That's bad against Hopkins.

 

Brilliantly balanced response and the only true answer.

 

Tell that to some of the fighters he dismantled !

 

I don`t think Hopkins could beat a prime Hagler by fighting carefully... Yet, he can`t beat Hagler by trying to make a war out of it either. It`s a great tough, close fight. But in the end, Hagler`s got a little more moxie... While I love Hopkins, is it safe to say that his rep has soared with his post middle run ? Pavlik, Paschal, and now Cloud. Longevity has definitely worked in his favor. Head to head, at 160, tough hard fought fight,but Hagler outworks him...

 

Never seen it put so well. Hagler's great all-around ability made it difficult for me to pinpoint exactly what it was that made me sometimes feel he was selling himself short. He wasn't lacking in skill or versatility. He was neither over-aggressive or timid. Not an unintelligent fighter by any stretch. He was certainly consistent. But once in a while, he simply seemed to not quite want to do what would have brought him quicker success. The rounds he allowed Duran to control the tempo, the persistent orthodox stance against Leonard, etc. Small delays in calculation like that, even for a round or two, could give someone like Hopkins the opportunity to find his rhythm, find a home for his lead rights and body shots in the clinch, pivot out to restart, and steal a few decisive rounds.

And I'm not saying that to support an argument for Hopkins. In fact, as the rounds wear on, I see Hagler being able to time the appropriate leads and catch Hopkins with the more eye-catching shots, possibly even hurting or dropping him. He'd also make it very costly for Hopkins to try and use his usual inside tactics (though would not necessarily dominate), leaving Hopkins with the burden of spending most of his time on the outside. He's very capable there, especially given the height advantage he'd employ, but reducing Bernard's options against someone comparably good at controlling the center of a ring is less than ideal, to say the least.

 

At no point in their careers was this true.

 

Hagler via late decision

 

I favor Hopkins by mid round decision.

 

Where do they get these nutbags on here? Seriously, they have internet access in the looney bins in Britain?

 

Hagler