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

I think it would have DEFINITELY helped. I never understood Hagler's ill-advised strategy of coming out slow and basically giving away non-eventful rounds to Leonard.

 

Yes. Hagler probably edges that fight if that happens.

 

Huge blunder coming out passive and in the orthodox stance, and then plodding around slowly without cutting off the ring very well for 3 or 4 rounds. If he had applied more pressure he would have made Ray either fight more and sooner, or move even more or faster, and that faster pace would have made Leonard fatigue much more quickly. He allowed Ray to work at the pace and distance that he wanted. Marvin approached it like it was a 15 round bout rather than 12. That was another blunder on Hagler's part - contracting it for 12 instead of 15 rounds. He was a 15-round fighter, not 12. Also, he allowed Ray to have a bigger ring. Marvin wanted that big payday, and conceded on several points in order to have a bigger payout and get Ray into the ring. Quite frankly, it was a combination of economics and overconfidence. He figured there is no way a blown-up welterweight who has been out of the ring that long and so inactive for so many years would have any chance with him, and that he would catch up with him and take him out at some point. Huge miscalculation. He should have known; based on how close the Duran fight was.

 

Yeah he probably would’ve won if he done that. Found his tactics absolutely bizarre

 

It's a little overblown for me. Those early rounds just happen to be when Leonard was freshest. His lack of fights, regardless of how serious his "sparring/simulations" was/were well out from the fight, were never going to have him completely battle hardened vs regular bouts.

Leonard expended a fair bit more energy than Hagler in those first rounds. Personally I think the result stays similar.

 

I fully expected Hagler to blitzkrieg Leonard.
Since he was the active fighter, I thought his
best strategy was to push Leonard early, make him use those legs that had been on the shelf
for a few years, make him fight hard, grind him down.
As he did so successfully against Hearns.

When he came out passively, and fighting from an orthodox stance. I was surprised!
He simply gave away the 1st four rds.
I don't know if it was his arrogance for him to not take Leonard seriously, and think he could ko him anytime he chooses.
But By the 5th rd, when he finally began to seriously press Leonard , I knew he had committed one of boxing biggest sins....
He allowed Leonard to BELIEVE he could win.
And me being a Leonard fan by that point of the fight thought he'd win too.
Hagler should've came out aggressively. Probably would've had a different result if he had.
He had no one to blame for that strategy but himself and his trainers.

 

Hagler seemed to have aged overnight.
He was usually such a sharp counterpuncher. Leonard still had blistering handspeed but his reflexes weren't the SRL of old in 1987.Hagler was giving a hell of a lot of respect to Leonard for 4 rounds.
No doubt if he'd roughed up Ray for the first 2 to make his point before calming down the result would be different

 

I think the issue is John alot of people think of Hagler as a blood and guts warrior but his ultra aggressive performance vs Hearns was a rarity.

If you look at most of Hagler's notable fights he's a smart pressure fighter who takes his time and normally breaks down his opponents.

The opening rounds vs Leonard was no different than say the way he started vs Duran.

I agree Haglers slow start does get a bit overblown based on people thinking Hagler was always this whirling dervish like he was vs Hearns when in actual fact he wasn't.

 

I think people underestimate how much the Mugabi fight took out of him. Watch that fight again. It was brutal, going both ways. And going from Mugabi to SRL was like doing a 180. Another aggressive bomber would have probably turned out better for him than facing a guy like Leonard.

 

Short answer - yes I think it would have made a difference. He probably would have gained enough rounds to win the fight in the eyes of the judges.

Hagler was capable of fighting 15 rounds then and was far less ring rusty than SRL.

Also, have to remember though Hagler did take a lot of punishment from the Mugabi fight.

 

If he hadn't been arrogant enough to agree to give away the first four rounds by fighting orthodox, yes obviously.

 

I hate having to point this out time and again, but Marvin hadn’t fought a scheduled 15-rounder for 2 1/2 years. For that to suddenly be an excuse ignores the fact that (a) it didn’t hinder him in his other title fights in that span, and (b) he wasn’t giving anything in negotiations for Leonard because he was already well used to fighting scheduled twelves.

 

He looked 10% slower. It was striking.