Always felt that Bomber could have pulled this one off at this particular point in time; Hagler was starting to slip a bit and we all know he was never at his best having to chase slick opponents, especially those of the switch hitting defensive wizard kind. Heresy or not?:bbb
I think you are correct in that Graham poses stylistic problems for Hagler. However, I'd have zero confidence in picking him. I'm sure he'd find a way to lose, and for that reason I'll go for the tried and tested Hagler.
If Graham found a way to lose against Jackson (whom he was slaughtering) then he sure as hell would find away against Hagler.
I reckon that Graham would box Hagler's ears off for the first few rounds due to him having plenty of energy at the beginning and Hagler wasn't a particularly quick starter. However Hagler would start to break him down, although not without great difficulty. I can't see Hagler knocking him spark out like Jackson did, because he wasn't as hard a puncher, but I'm pretty sure that he would knock him out in the mid to late rounds. Graham was an amazing boxer in his prime, but he just never quite cracked the big-time and always remained the nearly-man of 80s British boxers.
i was a big fan of herol graham, great boxer and its a shame the hagler fight did not come off. however even though herol was a class act i feel hagler would have found a way of winning probably by late stoppage . apart from mccallum, the underrated kalembay and jackson , hagler is in a totally different league to anyone herol ever fought.
I think we would have all wanted Herol to win sadly as someone above said he would have found a way to lose .My favourite boxer
Graham would be awkward but Hagler would be all over him like white rice. Graham would feel alot of pain.
The punch that put Graham down in that fight would have despatched any middleweight in the world, then or anytime in history...it was peachy with Graham unconscious before he hit the deck. The one thing that sticks in my mind about that fight wasn't the punch but the sight of Joe "fair but ****ed up" Cortez insisting on counting out an obviously unconscious and in-trouble fighter.....Cortezs' incompetence could have endangered Grahams life.
I have a feeling we'd see a fight resembling his loss to Jackson. Ahead on the cards then Marvin finding that perfect shot. Would be just as heartbreaking to watch.
I think Marvin would just put it on Herol from the off, he would not want to risk going behind on the cards so early and gambling on getting him late, hagler gets him out of there in 4.
Hagler is arguably the best middleweight ever Graham a good fighter but doesn't beat any version of Hagler imo
Not heresy at all, I recall that Herol was ranked highly and well deserving of a shot at the time, but Hagler was quoted as saying he "didn't want to fight no limbo dancer", and I took that as him meaning he wanted no part of Graham at that particular juncture in his career. I reckon Herol could have done it, and that's not disrespecting Hagler, just where they were at that time. Instead an unmotivated Graham, 38-0 at the time, lost a listless decision to the massively underrated Sumbu Kalambay. It just wasn't in the stars for poor Herol, one of my favourite fighters of all time
