If Hagler was on the slide, what does that make Leonard? Wasn't a natural middleweight to begin with, had suffered a detached retina and had been out the ring 3 years....
An unknown quantity with a lot less wear-and-tear (Leonard had had half the number of fights that Hagler had accumulated), allegedly ring-rusty (in spite of claims Leonard had been involved in private bouts behind closed doors) and a boxer with a strategy, which enabled him to take advantage of a ring-weary Hagler (which had become evident during Hagler/Mugabi and, even then, Leonard's approach to the fight made it such a close run affair that many observers believe Hagler won).
Clutching at straws there. Behind closed doors or not, he hadn't fought under the lights at the top level for 3 years and was making a jump up to Middleweight all after a major eye injury. You can't make Leonard went in with this old ring worn battle horse that was way past his sell by date as that is just putting a spin on the truth. Going into that fight, nobody gave Leonard a hope...Hagler the #1 in the division , coming off numerous solid wins most by stoppage, a career middleweight and naturally bigger man.
Hagler would get Leonard by the 9 th and rip in to him. Sugar try to fight back and then cover up but no stopping Hagler here. His spiteful punches have Leonard wincing with pain. By round 10, Sugars looking startled cos he knows what's coming his way. A final flurry from Leonard has Marvin grinning as he whams his shots in. Seconds later and Leonard is down!! He gamely attempt s to recover but Marv s in full destruction mode and batters him along the ropes, until the ref decides enough. Marvin Hagler retain s his undisputed middle weight title again.
Not clutching at anything - just laying out some facts. You do know that Leonard had fought since having his eye surgery, don't you? I can and I have. Hagler was on the verge of retirement, after Mugabi and it took some convincing for him to even take the Leonard fight. In Arum's words, in August '86: Hagler was "95% retired... ...I feel he's retired." No spin... ...just the truth. Hagler was, of course, the number-1 in the division because he remained the unbeaten Champ - but he was on the verge of retirement and that cannot be ignored just because the Leonard Hype-Machine was playing on Hagler's fierce reputation. Hagler was naturally the betting favorite but I tipped Leonard to win and, if you were around at the time, you'll know that a few other observers did, as well.
Not many. It was thought the long layoff and move up in weight class would be too much to overcome. Honestly, Hagler was not looked at as badly slipping. A lot of guys say on this board now that Hagler was practically shot when he fought Leonard. This is practicing revisionist history. The struggle with Mugabi was looked at more as a great performance by Mugabi than slippage by Hagler.
He was always slower than Leonard. Even in 82 he would have had a hand and foot speed disadvantage. I think he would put his punches together a bit better than he could in 87, though. His strength and relentlessness would likely rule the day. It would be competitive, though and Ray would land a lot of leather.
Hagler and the stage he was at in his career was being discussed by a few, at the time. There's an article somewhere, written pre-fight, in which Bert Sugar, Lou Duva and a former Lightweight Champ (who I can't remember the name of right now) all tipped Leonard to win and all three talked about Hagler having slowed down, as being one of the reasons they felt Leonard would win.
In a UPI poll of 21 writers covering the fight, 18 picked Hagler to win and three picked Leonard. Hagler opened as a 4-1 betting favorite when the match was announced in November 1986. By the day of the fight, the odds had fallen to 3-1. Hagler entered the fight ranked as the No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world by KO Magazine. https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Marvin_Hagler_vs._Sugar_Ray_Leonard
