11/3/81; Mustafa Hamsho - 44-5-2 (28) 3/7/82; Caveman Lee - 22-4 (21) 11/30/82; Fully Obel - 52-5 (41) 2/11/83; Tony Sibson - 55-7 (31) 3/27/83; Wilford Scypion - 32-9 (24) 11/10/83; Roberto Duran - 119-16 (70) 3/30/84; Juan Roldan - 67-5-2 (47) 11/19/84; Hamsho again 4/15/85; Thomas Hearns 61-5 (48) 3/10/86; John Mugabi 42-7 (31) 4/6/87; Sugar Ray Leonard 36-3 (25) So Marvin fough two Hall of Famers, albeit movin up in weight and past prime; two of the top 10 fighters of all time, The best Syrian ever, the best Ugandan ever, arguably top 5 Argentinian and Venezuelans, and 10 guys with a combined 369 Ko's, and outside of Leonard and Duran, all in their 20's. My question is this; did anyone have a stretch where he fought ten tougher, more dangerous, more powerful fighters in a row?
probably not Hagler was a better more complete, and more consistent middleweight than Ali was at heavyweight
Pac: Morales, Larios, Morales, Solis, MAB, JMM, Diaz, DLH, Hatton, Cotto, Clottey, Margarito, Mosley, JMM … All wins 14 in a row
good point. Heck of a resume which is why I think he is miles ahead of Floyd Mayweather. Floyd waited and got the win and he might have beaten Manny always head to head with his style, but the level of fighters he fought is more than Floyd's level.
I selected 10 because they were all punchers. The five before that: Antuofermo 59-7 (21) For the title. Obel again Alan Minter 49-9 (23) Marcos Geraldo 66-28 (49) Boogalo Watts 38-7 (20)
Pacquiao has a great CV, but in terms of tough opponents on the bounce, I'm with you up to JMM II. Diaz was not all that and his one big name (Morales) certainly flattered to deceive. OdlH - great name but the person behind it didn't show up. Hatton was a good scalp but just how far gone was Hatton by then?
No doubt DLH was past it .. And the Hatton arguement, I don't agree with. Pac turned pro almost 3 years before Hatton, had a lot more fights than him, and they were the same age. Hatton was a lifestyle choice. Drink beer, throw darts at the Pub and get fat... That catches up with anyone..But I think it's very important to note that Pac was an extremely active fighter who just fought everyone and wanted to... Even in his latter fights, he was the one with a lot more fights on his record going into these wars which is overlooked … Except for JMM and MAB missing, The JMM, Morales, MAB, PAC fights are important because they were the best and fighting each other multiple times. Activity, competition, and dominance …. Pac has all three
I don't dispute any of that (except I think it was Morales/Marquez, which failed to come off). I was really focusing on the consistency of top-level completion, on the bounce, as was being highlighted for Hagler. Diaz and OdlH dont cut it for me and interrupt that run of Pacquiao's. This is not a criticism of Pacquiao, just an observation, in the light of the OP. It seems, in regards to the Hatton question, you acknowledge he had physically wrecked himself. Personally, whatever the causes, I think he'd been on the slide ever since Tszyu. Great scalp and a spectacular KO result, but Hatton looked like a shot-to-**** fighter to me. He was still considered the man at 140, though - and so, either way, Pacquiao snatched that away emphatically. I've got no gripe with Pacquaio. He's been a supreme competitor, throughout his career. The Pacquiao, Marquez, Morales and Barrera interchange was, in the main, a great set of fights and I totally agree with the importance you place on these match-ups.
