Hearn's big three performances

Duran. No one before or since has done that to Roberto. It's about as perfect a right hand KO as you can find.

Cuevas comes second, and for why, I'm just going to copy and paste a post I did earlier today talking about Hearns vs Cuevas.

 

The Duran K.O (considering the opposition as well) is probably the greatest K.O of all time. Maybe behind Ali-Foreman (that due to context rather than the punches being particularly great)

 

i would think his fight with hill would be up there as the duran/barkley like world class performance of a older great.

 

All those performances are outstanding, but I would choose the fight against Cuevas for one single reason: age

Hearns was just 21 when he demolished Pipino. He was supposed to be the unexperienced underdog, Pipino's meal ticket; but Hearns came with a KO for the ages shocking the boxing world.

When he destroyed Duran, Hearns was what?, 25? He was already a recognized elite boxer, with more experience, more physical development, etc. Thus, although his destruction of Duran was impressive, it was not like something out of the blue. By then Hearns had already proved that he was an ATG

 

I agree with most of this, but Hearns had not yet proved himself to be an ATG at that age. He was right up there, but needed the Duran fight and the war with Hagler to push himself right up the top.

I agree though, the Cuevas fight is just as if not more brilliant than the Duran K.O

Welcome to the classic forum :good

 

The Benitez win would go close to top 3 as well. Benitez was favoured, and the last thing the boxing world expected was Hearns showing patience and solidly outboxing such a master craftsman. Hearns came in with the perfect gameplan and executed to perfection.

 

:good:good:good

 

And did so with a busted right hand. Brilliant.

 

The Hill performance is well worth a mention. Infact, it rivals any of the boxing clinics near his prime weights (WW and JM).

 

Thanks for the welcome :yep

As I said in another thread, what impressed me of Hearns vs Pipino, is how collected and in control Hearns was. He was supposed to be tense, nervous, intimidated by Pipino. But Hearns came cold as ice, totally in control. And he was just 21.

Regading the ATG status, I agree that Hearns solidified his claim to greatness with the fights against Duran and Hagler, particularly with the Duran fight. But even before that, it was kind of clear that Hearns was an ATG in the making. He had already won world titles, defended succesfully his crowns, defeated Cuevas, Benitez, etc., and fought Leonard in a classic, all before 25.

However, I feel that the Duran fight was his pivotal moment. After that there were no more doubts regarding Hearns' greatness. The only open question was how high he would go in the ATG ranking.

 

If we're talking performance (not just the magnitude of the win), then I'd probably say:

1-2. Cuevas and Duran

3. Benitez