How did Iran Barkley manage to beat Thomas Hearns twice?

I just dont agree. Just walking up those steps is more than 99% of people will do. Just like you or I we all have a bad day say at work for example. That does not make us lazy or irresponsible we just had a bad day .

 

Come on. We all have done things at one time or another where we f@@@@@ up in the heat of the moment. Does that deserve the label coward or bum? Not to me but IMO

 

Barkley proved he was a bad style for Hearns... Twice.

 

And we have to be very careful about being these self-appointed watchmen...…..I remember when that fat tub of goo Jeff Ryan of KO magazine labelled John Mugabi a coward because he turned away from Duane Thomas and leaned over the ropes in surrender, giving Thomas the TKO victory. The picture in the magazine was captioned "where's the Alpo?"

Turns out Mugabi had a fractured eye socket. I wonder exactly how brave our judgmental Mr. Ryan would have been had HE been in Mugabi's position. Food for thought.

 

Well it Is an opinion like anything on here. I actually think near the time of the final bell, Barkley was ready to go. He looked out of it, and I cannot see even another round where he would have survived. But it went 12 rounds so he went the distance. Hearns was very tired himself, but Barkley's face was in bad condition and swollen and I cannot imagine how he felt after that fight. I heard he could barely walk at the post fight press conference.

 

Barkley had the formula for facing Hearns. He had punching power, a rock solid chin, balls, and he was a little nuts.

 

yeah, he was willing to take punches or didn't have a choice. The punishment he took against Hearns in the first fight was enough, but more to the body. The second fight I think hurt both guys skills. Hearns was never the same and neither was Barkley. He went down after that fight, although to me he was never a great fighter. Do you guys think he should be in the Hall of Fame? I do if Mancini is in there or Curry. He was never the popular guys those guys were ,and Donald was skill but Barkley had the better win than either guy. If not an old great.

 

Hearns was beating him bad and Barkely absorbed it and caught Hearns with a punch that im not going to call lucky because Barkley had the courage to stand in there and take that beating and fire back.
2nd bout Hearns had no legs and it was a brutal bout .Hearns of the Shuler fight stops Iran and rather easy.

 

Tommy Hearns was rare because I don't think anyone ever outclassed him it as always him brawling and being hurt which led to his losses usually. But even in his losses he put out punishment.. All the other legends except maybe Marvin got beaten cleanly like Ray against Norris or Duran against Tommy but Tommy was never beaten oneside. He always put out punishment before losing.

 

The hitman‘s biggest flaw was his kill or be killed mentality if he didn’t have that it may add a little better chin he could’ve been the goat.

 

it’s a good take but Hearns had recently defeated Virgil Hill for a big career win at 175 so he wasn’t totally shot , We have to factor that Irans strength and style was tough for Hearns too.

 

I don't think Hearns' struggles against Barkley were surprising or perplexing frankly. Hearns had a lot of flaws - flaws that were rarely exploited due to the cover his massive offensive firepower. In the first fight, the flaws that were exposed were obviously his careless defense (low guard) and "weak chin" (Hagler's words, not mine). He was easy to hit, and fights often turned when he did get hit. What disturbs me about Hearns' chin was not simply that he was knocked out in fights he was handily winning, but that he would often go jelly just by single flush shots. Look at how Leonard turned the first fight on two separate with single punches, in the mid-rounds and the later rounds. And even people who did not manage to knock him out had him in trouble the same way. Roldan, for instance, who is a bit like Barkley in quality and style, nearly had him in their fight. In contrast, in the second fight, it looked to me Hearns' stamina issues - his third great flaw - seemed to surface. Hearns had a tendency to tire in later rounds against fighters who pressured him. (And sometimes even in earlier rounds, a la Hagler, but that fight had so many layers so may not be a good example). So a guy who is tough, relentless, and had decent power like Barkley was always in the game, as long as he can weather the early onslaught from Hearns.

Having said all this, I would be remiss not to note that Hearns could have easily won both fights: Barkley was nearly out of there in the first until he landed that hail Mary right; and the second fight could have been easily scored for Hearns by a different judging panel.

 

I'd have to watch the rematch again as it's been a very long time ... my memory is that Barkley showed absolutely zero fear of Tommy ..

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That aside , Hearns was a tremendous fighter, a very talented boxer, had terrific heart, speed and power ... he was also was flawed in the ways you honestly noted ... different degrees based on points in his career and weight class .. through out his career he showed to be vulnerable against the best of the slugger/swarmers and pretty much excelled against boxers ..

 

To be fair though, Tommy still recuperated when Leonard nailed him multiple times in their first fight and still outboxed him before getting stopped. He still didn't have a great chin, but it was far from being made of glass. Fast forward to when he started winning titles in multiple weight divisions where just like Roy Jones, his body never seemed to settle due to the jumping up and down in weight divisions which made him more vulnerable imo. Like when he fought Dennis Andries in 175, he got hit at times but was barely in trouble before he stopped him. After that though when he went down in weight to fight Roldan at 160, his legs were jelly after getting tagged with a single flush shot. To also quote Haggler's words at ringside,

"You'd think moving back down from light heavyweight weakened Tommy a little"

In regards to his stamina though, again regarding the first Leonard fight, that was if I remember correctly Tommy's first fight going past twelve rounds which along with the body shots from Leonard definitely attributed to him tiring out. Fast forward when he faced Benitez in 154, where it went the full fifteen, Leonard on commentary even commented how Tommy still looked fresh in the last round. Benitez didn't pressure him, sure, but the fight was still fought at a relatively fast pace. However, his stamina definitely got worse after a few fights in Super Middleweight.

 

This post from the first page needs repeating...