If FOTC took place in March 1972 instead?

You left out Hugh. If you had to address the 2 a these guys you'd be pretty stuck for a response.

 

No disrespect to the Sugarman,who was a great fighter,but beating a past his best Marvin Hagler was n't quite as an awesome feat as taking on prime monsters such as Joe Frazier and George Foreman.

 

Very true,Bill. And Hagler should realise that it was partly his own fault that he lost to Sugar Ray. That's not to detract from Leonard's performance,which was superb.

 

Agree.

But one can always argue that while Ali lost convincingly Leonard won

 

I think it's a cheap copout and a weak alibi of Ali fans to put the blame for his losing the FOTC on "ring rust"..hell, Ali was no stranger to the gym during his exile and while he admittedly fought only 3 so-so rounds with Jerry Quarry, he had a truly Rustoleum experience vs Bonavena for 15 rough rounds..just a few scant months before the FOTC. Ther same Frazier against any version of Ali would have emerged the victor. He just fought his best fight at his peak vs Ali..a peak he would never get near to again.

 

Ali was still a bit ring rusty,Cobra. But Frazier won the fight just as much as Ali lost it. Frazier was almost superhuman on the night of March 8 1971

 

Yessir Stevie..and I think Frazier would have just amped it up even more if all of Ali's rust was gone.

 

Peak Joe vs Peak Ali and u think Joe wins??
That's a joke!! Joe would be rushing forward swinging at air and eating lottsa leather.

 

you're free to disagree if you want to..quit beating around the bush about it.

 

Hagler won clearly on my card. 7-5.

 

Ali in his prime was faster of both hand and foot, but was nowhere near the same ring technician he developed into, also he was less durable. If they fought before the lay off the result would be the same.

 

It was, at the very least a draw..and Hagler should have kept his title..though actually I thought Hagler won..no way did Leonard win that fight. The judges went for cotton candy over steak.

 

No amount of sparring and training will shake off the ring rust. Training camp will restore timing, speed, reflexes, and punch accuracy. But the psychological and physical capacity to deal with small gloves and no headgear -- real fight circumstances -- can be restored only in actual fights. The term "ring rust" pertains mostly to the second problem I noted.

 

Possible. Every now and then a fighter just has some sort of thing about their psyche that tells you they're not going to lose,no matter what. Joe had it on that night. Muhammad himself had it in Zaire.