If Hagler met Tiger

I think the fight(s) is/are close...and if Hagler goes into the trenches for prolonged periods, IMO Tiger would get the better of it. I feel Hagler is versatile enough to outpoint Tiger from a comfortable range by boxing and utilizing movement and his southpaw jab. Series: Hagler 2, Tiger 1...
Tiger would comment that Hagler is a good 'dancer'.
The Hagler that fought Sibson against the Tiger who fought Fernandez??? Wow what a fight!

 

I think Tiger is prone to being overrated, if only slightly. He was a genuine iron man with plenty of stamina, massive handspeed and a harder punch than his record implies. But he was only great at one end of the spectrum; although he had a decent jab, Tiger couldn't box and his feet were slow. Hagler was very good in two fields and would call upon his footwork to see Tiger to the end of fifteen rounds and take home with him a decision.

Any arguments using Vito Antuofermo will not hold because Antuofermo, thought not the fighter Tiger was, literally ran into Hagler on occasions and put in a hell of a lot of work. Tiger would see his fair share of action but generally Hagler would be, believe it or not (JohnThomas), too smart.

Of course, Hagler was arguably the most durable middleweight of all, a strong puncher in his own right and a skilled infighter; so it's not like Tiger is going to manhandle him when he does get inside, far from it infact; I would expect many exchanges to be even.

 

Hagler wouldn't have to be the Ph.d that JT demands he should be for this one. He would test Tiger inside and if was too costly, he'd box him from from outside with ambidextrous solicitude.

Manassa is right -Hagler has two effective options.

 

Tiger prone to being overrated? Where? Maybe in Nigeria.

I'd expect Hagler to take the approach as he did against a fading Briscoe, by using movement & his jab. But Tiger wasn't a pressure fighter in the mold of Briscoe-he'll try to set traps to counter. Hagler's trombone will trouble Tiger, but I think Tiger's superior strength can make this interesting.

I'd probably favor Marvin.

I think a fighter that would give Marvin absolute fits is Giardello.

 

This forum, but I wouldn't expect you to know that.

 

Outsmarting Tiger is a bit different to outsmarting a SRL, Hopkins or SRR so i am inclined to agree. It would be nigh well impossible for him to go with the wrong tactics here. Hagler is the more complete fighter and is the narrow but definite fave here. Tiger is definitely going to give him one helluva fight here tho. A top matchup.

 

Exactly. Hagler holds the aces here and i think he'd win the series.

 

Hagler imo, i just agree that the fight is a classic, mainly because of both men's durability and strength, but like many have stated, Hagler simply 'holds the aces' (good phrase JT!), and imo, would show his greatness/ elite stature at the weight here

 

Relax.

 

The outsmarting Leonard thing is interesting.

Sometimes I think people forget that Hagler was the one who lost the opening rounds, changed his gameplan and then started winning the rounds and catching up.

I believe Ray won but Marvin was the guy who adjusted and then had success. He ran out of time in the end, fair play to Ray, but Hagler did adjust and begin to turn the fight around.

 

I don't see why it's such a slight against Hagler that he lost that fight (If you feel that he did) regardless.

Leonard and his entire camp literally spent months ironing out the details of how they'd "steal" the fight.

Making Ray's punchs louder, flurrying to steal rounds... Exactly how to catch the attention of the judges and fans, basically.

And it worked.

 

JT does question Hagler's choice of strategy and even his ability to strategize, and he has over time forced me to look more closely. I will say here that Hagler made a basic mistake in strategy. You don't box with a boxer. And Hagler's decision to do that, particularly at that late stage of his career, cost him dearly.

 

2-1 to Hagler if they had a trilogy, because he has more ways to win.