If Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler had retired early

Good one, Stevie
I think Hagler tbh, mate.
He'd have had that decent reign at middle weight, his record at that point speaks for it self.
Whilst Leonard at that point, had lost to Duran, then obviously avenged, then had to come from behind to stop Hearns.
Intriguing question, pal.

 

Hagler for me.

The win over Hagler sky rocketed Leonard's ATG standing, without it hes still a great fighter but doesn't rate above Hagler for me overall.

I think perfect time for Leonard to retire would've been after 3rd Duran fight.

 

Agreed re Hagler. Leonard would have been viewed as a shooting star and an unfulfilled talent (given his potential). In fact I think this is pretty much how he was seen until the Hagler fight (as Dynamicpuncher said). This win really solidified his reputation and the controversy helped generate interest and income for his career from then on (at least when he came back form his numerous "retirements"!). I think any career retirement due to injury, in this case the detached retina issues he suffered, will lead to intense speculation as to how a fighter's career would have developed, particular for a superstar like SRL, and can't help but have a sense of being unfulfilled.

This being the case I think Hagler would be seen as the greater as he would have pretty much done everything expected of him with no more mountains to climb. Assuming they both stayed retired I suspect this assessment may have changed over the years as it does and new generations of fans learning about boxing history and perhaps SRL would overtake Hagler P4P but at the time I think Hagler would have been rated higher as with shared opponants Leonard had a loss to Duran and had taken 14 rounds vs 3 to defeat Hearns.

 

Isn't Hagler already thought of as greater historically than Leonard?

Retiring earlier wouldn't change that IMO

 

They would have both retired after their penultimate win then, yes? The difference is that Hagler's bump in the road against Vito was further back in time than Leonard's getting bullied in Montreal. That and Hagler absolutely mugged the Middleweight division in brutal fashion one after another before the Hearns fight would make the difference too, so I'd say Hagler.

 

I think the Duran fight could be classed as a bump in the road for Hagler. I think only later was it seen as one of the last two great performances by Duran rather than a substandard showing by Marvin. Also contradicting myself in a previous post I think that even though SRL split a win and a loss to Duran his revenge win was significantly more decisive than Hagler's, who I feel was expected to squash Roberto like a bug (like Tommy did).

 

Even with Hagler widely considered one of the top 3 MWs ever? I don't think anyone considers Ray (although phenomenal) a top 3 WW ever.

Ray is ranked extraordinarily high though, especially considering his number of fights

 

It would have to be Hagler.
Hagler had cleaned out the Middleweight division by the time he faced Hearns. And the Hearns win would've been the icing on the cake if he retired after that fight.
Though Leonard still would've fought and beaten the better fighters, ( Benitez, Duran and Hearns) without the Hagler fight and victory, most would think Hagler would've been too strong for him and would beat him.
So yes the Leonard vs Hagler fight was a very big piece of the puzzle of who was the best fighter of the 80's. Though it did come when both fighters were past their best.

 

I have SRL as a clear #2 all time at WW and so did a combination of 24 of our fellow class section posters - https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/top-35-all-time-reveal-boxing-survey-series.653021/

I have Hagler #3 at MW, the collective 24 had him #4.

I have SRL #16 P4P and Hagler #29. The 24 had SRL #12 and Hagler #26.