possibly , i read somewhere he had some mutation in the muscle around his temple that was thicker than a normal persons , therefore cushioning his brain kind of like a football helmet
Too many variables, it would have to hit at the same angle, same height, he would have to be as unprepared as Williams when the shot landed, and it would have to have hit in the exact same spot. But still... who knows?
Well, Hearns and Mugabi are not quite the deadly punchers that Martinez is...WTF with this thread? Hagler was never legitimately knocked off his feet.
I just watched hagler's whole career. Don't lambast me, but boxing had a wider pool of talent who had to fight frequently. Most of those guys had like 60 fights before they got a title shot, and that's why by the early 30s they were considered old. The work rate, skill, and power I saw in the 80s middleweights is missing from this particular middle era. Hagler never got hurt by any of them except maybe a few shots from Mugabi that snapped his head back and a big cut from Hearns, who could KO light heavyweights. Hagler was super super super super tough, not chinny, one slip knock down bs call in his career. The worst thing that could ever happen to him is getting outboxed, and that is not likely with a guy as skilled at boxing off the back foot as him. He was great at switching stances and going forward or backward, close or long distance. Really a scary mix of attributes, his only deficit against Hopkins would be height, because he is just as tough, faster with a much more advanced work rate, and hits harder. Maybe not quite as tricky. Hopkins Hagler is a great great match up. If Hopkins could control the pace like Duran did, he would do okay, but if not I think the precise punch output of Hagler would make it hard to win rounds. Wish it could have been made . Oh yeah, Martinez shot bounces off Hagler's chin harmlessly.
Martinez have improved his punching power but he is still more of a sharp puncher than a vicious puncher. So no, i think Hagler can take it, but i do think sergio have the power to ko hagler but hagler will have to not even try to block for that to happen.
Im sure he would feel it maybe even stun him for a moment but put him down ? hell no. People that keep adhering to the theory of "that punch would have knocked down anybody" need to look more in history of boxing ... there were some hard mofos.