If Tito hadn't ran into 2 defensive masters, could he have been a great middleweight?

Hagler would outbox Trinidad and beat Tito pretty handily, IMO.

Hearns could also definitely outbox Tito, as Hearns outboxed just about everyone from the outside. However, with his not so great chin and tendency to mix it up, Tito would be very dangerous.

The #1 problem would be how Tito would deal with Tommy's straight right hand. Tito was susceptible to that punch, and you're not gonna find too many guys with better straight right hands than Tommy Hearns.

 

I think Trinidad would've fared well at 160 if he didn't have the misfortune of entering the division when one of the greatest middleweights ever was there. That loss to Hopkins seemed to mess him up mentally.

 

Someone who calls Hagler an "inside fighter" should not be the one talking about others not studying each fighters' careers.

Hagler was a boxer-puncher for damn near his whole career. He could swarm and attack if need be, but he boxed behind his jab at mid or long range (he had a long wingspan for someone only 5'9) for way more fights than he went into war and fought on the inside.

It is mainly Hearns's much inferior chin to Hagler's that Tito has a much better chance at beating Tommy than Marvin. Hearns obviously would have the edge from the outside against Tito, seeing as that Hearns was a master boxer who outboxed the likes of Benitez and a prime Ray Leonard for 12 rounds. But his chin wasn't the greatest, and he could get caught.

Hagler, on the other hand, I see Trinidad having a real slim chance at. What's he gonna do? Outbox Hagler? No, Hagler would eat him up with that jab and his movement, and then opening up with accurate combos. His parrying abiity and head movement was underrated as well. In a fire-fight, Hagler's a bigger puncher than the welters and junior middleweights that Tito is used to getting hit by. And Hagler had a terrific chin so it would most likely take a lot of shots to get him down.

 

I think Pavlik would give him a beating

 

That'd be a good fight. 2001 Trinidad vs. Pavlik of the last two years.

I'd make Pavlik the favorite as well.

 

Good point. Not that Trinidad was ever going to be a Mayweather/Hopkins type boxer, but he did tend to use more boxing ability in his younger days. Such as the Carr fight for example, and Campas fight.

What a lot of people failed to notice in the Joppy fight, when Tito did indeed look spectacular, was how much he was loading up on each punch. It wasn't just the power that made Tito special, it was the combination punching, the accuracy, the mix of power and speed. You could see in the MW fights against Joppy and Hopkins that he was loading up more often.

 

If Hopkins and Wright had never been in the division, Tito would've had a nice run at MW. I'm not sure he would've been great though.

 

Agree with everything.

As for Hagler's wingspan, it would always amaze me how Hagler could kind of leap and just catch people on the end of his hook at distances it doesn't seem he should be able to reach. He knew how to unravel and catch someone going backwards to try to outrange him.

 

Yeah, and he sort of had that leaping jab too. He'd jump in with a right jab.

 

Tito is a great fighter but Joppy said that tito punches felt like brass knuckle. If that's true than I think Tito is cheating. Anybody can knock anyone out with a cast like iron fist. Before you start getting on me, i'm just saying what Joppy himself stated.

 

Yep.

 

I agree with pretty much everything you posted. May disagree on some nuances though. I think Tomm'ys chin is underrated, though not like Haglers it's is pretty good, only when he went to war in bigger weight classes was it an issue (exception Hags and Leonard 1, but think get's a do over on those). Tommy as a WW and JMW had extemely great control of space and distance. And I don't see a scenario where Tito would have a chance, or the attributes to exploit it. He didn't have the guns and chin that hags and barlay had to exploit Tommy.

I just don't see Tito being able to get close eought to test it. I kinda see Hearns v Tito as hearns v Duran and Cuevas all over again.

Also Hags was a very good inside fighter, thought yes a boxer puncher overall with an iron chin.

I guess we do agree except on that point, which is a small one.

 

I don't really disagree with any of what you said. Tommy's chin wasn't terrible, but it was levels below Hagler. I definitely think Trinidad COULD hurt him, especially at 160, but he has to land that shot to do it.

As I stated earlier, one of the main reasons I pick Hearns over Tito was Tito's vulnerability to the straight right hand. Tommy just happens to have one of the greatest right hands ever.

Even DLH, much better with his left, was hitting Tito with the straight right with some frequency.

 

Agreed. I would've actually given Taylor the edge vs. Tito, though it wouldn't have been a lock for him.