i dont think it was his chin that let him down against ray leonard, same with the hagler fight. the barkley ko was a great shot, he did get himself up but barkley knew how to finish him, it was not ernie shavers against larry holmes.
Hearns could have pretty handily out box and make Hagler look like a fool but like a warrior he was he wanted to went on brawl and paid the price. Hearns had the tools to beat and make Hagler look slow and plodding but it just did not happen.
I thought it was his stamina that let him down against Leonard. He got tired and Leonard got to his chin, at least thats how i saw it. Hagler took him clear out. Hearns was about to win it.
He'd definitely be the GOAT, BUT it was his super skinny body type combined with sitting down on his punches that resulted in his glass jaw. To not have this weakness, he'd have had to have a different physical structure and not fight the way he did. In other words, to be has good as he was, he needed to have the glass jaw.
With a rock solid McCall chin he would have been able to weather the storm against Leonard and Hagler would have been TKO'd on that cut eventually.
Might just have to agree with this. He was ahead on points against Leonard (though it was fairly close) and unless the judges were high on Ecstasy, with a solid chin Tommy would have likely finished that fight an won on points. As Lunny says, against Hagler, it was only a matter of time till Marvin got stopped with that awful cut, so you could chalk that one down to an Iron Chinned Hearns too. Likewise, Barkley would not have knocked Hearns out, and he would have likely been stopped on a cut himself. And before you say 'Well, Barkley also beat him on points', Tommy was not himself in that fight. His confidence was shattered after Barkley KO'd him. A confident Hearns (like the one who beat Hill) doesn't lose to Barkley on the cards.
Like in the 2nd fight that he won clearly? I don't think Tommy would have ever gotten a decision against Leonard no matter how clearly he won.
He would have still gassed out Vs Leonard but with a McCall chin he'd have survived that extra 3-4 minutes.