Recently rewatched this fight and was more impressed w Hamsho's performance than ever .. he was a very tough fighter in his own right but was outclassed by Hagler .. despite taking a tremendous beating he held his ground and managed to stay in the fight for a long time .. what guts ..
Always admired him. Were it not for Hagler he'd have been a champ for sure. Between 1980-83 I think he was unquestionably the second-best middleweight in the world.
I can never decide what Hagler's best performance was - it's either Hamsho 1, Obelmejias 1, Minter, or Sibson. He was unbelievably sharp in all four of those performances.
I read years ago that Hamsho took 55 stitches after that fight, the anniversary of which was just this past Sunday. 55 stitches. Can you imagine? His face had to look like a baseball.
After the Hagler fight Hamsho was often rated as having the best chin in boxing. Until he suddenly lost his ability to take a punch (as some do) they weren't far off the mark.
What I remember about that fight was how long the Syrian national anthem is. They turned off the recording after about 10 minutes....and it wasn't done.
