Leonard would've stuck and moved at first, realized he couldn't box with Hearns, and switched tactics after being outboxed, but hurting Hearns around say the 7th. From then on, Leonard would be the aggressor, while Hearns would resort to sticking and moving, racking up the points. However, Leonard would catch him eventually, just too good a puncher and fighter not to. Likely around the 14th round he'd catch Hearns with something big and finish him off, while well behind on the cards. It'd be a very dramatic fight.
I tend to agree though.Leonard lost nothing moving up and would have beat Hearns more often than not.
Leonard may not have lost much moving up, but Hearns definitely gained a lot moving up and thats why I'd say Hearns UD.
What makes you think Hearns gained anything moving up? He was at his best at 147 and 154, not really definitively better at either, and the weight-draining excuse for the Leonard fight is nonsense. He started to drop off at 160 and above obviously, but I wouldn't say the move up to 154 really helped him out. It's of course possible he outboxes Leonard, very possible, but the way I see it, the fight already happened, both pretty much in their primes, Leonard won. Bottom line.
I am of the belief that the move to junior middle helped Hearns far more than it did Leonard. Tommy certainly did thicken up as he got older and 154 seemed a really comfortable weight for him. Certainly he punched harder at this weight and I think that this weight was the best for him in terms of power vs size of opponents. For Leonard, the fact that his smaller frame meant that any move north of 147, where he was really comfortable, would slightly diminish his own power in relation to the slightly bigger size of his opponents. The same issues that Hearns suffered against Leonard at 147 would still remain at 154 (Hearns' lack of stamina, Leonard's body punching and defense) but I just think that Tommy learned a lot in that first fight and fighting at a weight that suits him more than Leonard would give him the advantage. Consider too that Leonard in their fight must have thought that at some point he couldn't win; his eye was closing and he just couldn't deal with the handspeed and the jab of Hearns. The fact that Hearns probably caused Leonard's detached retina eye injury would also mean that an indelible mark had been left on Leonard's psyche, despite his win. There's a reason why Leonard waited 8 years to give Tommy a rematch. It might be a close fight but I would give the nod to Tommy; he could even stop Leonard late rounds too, especially if Leonard demonstrated the chin he showed against Kevin Howard. In short, Hearns was slightly better at 154 and Leonard slightly worse. It would make the difference IMO.
I don't see why Hearns's power is being considered better at 154 than at 147 when taking into account relative size of opponents. His power was astounding at WW just as it was at JMW IMO, no real difference, other than Hearns being thicker. I don't think that really played apart, what played a part, to put it simply, was that Leonard could take Hearns's stuff, while Hearns couldn't take Leonard's. It's of course possible that Hearns would win a rematch, but it's also possible that Leonard would know better than ever what gameplan he needed to win and stick to that from the start.
I understand what you're saying but it's just logic IMO that a fighter would punch slightly harder at a weight that better suited his body frame. Leonard did not take that many full blooded shots from Tommy in the first fight because he turned his head at the last moment when the rights did land. When the punches did get home they hurt Leonard but he had the chin to take them; what he might not have taken was a Hearns combo but he had the speed to get out of the way. The other factor is that the extra 7 pounds may have aided Hearns in withstanding the Leonard body shots, which were the punches that turned the fight for Leonard in round 6.
Hearns was actually winning rounds easier after being hurt in round 7 by Leonard, as he resorted to sticking and moving and Leonard couldn't play that game with him. What it came down to was that Leonard was just too resilient to be denied and eventually found his target late in the fight. Hearns looked great aside from when Leonard was hitting him with clean shots, so I don't really buy any excuses as to Hearns being pre-prime, physically weak, weight-drained, etc.
Hearns was 22 so he probably was pre-prime in terms of both experience and physically. He was still filling out, hence his ability to fight effectively at 160 and even 175. Leonard was the more seasoned, experienced fighter closer to his prime. I don't buy the Hearns weight-drained excuses either but there's no doubt that Leonard in 1981 was the fighter closer to his physical and mental peak.
Well, he was certainly more effective at 147-154 than he was later in his career, regardless of whether or not he filled out more at those weights. He looked as good against Cuevas prior to Leonard as I've ever seen him look at any point. We'll just have to agree to disagree.
Tommy Hearns best weight really wasn't 147 where he was crude and unpolished. Rich Countis once described him as a young colt on unsteady legs (December 82) waiting to develop into a mature thoroughbred. That day came on June 1984. I believe the several bouts he had throughout 82-84 with Mckraken, Sutherland, and Minchillo had help to develop his stmana and build his strength and sharpness to hiterto unknown levels. And it is this which Duran could only stand up to for mere minutes. As everyone knows, Ray Leonard does not have Duran's chin and is easily decked (as seen in the Howard fight, the Lalonde fight, the Norris fight) And here's more bad news: his chin never improved. He's been getting shook since the days of Marcos Geraldo and Roberto Duran. You can't improve a fighter's chin. So the fighter who was dropped by Kevin Howard is getting brutally ko'd by a vengeful Hearns who destroyed Roberto Duran-quickly. As a freind of mine once told me just a couple of months before Hearns-Duran, "I would give Hearns a good chance of beating him in a rematch" After the Duran knockout, another friend of mine, a huge leonard fan, confessed to me "Leonard wouldn't have been able to take those punches. Tommy would knock him out" Tommy was definitely the **** in those days and only Hagler had the balls to take him on.
:rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl Ray Leonard is easily decked, which is precisely why he hit the floor numerous times against Marvin Hagler and in his prime fight with Tommy Hearns. Leonard only hit the canvas after he came out of retirement, and don't even dare mention the Norris fight. You're a ****in' clown.