Please school me on the quality of opposition Hagler faced besides Leonard, Duran and Hearns. How good was the quality of his opposition before and during his title reign?
'Leonard, Duran and Hearns' that says alot in itself. As for opposition besides them, wasnt the best ever, so and so, but Hagler still beat everybody there was
Hagler went through the toughest middleweights of the 70's such as Seales, Briscoe, Monroe, Cyclone Hart, Watts, Geraldo, Finnegan you name it if they would get in the ring with him he fought them the guys he beat in Philly alone were a 160 murderers row....The Petronelli bros...took care of Hagler and though he was a national AAU champion amateur the Petronelli's were not convinced he had what it took to be champion until he started to prove himself but they did not have to protect him if anything they had trouble getting even the top contenders to fight him....Hagler fought top tier guys and never ducked anyone he was out to prove he was the best period so no short cuts....his title climb was nearly as rough as his defenses these were the same guys fighting Monzon who retired when Hagler was a rated contender.
Thank you, a good reply. How highly do you rate his Title Defences when comparing him to other great 160 pound champions?
I have Hagler as a top 5 he did not run out of top tiered contenders until towards the end of his reign, Hamsho, Roldan, Sibson, Lee, Obelmeijas he went a little flat with Mugabi and had to go to war which he did people bag on Mugabi post Hagler IMO Hagler beat much of the fight out of him Mugabi was a real deal KO artists with decent enough skills to have won a silver medal in the 80 Olympics...IMO Hagler took the killer out of him when Mugabi bounced every power punch he had off Hagler and MMH kept coming until Mugabi broke mentally and physically in the 11th....it was this fight if you watch Mugabi was a talented fighter but because Haglers intensity and energy were down Leonard decided it was time to get him Hagler started to show decline in that fight but he still fought through a legitimate contender.
These guys were good fighters but they werent world beaters. The best guy he fought out of the bunch, and the only opponent he had in common with Monzon was Briscoe who was 6 years removed from his last fight with Monzon and suffered several defeats and draws along the way not to mention he was 35 yrs old. They were good fighters for an up and comer like Hagler and those fights were good seasoning for him but none of those guys was championship calibre.
I disagree by the time Philly fighters would get title shots they were at the tail end of their useful ability thanks to the Philly meat grinder of competition.....show me another city that had that much of a concentration of talented middleweights in the same era.....but to get through that bunch was a feat they were no joke I attached the 4 years prior to Hagler winning the title highlighted are fighters he did beat would beat by the time he became champion....the word was in that era as a fighter and most knew it was Philadelphia had the toughest fighters but they beat each other up in the gym and had short careers but alot of world champion potential there and if you could beat those guys without taking beatings you were going to be a championship contender the philly scene then was not for the faint of heart and a champion could get beaten on any given day fighting these guys......the test for most fighters of that era was to be tough enough to survive the Philly fighters in Philly. 1979 Ring rankings This content is protected , Champion Marvin Hagler Hugo Pastor Corro This content is protected Ronnie Harris Curtis Parker This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected 1978 Ring rankings Hugo Pastor Corro, Champion Marvin Hagler This content is protected Ronnie Harris This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected Rudy Robles Tony Chiaverini Elijah Makathini This content is protected 1977 Ring rankings Rodrigo Valdez, Champion Marvin Hagler This content is protected Ronnie Harris This content is protected David Love This content is protected Gratien Tonna This content is protected Edgar Wallace Tony Chiaverini Carlos Monzon, Champion This content is protected Rodrigo Valdez This content is protected This content is protected David Love Gratien Tonna This content is protected This content is protected Tony Licata Leo Saenz
He fought a solid bunch or rugged fighters. His skills were what got him the wins and his toughness. His most unorthodox fight was Hearns, since he rarely went at someone like that. It was different for him and he was hit clean, but he won and that fight is his claim to fame. I think his reign and resume is excellent. And he improved at the right time.
sounds about right. Watts, Monroe, Briscoe were nearly finished and nowhere inthe rankings but Hart was still good I have no idea how Colbert was ranked so high by Ring but I know that's how Hagler suddenly vaulted from nowhere to overnight status Finnegan, Seales were good wins and Cabrera (altho with a spotty record) overall, I ranks Hagler's opponents thusly: Roldan Antuofuermo Hamsho (many big wins) Hart (awesome left hook power to take you out) Watts (1) Sibson (vastly underrated, especially power N defense, jab) Mugabi (youth and two fisted power) Hearns (fast, two fisted attack, killer right hand) Minter (tough world class southpaw but cut too easy) Finnegan Obel (2) Cabrera (right hand power) Leonard (lots of speed N skill) Colbert (great movement but anemic on offense) Scypion (rugged, aggressive style) Monroe Seales Bennie Briscoe (too slow) Doug Demmings Caveman Lee
