Marvin Hagler vs. Bernard Hopkins

Hopkins never really won on firepower. His inside clinching, defense, rough tactics and traps could give Hagler issues and he's a master at making fights close even if he's athletically overmatched. The Hopkins that fought Johnson would hang with any middleweight in history.

 

Hopkins....is a bad match up for Hagler he's more dirty and trickier....I can see Hagler swallowing the lead right all night, outiside of Hearns, Leonard, and Duran his resume isnt any better than Hopkins and those three Atg's were all moving up in weight...the more grown up middleweight Hearns that fought Shuler would have scalped Hagler and he knew it. Hopkins got hit far less than Hagler and he would have cruised against the Allan Minter and Juan Roldans of the world that Hagler looked very ordinary against....

 

I think Hagler squeaks this one out 15 UD. It`s a close fight,two top tier fighters... However, Hopkins could and did get beat at 160, we have to take that into consideration. he has extended his career by moving up and having success at 175. At 160, Hagler switching for orthodox to southpaw, would be a lot busier than BHop. It`s a good tough fight,plus if Hopkins tries the rough stuff, Hagler was no shrinking violet... Good fight, but Hagler`s

 

Hagler SD on workrate. The other question it poses is how many rounds would we need for a stoppage?

 

I think this is a good analysis. Honestly, Bernard really doesn't have many quality wins at 160, and had some spotty performances on occasion. (Mercado I, Robert Allen, etc.) The more I think about it, I am not all that convinced that Bernard would have fared any better in the late 70s than Bennie Briscoe. A very good fighter, who just didn't quite have enough to win the title. Bernard certainly never had the goods to win against a PRIME Hagler.

 

Not sure how and why Hopkins doesn't have the firepower to "keep Hagler off"...I don't think Hagler is going to fight Hopkins like he did Hearns. He'd probably fight in his usual style. If he did pressure Hopkins, we'd probably see some real ugly fighting up close, with Hopkins trying to nulify Hagler's offense with his his holding and other stink tactics.

I've generally more or less have been on the fence about who wins H2H (Hagler clearly ranks greater all-time at 160 IMO). I have picked Hopkins before by a close decision, but I can see it going either way.

I agree that Hagler was consistent night in and night out than Hopkins. In fact, the only loss I think he had was Monroe (I never saw it, but I heard it was a clear victory). Hagler beat Watts I thought, beat Antufermo in that draw, and drew with Leonard. I thought Hopkins has also been unfortunate in his career with some of the judges scorecards.

Hagler has the better jab, power, and combination punching. I'll give the edge to Hopkins in hand & footspeed, and defense, although Hagler was solid in those areas too.

Hopkins said that hypothetically if he fought Hagler, it would be a war and neither would be the same afterwards, but I really see the fight as being more tactical. Hopkins had a lot of experience versus lefties, so we would see him try to get that straight right in. Getting the right position to land it, and then clinching to disrupt Marvin's rhythm. Hagler would box behind the jab to set up his offense.

Given Hopkins's tendency to come forward with his head, and Hagler being a lefty, we might see some headbutts and cuts resulting from it.

 

I like Hopkins here. He'd put forward problems Hagler would never fully solve. He's just so schooled and adaptive.

 

Very interesting and even, indeed.

Hops holds the stylistic edge, and I feel, the way this fight develops, he likely controls ring center. Hagler's feints and stutter-steps would not consistently fool Bernard, and if he overextends with his rights and lefts as he is wont, count on Hopkins to answer with eye-catching overhands. The favored lead uppercut, or, can opener would similarly be nullified by virtue of Hopkins' incredible ring awareness.

Now, I'm torn as to what Hagler's best bet actually is. The temptation to go all-out would be great, I imagine, as he is working with advantages in strength, durability, stamina, and arguably even speed, but Ex is no slouch down in the trenches. The thinking here is that Hopkins probably isn't fast enough to repeatedly bounce straight rights on Marvin's dome, but it does leave him susceptible to other shots, around the body or from underneath. And again, in a shootout, it's not necessarily guaranteed that Hopkins lags in work-rate.

I think the more rational expectation instead would be a strafing tactic, utilizing his superior jab (though it must be said that Hopkins' own jab was far from timid, as it is now made out to be). Marvin should resort to off-rhythm ambushes to hopefully throw his opponent.

While true, Hopkins brings extensive experience against southpaws, it can work against him here as Hagler wasn't very open to the left liver shot. The younger Hopkins was a very dedicated and debilitating body puncher, and his game was largely predicated on breaking his man down with that. Not so here if Hagler chooses to stand back in his natural southpaw stance.

On the whole, this would need multiple viewings just to arrive at the correct winner. It would be impossible to predict one over the other just by their available films against lesser competition.

 

I love Hopkins, he's one of my favorite fighter in the history of the sport.

But Hagler was a machine and an offensive virtuoso. I guess the version of Hopkins from the late 90's (around the time he beat Johnson,) to early 2000's would stand a decent chance to beat Hagler, but I think Marvin's workrate would be a little too much for Bernard.

In a 15 rounder I'd favor Marvin by a clear UD, something like 9-6 or 10-5. A prime Hopkins is a tough out for anyone- he's an excellent inside fighter and has very deceptive footwork that usually keeps his opposition confused as to what he's about to do. But Hagler was known for throwing caution to the wind and just unleashing on his opponents. I don't think either men would get knocked down in the fight as they both have granite chins, but Hagler's workrate should be more than enough to win a decision.

Great fight between 2 of the top 5-6 MW's ever.

 

Very nice assessment man, I'm quite impressed with reading your analysis.

I do agree than Bernard has the advantage as far as ring generalship goes.

I honestly think Hagler would fight Bernard in the same manner he did with Hearns; I don't think he'd allow the fight to become a tactical chess match, rather I see him forcing his will on Hopkins in the inside, utilizing consistent pressure and attempting to throw 60 + punches per round.

Bernard is such a crafty fighter, he usually ends up limiting the punch output that comes from his opponents, but Hagler is a fighter that B-Hop has never seen in his pro career. He'd have to bring the fight to Bernard and keep up a high punch output with a lot of pressure.

 

That's as valid a guess as any. He did employ the same approach when faced with his biggest challenge, and, in my opinion, the best boxer of his career. Plus, he upped the tempo tremendously when that cut occurred, something that could very well happen in this fantasy bout for reasons known to all.

I was quite silly earlier to even imply that Marvin might have possessed greater speed, however slight the edge. No, I think he would eventually run out of options after B-Hop makes the initial adjustment to his jab. I've come to understand after reviewing film, that, on balance, Hopkins had the more prodigious output of the two. He was also the faster. It falls on Hagler to make him shell up with superior firepower. If Hopkins remains unaffected, and is allowed to trade with impunity, Hagler will get outworked. I feel Marvin's best chance is to have Hopkins focus on defense. Make him think he is winning with his cute tricks. Hustle him, in short.

 

Hopkins

 

I think Bernard was too crafty, would throw Marvin off his game and win a decision ..

 

This is exactly how I see it. Factor in that for all of Hagler's tough guy persona he could be intimidated by the size of the event as he was going into the first Antuofermo bout and the Duran bout. If fighting those guys threw off his gameplan then I think Hopkins would psyche him out too. Also, again for all of Haglers supposed ferocity he was really more of a counter puncher. I could see him trying to box Hopkins, and with Hopkins experience against southpaws and size advantages Hopkins having a lot of success. Hagler for some reason seemed to think he could box righty and was never as effective orthodox as he was southpaw. If he turned righty against Hopkins looking to minimize Hopkins success I could see Hopkins pulling away on the cards and never looking back.