Marvin Hagler vs. Eddie Gregory

There was a period of time when a young Marvin Hagler could be beaten.
I watched him on a couple of closed circuit undercards.

But I think he was always better than Eddie Gregory who ran hot & cold.

Marvin by decision

 

Marvin would drop Eddie a couple of times on the way to a unanimous decision.

 

One thing as early middleweights ... prime for prime Eddie destroys him ..

 

I wonder about the Gregory that mastered and destroyed Marvin Johnson...that's the only version that sparks my interest here....can't decide yet..

 

Gregory would have beaten him had they met as MW's in the 70's.
Eddie had demons, he couldn't stay middle and moved up.
You've heard me say this before but, had Eddie kept his head on straight, he would have went down as one of the greatest pvp fighters EVER.

Sidebar: and don't give me that crap about his fight with Spinks (see above)
He goes up and fights Snipes at heavy (why?) which isn't his weight and then has to shed 'tons' prior to Spinks (he looked like a shiveled pear at the weigh-in)
Still had Spinks in his pocket the first half of the fight before he wilted (and after tasting the 'jinx' late still got up and finished the fight) The Associated Press scored that fight a 146-146 draw by the way.

Eddie Gregory was a much more talented fighter than Michael Spinks. But, given his personal problems, no one will ever understand what I'm even talking about.

 

Eddie can't beat Marvin. Eddie was a lazy fighter but makes for good competiton

 

Hagler UD. Eddie hadn't quite peaked yet, and even then, wasn't nearly as consistent as Marvin.

 

Eddie probably gives Marvin a couple of rough stretches, but Hagler beats Gregory on a unanimous decision win, winning 7 out of 10 rounds.

 

The original poster said 'up and coming.' That would be 76-78. Eddie too much for Marv at that time (unless he shows up with his 'demons') Couldn't stay at 160 and had to move up so any debate between these two becomes moot. Either way, if they had ever fought at any reasonable time in their history(s) it would have went the distance as neither of these guys are going anywhere.

 

Styles make fights. Marvin Johnson, who had his own demons, was made for Gregory. Too much stock is put in that result. I don't see any evidence of Eddie fighting at that level on a consistent basis.

Eddie didn't like to train. Bottom line, he lacked the discipline to live up to whatever promise he had.

 

Any time up to 1975/76 Gregory takes Hagler to school. He just developed so much faster than Hagler early on.

 

DPW 417

Great Fantasy Match-Up

I presume mid-1976 would have been a perfect 'Middleweight Date'.

Eddie 'The Flame' Gregory turned professional in September 1972

* Competed at Welterweight
* In 1973, moved up to Light-Middleweight
* April 1974 - Turned the age of 24 and was 'bulking up'
* 1974/1975, started to campaign as a 160 lb. Middleweight
* By 1976, was usually fighting at 165 lbs. (Super-Middleweight)
* Thru the end of 1976, record of 19-2-1 (16 KO's)

What They Said;

* A hard-hitting Middleweight, that tends to get lazy in an active fight.
* Likes to fight at a slow moderate pace, where he can load-up on his punches.
* Looks to hurt his opponent with a single-punch, instead of out-working them.
* A deadly body puncher, as he will go to the body if his opponent is hurt.
* When he uses movement, he is skillful and has good footwork.
* Hand-speed is good, but does not use combinations as a tool.
* Has a good left jab, but it is under-used.
* Both the left-hook and right-hand are his 'power-punches'.
* Is good defensively, but needs improvement.
* Has a good chin, and can take a hard punch.
* Excellent Amatuer background, and is well-schooled.
* Though Eddie has a good chin, he has been 'floored' several times, as he tends to walk into punches.
* Drawback, he relies too much on his 'rock hard chin' to get in close, as opposed to 'smartly' working himself in close.
* At 6' 0", and with a reach of 73", will eventually grow into a Light-Heavyweight.
* If they ever develop a Super-Middleweight Division (at 168 lbs.), 'The Flame' may own it.

Losses or Draws
* December 1973....(L Dec 10) to Radames Cabrera {15-1-0}
* No harm, as Cabrera was a vey good Middleweight prospect himself.

* May 1974....(Draw 10) to Nessim Max Cohen {32-9-8}
* A disputed Draw to French-Moroccan Cohen, a World-rated Middleweight, in a bout held in France.

* August 1975...(L Split-Dec 10) to Bennie Briscoe {51-14-2} in Briscoe's backyard of The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* A hard-fought 'close' Decision loss to World-rated Briscoe. Scorecards: (6-4-0 / 4-6-0 / 1-8-1) in Rounds.

Impressive Wins
* April 8, 1974...........W Dec 8...Willie Classen (7-1-1)
* August 26, 1974.......KO 4.......Eugene 'Cyclone' Hart (24-4-0)
* November 25, 1974...KO 8.......Mario Rosa (15-4-0)
* April 28, 1975..........TKO 10....Don Cobbs (23-14-1)
* June 16, 1975..........KO 4.......Lenny Harden (14-4-0)
* March 8, 1976..........KO 7......Hildo Silva (34-8-5)
* July 14, 1976...........KO 4......Lee Barber (18-3-1)
* October 1, 1976.......TKO 10...Jimmy Owens (21-6-1)

The 'Skinny'
Since losing to Bennie Briscoe by (Split-Decision) at The Spectrum In Philadelphia in August 1975,
Eddie 'The Flame' has won '6' straight, all by Knockout.

 

Eddie Gregory wasn't at his best at middleweight..I think a far more intrigueing prospect would have been Hagler going up in weight to fight the Mustafa of the Johnson fight..bad news for Marvin, IMO. But to go full circle, I don't think I'd hold it against Hagler at all, since middleweight was his ideal weight, like Monzon..