More/less deserving contender: Graziano or Hearns?

I wasn’t taking it as an opportunity to rag or that someone else was. I thought it was an interesting take to discuss. The difficulty is I lived through one era so I am more familiar with the underpinnings of the day, and less so on the other.

So I was just trying to connect some dots...did both have other viable challengers who may have been more deserving? We’re both fights in equal demand? Historically Hagler Hearns seems to have surpassed it, but at the time they were likely equally significant, but it is difficult to contrast how much media had grown by the mid 80’s dwarfing the presence during Zale’s time.

 

I agree with this,..now I hope some answer the parallel contrast to Zale vs Graziano and the dynamics

 

Graziano was maybe the most exciting fighter in history. Zale-Graziano 1 was still when old timers were alive considered the most exciting fight ever. No. 2 was Zale-Graziano 2 in excitement. Are you people crazy. Graziano was the biggest draw in boxing at that time. And as far as Hagler, he chose 3 unworthy non middles in 3 whole years. Hearns Mugabi Leonard. Throw in Duran and the hypocrite HAGLER FROZE the division for 3 yrs. After all his bitching about the midchamps in the late 70s he was the worst. He deserved to lose to the guttersnipe Leonard. Justice was served.

 

FF MH. AH

 

Hearns was more deserving of the shot. He'd already battered a Ring-Ranked Middleweight, from pillar to post, in 1979 - before he'd even won the Welterweight title. He was supposed to have fought Hagler in '82, after he'd beaten a couple of (I believe, unranked) middleweights, post-Leonard.

The Hagler fight, scheduled for July '82, didn't happen and he became the 154 Champ instead, by the end of that year. Having beaten Benitez to win the title, he never lost there and, by flattening a common Hagler opponent, in Duran, I think Hagler/Hearns became a real interest; more so than it had been in '82.

As far as I can tell, Graziano was just a crowd-pleaser/puller at the right place, at the right time; jumping the queue, ahead of people that had been actively maintaining their place in the rankings, over the war years. I see no real sporting merit, on which he got given his shot - but the money made sense and he was in.

 

I know Graziano was more popular in NY than the Yankees.Both Zale Graziano did $$$ ok