No excuses for losing

I agree with most of that.

I disagree.
If Hearns got a leg massage that made his unsteady on his feet that's his fault. Just the same as if he had three beers that made him unsteady on his feet, then used that as an excuse.

The injury happened during the fight, cause apparently by Hagler's head stopping his punch, so that's not valid excuse at all.
It's not like someone made him go through with the fight with an injury, that might be a valid excuse.

No, he could have still run I think.

I think the real problem is that the dictator of the country barred Foreman from leaving.
Still Foreman never used that particular excuse.

 

To be fair, Muhammad Ali claimed to be the champion of the world.
A world's champion shouldn't need more than two "tune ups" before taking on his #1 challenger.

Also, if anything, he might have had TOO MANY ROUNDS with Bonavena, rather than suffering from too few.

 

1926 Dempsey is the only one who would be properly "rusty" since he had not fought in 3 years.

I suppose arguments for 1996 Tyson being rusty have some sort of validity since he'd only faced 4 opponents who all folded like cheap suits.

I can see how Ali was "rusty" against Bonavena, but never understood that excuse for the Frazier fight.
If 15 hard rounds against a top 10 opponent isn't enough to shake off rust I don't know what is.

Either way, yes, in all cases they are perhaps very poor excuses. :good

 

That's true, but maybe it's all part of the game.