How would you rate Hagler's title challengers from the eighties. Roberto Duran (1983) Vito Antufermo (1979) Let's make Vito a little younger...He wasn't the same in '81. Juan Domingo Roldan (1984) Mustafa Hamsho (1981) Tony Sibson (1983) Wilford Scypion (1983) Ray Leonard (1987) Fulgencio Obelmejas (1981) John Mugabi (1986) Thomas Hearns (1985) Out of these most noteworthy challengers...On a head to head basis at 160 lbs...Considering their styles and how they would match up against each other... at the point in time when they were matched against Marvin...How do rate the contenders 1-10?:think Addendum: Please add Alan Minter (1980)... opps! 1-11?
Tommy Hearns Mustafa Hamsho Roberto Duran (He was on a great win streak) Ray Leonard (at the time, overall and on P4P lists he's much higher) Vito Antufermo Juan Roldan John Mugabi Fulgencio Obelmejas Tony Sibson Wilfred Scypion
alot of people think mugabi is one of his top wins, i dont. To me vito antuofermo, alan minter, mustafa hamsho, tony sibson, hearns and duran are his top wins. There is no doubt those 4 middleweight would be world champs in todays era. I have vito antuofermo as top 20 at middleweight and alan minter at top 30. Hamsho is somewhere in the top 50, all 3 men are severely underrated. I think in todays era, alan minter would have probably been promoted by frank warren and he would have held some 168 belt for 3-4 years, with a few cut losses on the way. Vito Antuofermo says he would have fought at 154, so i guess he would have done quite well thier, both were true worldclass middleweights that get underrated.
Finally, an interesting topic for the leading expert on the subject. Hamsho and Davison were ranked #1,2 the longest but that desn't make them the best. Roldan was great the night he faced Hagler and probably would have beat the rest of them including Hamsho. The possible exception might be Hearns because with his power and speed he could probably get off first and quickly overpower Roldan. Obel is the other middleweight I could see taking out Roldan (the right hands he landed in the Hagler rematch would have KO'd any other middleweight in the world). Roldan would probably wear down all the others over several rounds. Roldan was very tough to hit in the head. Hearns-Mugabi would have been preferrable to the hagler-Mugabi Hearns-Schuler matches. I believe that Hearns from that night would have caught Mugabi and put him to sleep, probably in the first round. The way I would rate them is based on accomplishment. Hamsho has the best credentials outside of Hagler's that stand the test of time. Sibson would simply outhustle and annihilate lesser middleweights, ala John Collins. Obel at 6'2", with his one punch knockout power is simply too dangerous for anyone other than Hagler to enter the ring with. Scypion was once highly touted but floundered against the top middleweights of his day. He was as they say, "strong but limited". Good stamina, strong, determined, durable, but a bit crude. Wilford was the 80's version of Bernard Hopkins. Sugar Ray Leonard, the premier artist of the 80's was masterful the night he faced Hagler and deserves to ranked as a quality middleweight but he is still a big question mark-all he has is one performance at 160 against a tired semi retired Hagler. IMO I dont think he could stand up to a young, active, highly ranked middleweight on the way up in the rankings, which is why he chose not to defend his title. Hamsho Sibson Obel Hearns Scypion Roldan Mugabi Leonard Duran
That it is BrownPimp. I remember the days when you could catch these peime time middleweights on CBS sports saturday or NBC sportsworld. These guys were so cocky back in their day that I considered them to be punks waiting for an ass whipping. Hamsho would always walk around with a smile on his face. Even when Marvin would paste his face he would stick out his tongue. Mustafa was incredibly confident. I remember the way he made Czyz freeze up and put Benitez in a shell, both of whom were favored. Each of these fighters were great in their own way and it's not just Leonard I would have liked to seen more of. Sibson was another fighter who could have used a longer prime.
while fletcher and mustafa vwere my favs. i always thought if Davidson had more passion then he could haVE BEEN GREAT. HE HAD IT ALL, HE just didn't have the drive.
