Roy Jones Jr Vs Marvin Hagler

:rofl

 

RJJ by UD.

 

BTW nice avatar Lloyd.:good

 

Hmm...tough one.

I think Hagler is better off fighting like he did against Hearns and throwing caution to the wind in a whirlwind attack rather than his usual boxer-puncher style.

Jones had a ton of experience against lefties, but most of that came when Roy left 160, where this bout would take place (and Roy would have a size advantage being a big MW under different rules. If Hagler boxes like he usually does, well obviously he can give Roy problems with his jab, but that would allow Roy to use the ring more and more time to set up/see punches with his ungodly reflexes and speed.

 

Who pressured Jones like Glen Johnson did?

SRL may have frustrated Hagler, but it is not like SRL cruiseed through that fight easily. SRL was cornered and roughed up by Hagler in many occassions in that fight. His chin was definitely throughly tested in that fight. I can not imagine Jones able to take that amount of punishment that SRL took.

 

Just as in the case with Roy against Glen Johnson, Hagler wasn't the same fighter against Leonard as he was in the past. Hagler looked terribly slow compared to before. Watch the Sibson fight, Hamsho, or hell, almost any of his title defenses. Hagler looked very slow, and it wasn't just the speed of Leonard, IMO.

Similar with Roy against Glen Johnson. While Roy still had the great handspeed, his legs weren't what they once were. His reflexes had slowed too, which is what you would expect from a 35 year old person.

 

RJJ by wide UD, 8-4 or 9-3.

Hagler's got two options here:

1. His usual boxer-puncher style. He gets outworked, out-moved, and potshotted to hell this way. He loses a BIG UD if he tries this.

2. Vicious mugging ala the Hearns fight. It's the better option, but let's keep in mind that for all the damage he did to Hearns prior to the stoppage, he was taking it all back right in his face. He stopped Hearns just in time, as his cut was opening badly. Now, Hearns might be a better P4P puncher than RJJ, but at 160 there's no doubt in my mind that RJJ both harder and more often. If he bullrushes RJJ and doesn't take him out before the 4th/5th round or so, RJJ will either have stopped him or commandeered the fight beyond any salvation.

There's always the argument that RJJ has a weak chin, but I don't think that has any merit, even though it might be true. Hearns had a notoriously bad chin at 147, and when he moved up to 160 it seemed to be even worse, and yet he was still able to put up a hell of a fight against Hagler. At the very worst, RJJ's chin was P4P on about an equal level with Hearns - in my opinion, he had a sturdy chin until he ditched all that weight post-Ruiz - but RJJ is naturally a much bigger man than Hearns is. Even though is chin may be "P4P as bad" as Hearns', it's still alot stronger.

My last insight on this matchup is that RJJ's mobility at 160 is far superior to Hearns'. If Hagler wants to chase him, he'll have a hell of a time doing so - Hearns was much easier to "catch", in this regard.

 

My point about any fighter pressuring Roy in his prime is that Roy hit people with such precise, flush punches that it took the confidence and willingness to aplly pressure out of them quickly. When he fought Johnson, he didn't have any of that offensive ifre anymore.

Sure, SRL didn't cruise to victory - he was in the ring with a much stronger, naturally bigger man. Hagler was a very strong, tough middleweight, but could he ever beaten John Ruiz? I don't hink so. Roy was a monster at LHW, could have dominated at cruiser and would have been a good contender at HW. So the idea that Hagler's power and or toughness would be too much for Roy just doesn't convince me.

 

Why couldn't Hagler have beaten Ruiz?

If Jones have not actually beaten Ruiz, prolly nobody would say Jones would have beaten Ruiz either.

Jones was a decent-sized 160 - 168 lbr. Look who he is fighting now, Tito a blown up MW himself. When Jones fought Hopkins, Hopkins looked way bigger than him.

Hagler was not a small MW by any standards, with long reach. During the 80s, there was serious talk of him fighting Michael Spinks at LHW which for some reasons did not materialize. Hagler also brutalized Hearns who later went on as cruiserweight. If you think Jones holds a good size advantage over Hagler, you are very wrong. If they stood side to side, I would bet Jones will look very skinny next to the Marvelous one.

 

I LOVE Hagler - but damn I gotta go with RJJ on this one in probably a UD.

 

Jones is bigger.

Hagler fought at 160 for his whole career, most of it being under different weigh in rules. Hell, he was less than 157 for the first fight with Hamsho in 1981.

Jones only fought @ 160 for a short time early in his career, growing out of it pretty quickly, and he fought under different weigh-in rules.

 

Jones at 190 was definitely bigger than Hagler at 160, if that is what you mean.

I suppose Tito now is bigger than Hagler, because he will be fighting at 170? :roll:

If Hopkins did not move up to LHW, I think you will be saying Tito is bigger than him as well.

Hagler could have moved up to LHW without any problem just like Hopkins. He trained very hard for a fight, and that is why he come comfortably lower than 160, just like Hopkins.

 

I have Hagler as the only man who could beat Jones at 160. You cannot use the Hagler who fought SRL as an example. You cannot compare SRL to Jones either, since Jones was just as fast but hit much harder, may have had more footspeed, and was much bigger than SRL.

I think that Hagler is relentless enough to pull a razor thin even SD here. Jones speed would bother him greatly, but Hagler wouldn't relent and I think that this would win him the day.