And there really was no comparison. I wanted to see if Leonard fought similarly to Mayweather as Hagler was a hitter like Pac. It was basically night and day. Leonard who decided to "box" hagler and avoid the toe to toe confrontation was nothing like Mayweather. His counters were vicious. He danced around the ring, but did not back up to Hagler. He was truly working him. Both fighters threw over 600 punches, Hagler close to 800. In fact, they both got hit 300 times, almost the amount of punches Mayweather and Pac even threw at eachother! If Saturday night was this century greatest fight... Well at least we have 85 years to find one to replace it.
That was hardley the fight of the century only revenue wise will it be remebered as one of the biggest fight in history..
Yeah, there's no comparison. I'd criticize Ray Leonard for some of his tactics, but at least he was doing stuff. I thought Hagler won, but it was close. It was not a savage or ferocious fight but it qualified as a fight, and an entertaining one. Mayweather-Pacquiao was really a dud. I can admire the skill involved, it's the art of fighting without fighting.
I still think the major difference between SRL and Mayweather rests with SRL's offense and significant power advantage. Make so mistake about it, SRL could really bang if he needed to.
Leonard fought like DLH in that matchup. He was winning rounds with throwing flurries for the last 30 second of the rounds. He also waited a LONG time to meet up with Hagler. I believe it was after the mugabi fight that he mentioned he could beat "this version of him." I seriously doubt that match would've looked like that back in 1981/82. To ray's defense, he was dealing with a retinal issue for the better part of the early 80's.
How many fighters would fight any version Hagler after 3 year lay of and expect to win. Andre Ward one of the best fighters in the world is fighting P Smith in his first fight back, although I have heard Leonard basically had unsactioned bouts in training to help prepare for that fight, (could be wrong though?)
Leonard-Hagler was a ton more exciting (and close) than Mayweather-Pacquiao. It just has slight similarities in that the southpaw was the bigger puncher and the one coming forward, and that all the fighters were past their primes. Leonard was the smaller guy and Hagler had an ATG chin, so it's natural he wouldn't slug it out. It would be up to Hagler to force the issue and cut off the ring. Because of this fight, and a couple other ones (Hagler-Hearns, Leonard-Duran 2-3), people get the wrong impression of their styles. Hagler was first and foremost a patient, methodical boxer with heavy hands who broke guys down and used the ring, not some plodder, and Leonard was usually more flat-footed than people remember. SRL was actually one of the best finishers ever in the sport.
