Sugar Ray Leonard On April 6 1987

Watch Leonard's 30 30 special when he goes to Panama so DURAN could get closure on what really happened in New Orleans. Quite a revealing insight to what Leonard's character really is.

 

Much as I admire hagler i grew up watching him destroy a number of British fighters who the press said would take his titles yea right !.I must confess that SRL is the nearest thing to the perfect fighting machine I have seen blazing speed power in both hands ring brain stamina chin merciless finishing guts no one at welter can top him at his best and very few at the higher weight s he fought at maybe hagler 80-84 but it would still be close.

 

SRL changed his style up just to fight Hagler. He went from an excellent boxer-puncher to an outside fighter that wasn't even effective. Hagler would have demolished SRL if SRL fought his normal style.

The excuse that SRL had a 3 year lay off is bull ****. Any fighter as dedicated to the sport as a world champion who won gold at the Olympics wouldn't come near to losing it. What was Hagler doing during the 3 years that SRL was relaxing? He was getting into wars with Hearns and Mugabi. That takes something out of you no matter who you are.

 

He stayed fresh, spared himself from additional damage, had enough time to heal/rest/recuperate, a break Hagler never got, and sparred well before the fight, making any "ring rust" claim null.
While he had some trouble making 147 when he fought there (not nearly as much as Hearns had) , 160 suited him well, and Hagler was a miniature "MW" himself.
And again, Ray was 2-4 years chronologically younger than Hagler.
Biologically the difference was even bigger by the time when they fought.

 

You can always tell those that weren't around at the time. They're the ones saying Hagler was "shot to sh/t."

Hagler was still thought to be as close to invincible then as any fighter in the world. Oh, how the revisionist historians do love to talk about this fight.

And I'm a Hagler fan who doesn't particularly like Leonard, BTW.

 

Lets get back in the real world.

Between November 83, and April 87 Hagler fought Duran, Roldan, Hamsho, and Mugabi.

Meanwhile Leonard fought the " devastating " puncher Kevin Howard.

Unfortunately the problem the revisionists like sanchez fan conveniently forget is the " Reagan / Thatcher " GREEDY self centered KUNT axis, caused filth like Leonard to be able to dictate terms, because he was " allegedly " the draw. Luckily enough for the world ( and not the f&&kwits ) the ****** filth quickly followed, and boxing became, thankfully again, a minority sport, after he was exposed.

 

Couldn't agree more. But it could well be claimed Marvin was more " shopworn " than Leonard.

Can you seriously see SRL going to places like Pennsylvania, and fighting guys like, Bennie Briscoe, Bobbie Watts, and Eugene Hart?

Would you want to?

:good

 

:deal

 

Actually Sal, Hagler looked pretty slow and hittable again slowpoke Roldan. Even Merchant said that that was the beginning of the end for Marvin. Quite frankly, he was in a war against Mugabi until later in the fight. Mugabi was landing frequently against Hagler, who seemed to have none of the sharpness or speed that he had most of his career. Hagler won that fight due to his chin.

 

The Mugabi fight should have been his last fight.

 

Oh, I'm not trying to say he was in his prime and fresh as a daisy. Not at all. Anyone could say that. But if you were around at that time you know as well as I do that not a soul was giving Leonard a chance against this man. Hagler, for whatever slip he was showing, was still regarded as a dominant champion. He just was. Read the magazines from that time, read the old papers, they're all still there.

 

Yeah, I wonder what insights people here think they have gained since that the ones following Hagler at the time didn't have.

 

Like I said, you can always tell the ones that weren't there.

 

I was following boxing at that time.
I think Hagler being clear past his prime was common knowledge, as was his imminent retirement. It was much discussed in the magazines, and people were looking to possible "heirs".

But of course Leonard was given no chance to last the distance or put up much of a fight. He was a fighter with one bad fight in the last 5 years and a detached retina.

 

I agree with all of the above. But you'd have been better saying that Ray was a lot fresher, rather than saying he was near his prime.