sugar ray leonard vs marvin hagler

I love Marv but he lost and he lost to a welterweight - Leonard was a special fighter. That means alot considering he fought in probably the most special era for small guys.

 

I thought Hagler won.

I like Leonard more than I do Hagler so there's no bias here.

But it was a close fight, and I don't really have a problem with Leonard winning. What bothered me was the 118-110 scorecard. That was a joke.

 

Leonard ahead by 1 point or a draw.

 

I do personally like Hagler more than Leonard. But Hagler lost the fight, fairly and clearly as well. I happend to be fast forwarding one of my video tapes the other night and stopped and played it during the 4th round of the fight. Hagler was missing with many punches, and at one point he missed with a wide lead left hook, to say it was off target is an understatement.

Casting my mind back further when I last viewed the fight, Hagler looked dreadful during the 9th round, which was one of his best rounds of the fight. He won the round with his pressure, but never looked good doing so. He had Leonard against the ropes but was missing more than he was landing, and his handspeed had diminished considerably since he fought Hearns two years earlier.

Hagler's post fight comments were that of a sore loser. "Leonard never hurt me, he ran, and fought like a girl". Couldn't care, he showed better variation, better defense, and landed scoring punches. If punches land and dont hurt an opponent, they score points. Also running in Hagler's eyes, is defensively minded smart boxing in mines.

 

i believe that hagler blew the fight in the early rounds by trying to be cute and outbox srl. if he had of put the pressure on ray from the start, it would of been a different fight

i had it 115-113 for srl but it was very close. hagler beat hagler not srl (see above)

 

Leonard was the ring general, he fought his fight. The punch stats show a better defence and more accurate punching...

...and yes he won the crowd over, the judges over and the viewers at home.

Leonard was the underdog facing a monster and he won arguably the first four rounds. I think it was the fifth round that he wound up a punch and let it rip. I remember when he did it, a woman in the crowd gets up and screams with glee. That is the sort of power Leonard had over the people - he electrified them. Even in the 9th when Hagler is beginning to rip Leonard and it looks like Leonards time had come, he was letting rip with combos that had you thinking WOW rather than Hagler won the round. Finally in the 12th Leonard wins everyone over with his dancing, showboating etc

I don't mind someone having it 7-5 Hagler. Many prefer the offensive, aggressive fighter. No problem but more people than not will pick Sugar. It was Sugars night and still gives me a buzz to watch it for the millionth time.

 

I thought Hearns did a better job,especially in the second fight,than Hagler did in his matchup with the Sugar Man. The Hit man was totally outboxing Leonard in the first fight before running out of gas and getting knocked out,in the second fight however,Hearns Cleary won that,and had a better chin this time around,even though Leonard often showed his championship dominance. That second was a great fight though even though both were passed their primes,that night though Hearns was da man..

 

Welcome to the forums Bill and your card is around the same as mine. Hard to disagree with you Fighter of the 80's tag

:good

 

JT. My top five fighters of the 80's.

1. Sugar Ray Leonard.
2. Marvin Hagler
3. Larry Holmes
4. Mike Tyson
5. Michael Spinks

 

Chavez would be just outside my top 5. Duran had some solid wins, but also had many setbacks as well. Losses to Leonard and Hearns stand out. He's better getting a mention among the best fighters of the 70's, as his longevity was better, and he was in his prime.

 

HERE IS MY 1980's TOP 10:

HAGLER
SRL
SANCHEZ
LARRY HOLMES
HEARNS
CHAVEZ
TYSON
Mccallum
Pryor
Holyfield


so many to choose from

 

No. To decide who was the p4p best would have come around 5 years before but Ray couldn't go thru with it because he knew his chances were nil. Hagler was trying to goad Ray into not going thru with his fake retirement.

Marvin understood the reasons for Ray's being hesitant. He saw the fear in his eyes in the closeup interview and knew how a knockout loss would make him look.

In fact, this was not viewed as that sort of fight-fighter of the decade. Leonard hadn't fought in three years and even then wasn't considered the best fighter. Moreover, by 1986, Hagler was ready to retire after the Mugabi fight so it was already forgotten because no one ever thought it would happen - it wasn't the highly anticipated mega fight Hagler-Hearns was.

 

Little Rooster. You really are biased towards Leonard. No offence, but Ive been reading your posts on him for quite some time now. While I don't claim to be a Leonard bandwagon follower, I can see he was clearly a great fighter. It seems the decision against Hagler really is part of the problem in your true distain towards him.

On paper Hagler should have knocked Leonard out. He was rated by many as "pound for pound" the best fighter in the world along with Curry. Sure, he was past his prime, probably by around 3-4 years to be fair. But he squared off against a fighter who had one fight in five years, and had never fought at middleweight. Don't you at least give Leonard some credit for lasting the distance, even if you thought Hagler won?.

And before you rubbish Leonard tactics, lets not forget many fighters enter the ring with the mindset on solely winning a decision. Leonard knew coming forward exchanging blows with Hagler was far from a wise move against a decent banger, combined with Hagler's terrific chin. I don't see anything remotley sensible for Leonard trying to go for the knockout. He'd be playing right into Hagler's hands.

 

I thought leonard took it by about a round ,it was too close for all the furore thats endured over the years,either way it wouldnt have been a robbery.