The best I`ve faced: Hagler (the ring magazine)

Fergy - a request for clarification, please...

You state:
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And then state:
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So, are you suggesting that Hagler didn't know he was way past his prime and, in taking the fight, was more influenced by Leonard's lay-off and results from over half a decade ago?

 

I believe it was 6 and am pretty sure cuts were a factor in all 6. Minter had a solid chin. Whether it was an ATG chin is another conversation but even Hagler which makes 7 was on cuts.

 

To my knowledge, the only time Minter got chilled was in his last bout by Tony Sibson. He definitely had a good set of whiskers. However, since Hagler's bout with Minter only went 3 rounds, one would have thought he would have picked Antuofermo for that category. Vito went 15 with Hagler without getting a dent in him and in the rematch only went down once with the aid of Hagler stepping on his foot. I would think that would have been a better pick.

 

Oh I was not implying that Minter should be the pick. Only challenging the thought that we need to look beyond Boxrec TKO stats, because he was stopped 6 times due to cuts. Minter does have a solid chin and took some solid shots from Hagler.

 

I suspect Hagler's pick of Minter for BEST CHIN, is rooted in his knowing that he threw the kitchen sink at the guy.

 

Probably a mixture of both MM to be honest .No fighter's ever honest to himself in realising they've had there best days ,a part from a select few like Marciano ,Tunney ,Monzon .He may have thought he had a few More fight s Left in him tbh.I really don't think he looked at Ray and thought ,there's a danger here I could lose. And yes to a degree he probably did see Ray struggle in his biggest fight s ,Duran and Tommy ,and think he ain't all that. But the timing ws all wrong for Marv and right for Sugar. And I genuinely think most middle s at that time either give him a rough night or Even beat him .Hagler had a lot of wear and tear on the old body by 1987.Hope that clear s it up a bit Buddy .

 

A good example of why these 'best I faced' lists shouldn't be taken as gospel. Boxers are not usually very objective about these things and sometimes give strange answers. Sugar Ray Leonard once said Marcus Geraldo hit him hardest.

 

Leonard fans need to accept that not everyone thinks he won the fight...

Hagler himself hadn't fought for over a year and prior to that had back to back brutal wars with Mugabi and Hearns. What takes more out of a fighter, sitting at ringside commentating or taking lots of punches from two hard hitting opponents?

 

No I never said that hearns and Duran didn't look great against ray .My point is they both made Ray look not so great yet Marvin beat em more easily ,obviously not the Duran rematch. My point is Hagler thought Ray was beatable obviously .He probably came in confident and paid a price for it .

 

Mugabi was frequently KO'd post Hagler.

 

Ignorant post, Minter was only ko'd once, by big left hooker Tony Sibson.I was ringside for the Hagler fight, Minter was never off his feet.

 

I think the key here is Hagler fans need to accept he fought the wrong fight ( some will ), and gave 3 or 4 of the early rounds to Leonard. ( few admit this )

Leonard had not fought in three years and had fought just once in the previous five years.

I think the fight was close, but like most Leonard won it.

I disagree with you on activity. Three years out of the ring is tough to overcome. One year of ring rust, not so much. That was Hagler's advantage. Quite simply Halger should blame himself for starting too slowly and his tactics.

I think a good percentage of his fans just can't admit this, because by doing so they spell out why he lost the fight.

We've see the media score cards before, but they match what the judges felt. When you have the judges and the media saying Leonard won it, the controversy lies mostly with the Hagler fans.

Judges 2-1 for Leonard.

Media cards 13 for Leonard. 6 for Hagler.

• [url]Dave Anderson[/url] of the New York Times: 114-114

• Associated Press: 117-112 Hagler

• Baltimore Sun: 7-5 in rounds Leonard

• [url]Al Bernstein[/url] of [url]ESPN[/url]: 115-113 Hagler

• [url]Dave Bontempo[/url] of ESPN: 114-114

• Boston Globe: 117-111 Leonard

• Boston Herald 116-113 Leonard

• Chicago Sun-Times: 115-114 Hagler

• Chicago Tribune: 7-5 in rounds Hagler

• [url]Nigel Collins[/url] of [url]The Ring[/url]: 115-113 Leonard

• [url]Howard Cosell[/url]: 117-112 Leonard

• Houston Chronicle: 115-114 Leonard

• [url]Michael Katz[/url]: 117-112 Leonard

• [url]Harold Lederman[/url] of HBO: 115-113 Leonard

• Phill Marder of The Ring: 114-114

• [url]Larry Merchant[/url] of HBO: 114-114

• New York Daily News: 117-111 Leonard

• New York Post: 114-114

• Newsday: 115-114 Hagler

• Philadelphia Daily News: 116-112 Leonard

• Oakland Tribune: 117-112 Leonard

• Jeff Ryan of [url]KO Magazine[/url]: 118-111 Leonard

• San Jose Mercury-News: 116-115 Hagler

• United Press International: 116-112 Leonard

• Washington Post: 114-114