what i mean is that when Leonard fought hagler, everyone was so sure Leonard was gonna get absolutely dominated. when Leonard started doing amazingly well against hagler, People started Looking at Leonards Performance instead of the actual fight. because doing surprisingly well does not mean you win a fight. Looking at the ggg/canelo fight, i think this is exactly what happened. everyone was surprised that canelo could back up golovkin and take his shots flush. or how he at times outjabbed ggg! same here: i was impressed by canelo. he did 2 Things i never thought he could do. BUT that does not mean he won the fight.
I don't think he ever outjabbed GGG. GGG easily won the jab contest. Canelo did better body work but I'll take a hard jab to the head over a hard body shot. TO me body shots are only relevant if you're able to wear your opponent down enough to take them out late in the fight. GGG threw 75 punches in round 11. The body shots basically rendered useless IMO. And both fighters were tired, but GGG won all three of the last rounds. I just watched the 12th round again to score it and I can't believe anyone would give Canelo that round. GGG opened the round landing bombs, really did well the first 30-45 seconds, Canelo had some smaller moments and then GGG closed the round with hard shots and finished the round landing a couple punches. GGG really put his heart on the line, gave it everything and really did win that fight, closing the show really as proper as you can without a KO or KD. But sure, lets give Canelo the fight just because he came forward and surprised people. Makes sense! lol
People keep calling RJJ punch drunk but he keeps making valid points in interviews about fights he called. For example he mentions this leonard hagler effect as well. The guy still has a few good braincells left!
Similar circumstances. One side is the cash cow, the other side is the under appreciated champ. So yeah, you could say both GGG and Hagler got penalized for not scoring knockouts. At least GGG has two cracks at it.
I am a HUGE fan of GGG and thought this fight could have gone either way but I was also very disappointed in the way GGG decided to box instead of fight and threw virtually no body shots... Hagler made the mistake of trying to show the world he could outbox a master boxer in the first fight, gave away the first 4 rounds and still maybe should have won. He never got the chance to rectify that situation in a second fight... I will say this, if Sugar Ray had the courage to rematch Hagler instead of dangling him on a string for a year, you can bet your arse Hagler would have fought balls to the wall Tommy Hearns style in kill or be killed fashion like the true great that he was. GGG had his chance and pissed it up against the wall... Canelo didn't just take GGG's titles and his 0, he also took GGG's legacy as the immovable wrecking machine by GGG choosing to box instead of fight. Canelo put it ALL on the line this time, GGG didn't...
True greats use brains too.Hagler couldn't fight like that anymore, he was worn come the Leonard fight..Its very similar too GGG and Canelo's situation. GGG didn't throw shots anymore to the body because hes slowed up and against a faster opponent
