Would Hearns' power be enough to stop Basilio, or would Carmen be capable of exploiting his weak chin? Hearns is probably going to be most people's favourite, and I lean towards him as well. That being said, Basilio had an ATG chin(although if there's a single WW in history capable of knocking him out, it's Hearns) and decent power, probably enough knock Tommy out. I think that Hearns' superior boxing ability, physical advantages, and power would give him a win, although it would be a tough fight.
Carmen would have to eat some shots to get inside but I saw him take vicious shots from Robinson in both their fights. Hearns has all the tools to make this a rough night for Basilio and vice versa. Tommy tended to go to war even when it gave his opponents his only shot at winning. On the other hand Basilio had more skills and Ring Smarts than given credit for. Tommy Hearns wins every fight on paper. Nobody beats him in Mythical Matchups. In reality he did lose fights because he had some weaknesses that were glaring enough that it cost him fights. Best I can sum it up is Hearns should but Basilio would. Carmen would find a way to take this into deep water and stop Hearns. Just my gut feeling.
I can only see yearns ko-ing basilio much as I admire the onion farmer.hearns' KO of Duran was jaw droppingly stunning.he can drop any welter he lands cleanly on !!
I could see Hearns holding on for a decision over twelve, or stopping Basilio on facial tear-up at some point. Fifteen would suit Basilio down to the ground. Since I remain skeptical Hearns could outright stop Basilio in his tracks, I think this fight is more open to a guess than a lot of people (who would pick Hearns without blinking) might wager. It would be a tough fight to predict, with several key variables. I have no doubt Basilio can hurt the possibly over-trained version of Hearns who eventually succumbed to Leonard.
Much as I love Carmen, I have to use my head over my heart on this one. I remember when Cuevas defended against Hearns, you couldn't make Pipino blink with a baseball bat. But after the irresistable force met the immovable object in the 2nd round, Pipino's jaw wasn't worth a damn after that. It happens. It happened to O'Gady against Ganigan, it happened to Curry against McCallum and happened to Bramble against Rosario. Something cerebral gos on where the jaw is no longer there. Hearns and Carmen represents the same physical dimensions as Hearns-Cuevas and Hearns has all the advantages here. Just my admiration for Carmen prevents me from saying a KO for Hearns so I'll say Hearns on cuts.
Hearns wins so many fights on paper because it took a fighter generally regarded in the top five at welter in his absolute prime on his best night to barely get him at the wire. You speak of fights he lost, but the only one that counts in consideration for this matchup is Leonard. That's only one. Basilio is tough, but Hearns chops him up and stops him.
