Excellent video. Marvin Hagler is the greatest boxer of all time. You did well to point out that an enormous proportion of the audience thought Hagler had beaten Ray Leonard. That fight was given to the man with the better smile and more magnetic personality. Hearns, Leonard, Duran and Mugabi would beat any middleweight of today's weak era.
@Rumsfeld Good video. Also a question to pose. Many people already consider Durans victory over SRL as the greatest single win in boxing history, or at least in the televised era. Due to the size advantage of Leonard and his incredible ability. That said, what if Duran had actually beaten a 1983 Hagler? He came surprisingly close. Would that not be far and away the greatest single boxing win in history? For a blown up Lightweight to beat arguably the best 160 pounder ever in the middle of his prime? Its unbelievable what Duran could do. All four of the fab 4 were incredible fighters. But if you examine Duran in particular it's amazing what he accomplished given his smaller size.
He's my favorite fighter of all time. There was a period- I'd say between 1980 to 1982- where he was indestructible. His will to win was nothing like I've seen from any other fighter. That period when he fought Minter in England and also took on Hamsho (top MW) and gave him the business on 2 occasions was Marvin at his peak form. He really avoided getting fights to go to the scorecards (after the Vito debacle), he had that type of killer mentality even after becoming champion. That version of Marvin would've steamrolled Sugar Ray Leonard. SRL was a funny guy, he cherrypicked guys right after that terrible retinal injury and he really waited out on Hagler until Marvelous was up there in age and in really tough fights (Hearn and Mugabi in ack to back years,) before he decided to take him on.
If he has a weakness surely it would be ring IQ? Against Leonard he was slowed down, but he gave away the early rounds for no reason. And against Duran he fought a weird fight. Gave the smaller and older man too much respect for no apparant reason.
I actually thought he had a really high ring IQ, he just knew when to brawl against guys since he wasn't the biggest of MW's (around 5 ft 9 inch) and knew at times he had to become a brawler in certain fights. But at his core he was an elite boxer-puncher That Duran fight was around 83 I believe and I agree he gave Robbie way too much respect in a fight he should've won inside 10 rounds. I've seen his fight with SRL a bunch of times over the years and can't find a way to give Marvin even 1 round in the first 4. SRL clearly won the first 4 rounds and it was an uphill battle after that (ironically I had Hagler winning the next 4 but than SRL came on strong during the championship rounds.) It was a clear cut victory for Leonard and I don't know why that fight has ever been mired in controversy. RBR, it was a fairly simple fight to score. Also given how it was marketed, I thought the match was a bit anti-climactic. That being said, Leonard waited him out until Marvin was shop worn. That fight with Tommy in 1985 while only lasting a few rounds had to take a decent chunk out of Marvin. It was a war. He didn't have a soft touch the following year when he was in another war with Mugabi (which SRL was a commentator for that match.) But from early 1980 to late 1982, Hagler was a demon of a fighter. I wouldn't favor anyone to beat that version of him at MW- worst case he'd be a 50/50 fight for the truly elite ever at the division.
I still have no idea why he fought the way he did against Duran and SRL. And no way in hell is Hagler a legit 5'9". Leonard real height was only 5'9" and he towered over Hagler.
Good video as always. I've seen a lot of your work on YouTube but still making my way through them all. Good stuff.
