What are your thoughts on Virgil Hill in the HOF?

He is certainly a HoF, especially based on the criteria that they have set NOW.

He is a borderline ATG IMO, but there should be no question of his Hall of Fame status.

 

IMO, to be a great fighter you need a great resume, not a decent one.
Who did Hill beat to warrant his HOF-induction? Who stands out? Henry Maske?
Look, Hill was a helluva boxer, with a beautiful jab, but the best guys he fought were Hearns, Michalczewski and Jones, and in case anybody forgot: they all beat him.
Consistently being beaten at the highest level like that makes HOF-induction out of the question for me.

 

My answer is yes, he should be voted into the hall of fame, but he is not one of the divisions best all time greats. He was a two time lightheavyweight champion with many title defenses, but never unified, did not face all the best fighters of his era, and lost to an aging Thomas Hearns moving up. Had he been more productive during the early 90's by beating guys like Harding, Prince Charles, Michael Moorer and perhaps Hearns, he'd have a stronger case.

 

And what criteria are you using? Yours? Or the HoF criteria? Because there are far worse fighters in there then Hill.

And the Hearns fight very well could have gone to Hill. On top of which, Hill beat MANY of the top LHW's in his era, which is long before Jones and DM got there.

 

Agreed,

Although he only held an alphabet title at lightheavyweight, he had a combined 20 defenses of that belt in his two reigns. He also beat a fair amount of good fighters like Leslie Stewart, Bobby Cycz and a few others. I can't rate him alongside men like Spinks, Moore, Jones, or Tiger, but he certainly deserves to be considered as a hall of fame candidate.

 

i dont think so

 

You're absolutely right, i AM using my own criteria, since the title of this thread is: What are YOUR thoughts on Hill in the HOF. So there you go.

 

Your thoughts on the HoF, not your thoughts on YOUR VERSION of the HoF. Giving your thoughts on whether or not Hill belongs in the Hall of Fame that exists already is not the same as giving your thoughts on whether you think Hill should be in a version of the Hall of Fame that you find more redeemable. Like I said, there are far worse fighters in the HoF than Hill. Now if the criteria was changed to include only a certain caliber of fighter, then we would be having a different discussion.

 

My understanding is that he was the Lineal champion after defeating Maske in a #1 vs #2 bout that restarted the lineage, then immediately lost it to new #2 DM.

 

good thRead topic btw

 

Should go to the Hall of Fame no doubt.People tend to also forget he almost beat Mormeck the second time.I believe the knockdown was what cost him.