What would Haglers career look like in your opinion? perhaps he would of gone on to face Hearns in a rematch or would he have just retired a satisfied man
First, he did beat Leonard. But, yeah, I think he would have faced Hearns. That would have been a tough fight for Hagler. His skills had sharply eroded by the Leonard fight. Hearns wasn't the same fighter, either. But if Hearns had moved and boxed, he would have a better chance than he did against the Hagler would came right at him. Hearns would have been title defense #14. Who would he have broken the tie with? Of course, there would be the Leonard rematch. Would that come before Hearns or after? One of the things that has always bugged me about Hagler's career is the first fight with Antuofermo. Yeah, Vito was scrappy in the championship rounds, but I think it was pretty clear Hagler won. Had he received the decision I believe he earned, he would have passed Monzon's record (which, still remains intact, Hopkins defenses of one or more alphabet titles notwithstanding) before the Leonard fight.
I don't think he would have retired. He wanted Monzon's record. But after the Leonard decision, that wasn't possible so, yeah, he was ready to hang up the gloves.
Ray Leonard would have screamed for a rematch,,,,,,,, In October 1987 Marvin gives his Boston fans one more treat, with a defense over a moderately-safe opponent, before saying Good-Bye. Maybe a #9 Ranked Tony Thorton (17-0-1) Retires to Italy, to become an action film star.
If it's the exact same fight but the judges gave Hagler the decision (I had it 115-113 Hagler myself) then I guess there's a chance he'd give a rematch because it would have been controversial either way. But Leonard may have well been content to live with the "moral victory" or going the distance, and wouldn't fancy a rematch. Otherwise, Hagler retires. He was all set to retire, even after the Mugabi fight. He'd given up TWO of his three belts to fight Leonard, I think. He wouldn't do that if he didn't figure it was going to be his last fight. He'd destroyed Hearns in 3 rounds in 1985, I don't see him having motivation to fight him again. If it was all about the money for Marv, he would have come back to fight Hearns in '88 in reality. Retire, just as he did, minus the unhappy ending and bitterness. That's most likely.
Few fighters ever leave the game after winning a huge super fight like that, and there were still a few decent paydays out there, but some have made a compelling argument that he might have retired regardless. Difficult to say.
The plan was to win in Las Vegas, then have a 'Good-Bye Bout' in Boston for September or October in 1987, either at the Boston Garden or Fenway Park. Tony 'The Fighting Postman' Thorton was presumably an opponent. As was Nick Walker (who was a Top 10 Super Middleweight), who was told he could have the fight in Massachusetts in the fall. A 'loss' to Sugar Ray Leonard was never even given consideration.
I think Marvin would've fought Leonard again, had a Hearns rematch, or would've retired if he wasn't offered another big money fight. By the end he was slowing down more and more and he knew it. He was ready to call his career a wrap.
Strictly speaking, Hagler does hold the record for most successful defenses of the undisputed middleweight title. This is because three of Monzon's title defenses, against Mundine, Licata and Tonna, were of the WBA version of the title alone, while Valdez I can be argued for as a unification. That reduces the number of Monzon's defenses of the officially undisputed title to ten, 11 if you wanted to count the unification with Rodrigo. Marv's defense against Ray was for the WBC Title alone, but Hagler's 12 previous defenses were officially for all versions of the World Middleweight Championship, so the claim can be made that he indeed set the record and holds it still. Had he been awarded the decision over SRL though, his reputation would have taken the same hit it did against Duran. Failing to take Ray out after he openly boasted he would, and having a mothballed challenger from a lighter weight compete so closely against the consensus P4P top man in the sport would create enormous pressure for an immediate rematch. Because of the way Hearns got blasted out by Marv, I don't see Hagler-Hearns II happening before Hagler-SRL II. (Besides, Bob Arum wouldn't have gone for Hagler-Hearns II after the decisive way Marv took out Tommy, and said so the morning following that brief classic war.) If Marv didn't retire, the need for redemption against Ray would have been paramount.
Duo, The Boston Globe had a great article on Marvelous Marvin Hagler, 2-weeks before the Hagler-Leonard bout. It had his career 'Swan Song' played out,,,,,, The assumption was, that he would Knock-Out Ray Leonard in Las Vegas, or at worst win an easy decision. Come back to Boston, and have a Good-Bye bout in September/October.
I think he would have fought on. Thinking about it though, how many fighters go on to do what he has done after leaving boxing and who would have thunk a guy like Marvin would be the one to do it?
Ideally the swan-song in Boston would have been a shutout loss to Kalambay or McCallum, just to spite the *******. Or a gift against Sanderline Williams.
Ouch,,,,,,,No New England Clam Chowder for you,,,,,,,,,,, For September/October 1987,,,as per an agreement in March 1987. Actually Tony 'The Punching Postman' Thorton 16-0-0 was lined up. #9 Ranked Middleweight. If Marvin won, (and he should have in April), Thorton would have taken '3' more easy 'TV' fights and come in as 19-0-0, and probably as a #8 Ranking. As a back-up, Nick Walker.
Thornton turned out to be a decent middle/super-middle. Nothing amazing, but solid enough. Still, looks like Hagler was looking at the possibility of an "easy" farewell bout then. Hagler - Doug DeWitt would have been fun ! But Hagler-Barkley would have been the best.