For most of his career, boxer puncher with an excellent jab, straight left, good lateral movement, not great speed. Towards the end of his career he started ditching that and relied on brawling and his chin more, which is why a bunch of idiots today think that he was just a brawler who overwhelmed people. atsch
A lot of casual fans who first saw him when he busted up Alan Minter thought he was a brawler. It was only when they witnessed him take apart Tony Sibson,that they recognised his more sublime skills. At ringside for Marvin's first fight with Mustafa Hamsho,Ray Leonard said something like "I never realised Marvin could box TOO"
True. Marvin looked like a brawler, and he could physically dominate people, so most people assumed that of him. Still, when you go into the general forum on this site, and Hagler comes up, you can always tell which posters have only seen the Hearns, Mugabi and Leonard fights.
He's one of the most well rounded fighters ever. Could box, punch, counter, and brawl. He had it all. Very marvelous.
Boxer-Puncher, with excellent counter-punching skills, and a guy who could brawl with the best of them if need be. He could even switch to orthodox. There are certainly fighters with more skill than Hagler, but very few men in history could be called more versatile.
Pretty sure Marvin was not a natural lefty so his southpaw jab was his actual strong hand so his jab on the southpaw side was extra strong - think Moorer mightve been like that too?
Yeah. I don't think I've seen a more versatile fighter. Against Obelmejias the first time, he even utilised a crab/cross-arm guard for small portions of the fight. He was a fighter you could rate 8/10 for in every single category except: Spontaneity: 7 Durability: 10
For the most part, Hagler was a somewhat cautious boxer-puncher, who methodically picked you apart. He was versatile. He could box, but he didn't run. He could attack, but he didn't do it recklessly. He had a very calm workmanlike pro style. Ironically, the hallmark fight of his career, against Hearns, was fairly dissimilar to most all of his other bouts.
I remember when Minter landed a punch to Hagler's chest that made a bit of a thwack and got the crowd on their feet; they continued to cheer for Minter as he rushed in on Hagler, blind to the three or four clean counter punches he copped in return.
