Where would Hagler be ranked had he beaten SRL?

I never thought Marvin was motivated for Mugabi. He looked soft and uninspired. The predictions were he was going to stop Mugabi early once he hit him, but Marvin was sluggish and rusty and his straight left was looping the whole night. A sharp Marvin would have beaten Mugabi easily. That was the night Ray decided to fight Marvin.

 

Lamotta was considered a ATG and Hagler had better power, better boxing skills, better combo's, more accuracy and yes....better chin. ATG's are allowed to lose once in a while. Hagler, in top 5 middle on anyones list.

 

If he fights the same fight he's gonna lose again.

World champions? Leonard had just lost to tommy and duran had beaten barkley at a lower weight but not as impressively as sumbu did.

I'm just hoping that you troll when it comes to duran because using a fight 30 pounds above his natural weight (and 16 years after his first title) is quite clearly not the best way to evaluate him, considering the fight in question had taken place during both guys primes and they went 1-1.

 

All of Duran's 1980s stuff was extra curricular to an established legacy, unlike the other three fellas who were still building their own. He was older, with more mileage and furthest out of his natural weight than any of the other three in any and all of these matchups. It's flat out wrong to say these fights were on equal terms. Money always plays a role... doesn't change the fact that he had the cajones to get in the ring with a 147 Leonard, 154 Hearns and 160 Hagler, all reigning champions and as close to their primes as you could really get. MAG disagrees about Leonard's prime and he's stated it numerous times. Leonard had already cleaned out most of the top ten in the division by the time he met Duran sans Cuevas, who Tommy wiped out and eliminated during his ascent in February 1980.

Duran's fire belongs to the 1970s. Simply because he naturally got bigger doesn't make it his most dominant weight. This is what 'natural' implies to me.

 

I really don't think it would have had a big impact on his career. Hagler was the favorite, Leonard had only fought once in the previous 5 years and he was dropped in that fight. He had not fought at all in about 3 years. He had never fought at MW before and his eye was still seen as questionable. Hagler was supposed to win... had he done this it would not have been a huge deal.

 

For me the answer is in the ridiculousness of the opposite comparison.

Duran was a natural lw and fought leonard, hearns and hagler at their natural weights in their primes.

How ridiculous an ask would it be for leonard, hearns and hagler to have fought duran in 76 at 135 pounds? Just taking the fights improved the legacy.

 

He did win on my card so it doesn't really change anything in the end as many already pointed, he was supposed to beat Leonard.

 

i also think hagler's pre title fights mean something here. ray was handed title shots while hagler fought for everything he got.

 

definitely. Hagler racked up 49 fights before he even got his first shot at the title. and they weren't all bums at all.
i think he was then a bit unlucky with the decision against Antuofermo, and took on 3 more fights before getting that shot at minter.
hagler had an old school route to the title.
he was really deserving of a shot at Rodrigo Valdez in 1978 after his win over Mike Colbert in nov. '77

 

Absolutely. Marvin didn't want any part of the mafia organization at the time so 'they' did everything to keep Hagler away from any major world title (including the outrageous Antuofermo draw).

 

Marvin is one of my favorite fighters and I rank him high in my ATG list... However, I think his loss to Leonard did affect his legacy somehow, at least on my eyes.

As has been mentioned, he was supposed to beat Leonard quite comfortably, however he didn't; and (controversial as it was) that outcome is mainly explained by Marvin's own actions :-(

Kudos to Leonard for fighting a smart fight; however, for me it is not as much an issue of Leonard defeating Marvin as much as Marvin defeating himself. He came with the wrong gameplan to the fight, and he was slow to react and adjust to Leonar's gameplan.

Moreover, against Hearns, Marvin showed what "willpower" means, driving himself to victory. Against Leonard, Marvin gave a so-so performance, lacking the drive and determination he showed in the past. Thus, even with the controversial scoring, at the end, Marvin has only himself to blame for lossing to Leonard :nono