Who would you favor to outbox Thomas Hearns at welterweight?

Robinson would have the best chance of jabbing fairly successfully with him.

The thing is though his punchpicking from outside\mid-range is going to result in Hearns being beaten to a pulp rather than outpointed.

 

No one beats Hearns is a pure boxing match.

 

I seriously doubt anyone has the make up to do so.

In leonard he faced maybe the second greatest h2h ww in history and handled him until leonard pulled a rabbit out of the hat.

Some would stop him. Noone i'd favour to outpoint him.

 

No-one.

 

I agree with you. Hearns does have the power and reach to give Robinson fits all night long in a excellent boxing contest. I wouldn't put it past Hearns to beat Robinson's face into a pile of ground beef and he would be hit to the body also. Hearns at WW was one of the GOAT but there is a reason why Robinson is universally considered by many to be the GOAT.

 

THe problem of course is that you are not only dealing with Tommy's boxing ability, his inherent punching power even with the Jab tends to quell opponents ideas of trying to match Tommy punch for punch, if it was simply "Boxing Ability" perhaps another Long-Armed Lanky exponent, A Breland or McCory could perhaps give Tommy a run for his money for awhile (?) but when Tommy's Punching power is added to the Artistry...it swings the Pendulum his way big time, I must confess that a few might beat Tommy, Like Leonard, Bringing it inside, Slipping Tommys Jab landing something inside ...is still "Boxing"
Perhaps an extreme outsider...but what about a Fired up Marlon Starling coming from behind that high guard to land Counters..? having said that ..Marlon would probably be shackled in defence for long periods so "outboxing" Tommy in the traditional sense is probably a No-No for Marlon...

 

Like some have said, a few may knock him out. But there isn't a WW in history that would outbox me Hearns. NONE

 

Napoles would have the brain but not the physicalities to back it up. His body was adequate, combined with his mental prowess, to take on just about every welterweight bar three or four in history, and one of those was Thomas Hearns. I never considered Hearns exceptionally smart, just sufficiently so, but he boxed safely on the outside and knew how to use his reach to his advantage. Being on the elite end for both speed and power, this was some kind of near unbeatable concoction of traits.

I think in a Napoles-Hearns encounter, you'd see Napoles thinking up the better ideas - more exquisite, finely tuned counters and deliberate footwork - but the speed, power and reach deficit would be too great an obstacle to overcome.

 

:deal this absolutely for me. if i had to pick one person to outbox hearns at welter i'd say SRR or Napoles, but dont think Mantequilla could do it for the reasons above, i think he'd have the skill and the knowhow, but, as Manassa puts perfectly, not the physicalities to implement it

 

I don`t see any WWs outboxing him, at least not from distance, if Leonard & Benitez couldn`t outbox him then that tells its own story.

I would only pick both Sugar Ray`s over Hearns at 147 & both would probably need to drag Hearns into a firefight & rely on their greater toughness & better chins to beat him, I don`t see either outboxing him to a decision.

 

Possibly no one, but based on that sparring encounter I've heard about, I'd give Marlon Starling a good chance, maybe Donald Curry, but his chin would most likely give way.

 

With all this talk about Tommy being unbeatable... you'd think he never lost at WW.. ever....

 

Outbox as in they both try to outbox one another? As in both men are in boxing mode? Or simply a boxer trying to outbox him? As in Hearns can go all out slugger if he pleases and the opponent will be attempting to outbox him?

I need to know the scenario. If it is the former then I think Burley has a fine chance, if it is the latter I think Burley would have little chance.

 

We are not saying that he can be defeated... we are just saying that probably he can't be defeated by outboxing him


Of course, if you think in a brawling match and pulling a Hagler, that is a differente situation

 

Napoles was a better boxer than Hearns, a more complete boxer, and a more complete technician, but it would not translate into a win for him. Hearns would back him up with his jab and that breaks up Napoles' game, plain and simple.