Why did Tommy Hearns fight Hagler's fight?

Hold , lean and push. But Hearns warrior mentality wouldn't allow him to do that.
But With those tactics, Hearns may have been able to hold off Hagler long enough for the fight to be stopped because of that cut in his forehead.

 

Because Hagler could walk through his best shots and apply heavy pressure and impose his physical strength.

 

While I agree Hagler gave Hearns no choice, I'm surprised no one pointed out Hearns breaking his right hand in the 1st round had something to with how that fight was fought.

 

yes, although the one thing about Hearns which always frustrated me was his tendency to throw punches when he did not have to. He could have settled down and jabbed and set up his right hand more, and he would sometimes throw punches in forced ways. Hagler did not give him a choice this is true, but with Tommy's tendency it was sort of a predictable situation-when he first came out he was throwing everything he could and broke his hand. What a great fight. Tommy later in his career got the patience to jab and win rounds, but by the point he had slowed down and he couldn't really land a great right hand as he would have earlier in his career. I think his greatest weakness was himself. He could not turn down an opening if his opponent showed it. Had he fought Tyson he would have thrown punches had Mike been open regardless of the counter.

 

They didn't like each other. Don't forget in the buildup to the fight there was a lengthy multi-city tour to promote it. Both predicted early knockout victories. When the bell range both couldn't wait to get at each other.

 

I'd add to that Hearns fell back in love with the big right hand after ko'ing a lackluster Duran,,

 

And I do think his right hand was back because he filled out at 154, but he still had to fill out at 160 and for Shuler he looked more 160 than he did for Hagler. He was too overconfident about the Duran fight. Yes he stopped the great Duran, but he should have realized that with Sutherland and even Minchillo his right did not just knock them out early.

 

Many times in the fight, Tommy tried to box at length. Hagler simply gave him no space.

 

I actually have a slightly different take on this one. It was Hagler who changed his usual style. What most folks forget is that Hagler was more of a boxer, a boxer who kept a good pace and remained in range, true, but a fairly cautious calmly attacking boxer nevertheless. If you watch most of his career he usually gradually broke his foes without taking too many risks. His approach to this fight was very much different by attacking ferociously from the start. Hearns was known as the brutally fast starter, trying to take out his foes quickly or at least hurt them early. He usually started as an explosive puncher and switched to boxing if that didn't work. So from that perspective it was Hagler who fought Hearns' fight and won. When Hearns tried to switch to boxing, Hagler already had determined that he could take what Tommy had and was not going to be denied, and kept up the fairly relentless pressure. Hearns boxed in the 2nd and 3rd rounds with some limited success but you already could tell that Hagler likely was going to break him. One could tell that even in the 1st round with Hearns often on the ropes and holding (or trying to) amidst the fury in the second half of the round.

 

My dad always used to say Hearns fought the wrong fight and went berserk (as many people do), but what he wouldn't recognize was that Hagler fought the perfect fight and forced Tommy into a brawl, which Tommy didn't have the whiskers for. Hagler was one of the few people who was actually able to come right at Tommy and had the chin to withstand what was going to come back at him.

I don't think Tommy Hearns had a choice that evening.

I always thought that Hagler's fight with Hearns was the best fight Marvin ever fought in his career because he did exactly what he needed to do.

 

As Gil Clancy liked to say: “Don’t wait for the receipt.”

Thomas liked to admire his handiwork just a bit too much.

 

A huge part of it was Marvin .. I've often wondered why he didn't fight Duran and Leonard that way instead of giving them so much respect ... also wonder if Manny's story of Tommy getting his legs massaged in dressing room before fight essentially screwing up his legs ws serious ..if so it can add merit to why he was tired so fast as well ..

 

He also said that Mike Tyson wouldn’t be successful past the age of 26

 

Good point.
Paradoxically, it is that succesful gung-ho approach by Hagler vs Hearns, what makes so difficult to understand what happened in Hagler vs. SRL.

Everybody was expecting Hagler to repeat what worked as well vs. Hearns and get into Leonard,s face from the initial bell on. But for whatever reason Marvin started in a very slow and leisurely way, throwing away what probably was his best chance to wok.

 

And the cut. Hagler was cut bad. Soon as Hagler appreciated how bad that cut was, he had no choice but to go balls out and try to stop Hearns right then or the fight might be stopped.