Would have Nigel Benn have defeated Tommy Hearns when both were prime at 160 lbs?

I'll go with Benn, but tough one.

 

You can’t discount the possibility. Even though Hearns was a better fighter than Benn overall, Nigel was probably the more established at middleweight and carried ferocious power

 

Hagler displayed much better footwork than Benn, who was just a come forward fighter.

 

Look at what Benn did to Barkley. He'd do the same to Tommy.

 

ABC boxing doesn't work like that, and Benn also hit Barkley numerous times when he was on the floor. And was lucky not to get DQed, Barkley was still very much in the fight, unfortunately 3 knockdown rule was in effect.

 

Benn overwhelmed Barkley. Tommy didn't have the chin to keep Benn off.

 

It's not like Benn's chin was granite either, he was stopped twice at Middleweight, and Anthony Logan damn near knocked him out aswell.

Your also comparing performances vs Barkley, as I said boxing doesn't work that way.

And as I said before Barkley was still very much in the fight vs Benn, the 3 knockdown spoilt which could of been a slugfest on par with Hagler vs Hearns.

Benn was also lucky not to get DQed, he hit Barkley 3 times when he was on the floor, one of them was a blatant hard right hand a full 2 seconds whilst Barkley was still on the floor. If Barkley wasn't such a warrior, he could made a meal of it like other boxers have done, and could of easily won by DQ. Even without the acting I think Benn was lucky not to be DQed.

 

I did write Benn wasn't close to the skill level of Hagler. Foot work is a part of skill level.

 

Great post. The Hagler war knocked the peak out of Hearns and Hagler was never the same again either. After this war Hearns was on the downside of his greatest.

We don't have a lot of 160 to go on with Tommy prior to Hagler but for sure, IMO, his legs and durability were never quite the same thereafter. Big strong guys like Roldan and Barkley were in the mix with him despite being much lesser fighters.

I'd favor the pre Hagler model over Benn and as you say Benn would be a chance of the upset vs the later model.

 

And what happend to Logan? Doesn't matter that it was Logan. When Benn is hurt, he's at his most dangerous. When Tommy is hurt he doesn't recover.

And why such a big thing about the 3 KD rule?

 

Barkley would’ve been game in that one. It was 3KDs that saved Benny and his dirty behaviour.

 

Pretty sure it was the other way around.

 

It would be a dream fight for me too. I also liked both guys.