Would if Marvelous Marvin Hagler had fought Sugar Ray Lenard in 1982?

RulesMakeItInteresting · Mar 27, 2021

Mark Dunham said: ↑

I agree 100%. This has all the makings of a mismatch as prime Leonard is not a suitable opponent for 1982 Hagler
A far worthier opponent for Hagler is a prime Roy Jones who has none of Leonard's frailties

To be fair to Leonard, he is not really a middleweight and cannot be expected to compete there for long as you might expect from a typical top ranked contender
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Good point.

Jamal Perkins · Mar 28, 2021

Eddie Ezzard said: ↑

Gotta say I agree with every word.

The indisputable facts are that Ray had fought once in five years. Marvin had been active in that time and looked pretty impressive. He had been named joint Ring fighter of the year only 12 months previously.

Hindsight tells us that he had slowed down in the Mugabi fight but, as you say, no boxing media felt it to be a terrible career-ending decline and he was installed as a prohibitive favourite when the Leonard fight was made, based on his form and the fact that Leonard had had five years out, bar that fight with Kevin Howard.

One fight in five years, a booze and coke habit, a detached retina (big deal in the 80s) is not the ideal backdrop for Ray to be sitting out the masterplan of waiting for Hagler to slow down. Particularly as Ray's main asset was speed which is the first thing to dissipate with age and inactivity. And whatever anyone says, Ray's clock was ticking along at the same rate as Marin's.

I disagree with anyone who says the cards were stacked in Ray's favour. Okay he got his choice of gloves, ring size and fight duration but those are the only advantages. As an inactive welterweight with substance abuse problems and a bad eye, he had a fair bit to overcome. To be honest, given his inactivity, injury, lack of experience at middleweight and Marvin's standing, it was amazing the fight was even sanctioned. Well. I say 'amazing'. It generated a huge sanctioning fee so that solves that mystery.

Put it this way. Let's take names out of it. Fighter A is a welterweight who has fought once in five years and looked crap. He had built his career on his speed but was now approaching 31 and had all that ring rust. In that five years of inactivity he had aged five years, same as everyone else, and had done a load of drugs and booze. And he was fighting fighter B who is bigger, had been active, was generally considered one of the world's best fighters, indeed had been the best only 12 months prior. Yes, fighter B may have been considering retirement but he backpedalled on that as soon as he knew he could fight fighter A, who he had always wanted to fight. Fighter A might have assumed that fighter B had found some motivation to carry on. I wonder if taking the two names out of it shows just what Leonard achieved that night.
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Nice post . I feel marvin edged the fight .

But leonard took a helluva risk.It was not just the retina,drugs and drink,there were broads too,which can be sometimes worse for a fighter.

Joeywill · Jul 17, 2023

Leonard beats him even more easily.

Watching their fight in 87 and it amazed me at how much faster Leonard was and how much of a better boxer Leonard was than Hagler. In 1982 Leonard wouldve been even faster and Hagler being a shorter Middleweight vs Leonard hurts him here because he cant box from distance.

Clinton · Jun 11, 2024

Eddie Ezzard said: ↑

Gotta say I agree with every word.

The indisputable facts are that Ray had fought once in five years. Marvin had been active in that time and looked pretty impressive. He had been named joint Ring fighter of the year only 12 months previously.

Hindsight tells us that he had slowed down in the Mugabi fight but, as you say, no boxing media felt it to be a terrible career-ending decline and he was installed as a prohibitive favourite when the Leonard fight was made, based on his form and the fact that Leonard had had five years out, bar that fight with Kevin Howard.

One fight in five years, a booze and coke habit, a detached retina (big deal in the 80s) is not the ideal backdrop for Ray to be sitting out the masterplan of waiting for Hagler to slow down. Particularly as Ray's main asset was speed which is the first thing to dissipate with age and inactivity. And whatever anyone says, Ray's clock was ticking along at the same rate as Marin's.

I disagree with anyone who says the cards were stacked in Ray's favour. Okay he got his choice of gloves, ring size and fight duration but those are the only advantages. As an inactive welterweight with substance abuse problems and a bad eye, he had a fair bit to overcome. To be honest, given his inactivity, injury, lack of experience at middleweight and Marvin's standing, it was amazing the fight was even sanctioned. Well. I say 'amazing'. It generated a huge sanctioning fee so that solves that mystery.

Put it this way. Let's take names out of it. Fighter A is a welterweight who has fought once in five years and looked crap. He had built his career on his speed but was now approaching 31 and had all that ring rust. In that five years of inactivity he had aged five years, same as everyone else, and had done a load of drugs and booze. And he was fighting fighter B who is bigger, had been active, was generally considered one of the world's best fighters, indeed had been the best only 12 months prior. Yes, fighter B may have been considering retirement but he backpedalled on that as soon as he knew he could fight fighter A, who he had always wanted to fight. Fighter A might have assumed that fighter B had found some motivation to carry on. I wonder if taking the two names out of it shows just what Leonard achieved that night.
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Hagler wasn't active. He was fighting once a year for 3 years. I wouldn't call that active. And it took Hagler awhile to accept Leonard's challenge. He didn't backpedal as soon as he could fight him. That is just false. And the magic question is: if Leonard didn't wait for Hagler to decline, why did he choose to challenge Hagler when he did? Why didn't he fight Hagler instead of say, Kevin Howard?

northpaw · Jun 11, 2024

Richard M Murrieta said: ↑

Would if Marvelous Marvin Hagler had fought Sugar Ray Leonard in 1982? Imagine no eye injury following the title unification bout against Thomas Hearns, Leonard moves up to meet the Marvelous one for the title, it is scheduled for 15 rounds.
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First of all, (post prime, really wanted to retire) Hagler really won their actual fight.....................

But in 82 when Hagler was really still a killer and was icing everyone.............Hagler would've stopped him, I have no doubt in my mind.

Smoochie · Jul 21, 2024

Hagler UD but I wonder if the ring size and gloves situation would have favoured Leonard again too. Also users pointing out Ray was not in his prime either aren't wrong.

mr. magoo · Jul 22, 2024

I still think Leonard would have had a chance at beating Hagler in 1982. Sure Hagler was better in 1982 than he was in 1987 but it stands to reason that Leonard was too. Some people seem to have this idea that whether we’re talking about Leonard in 1976, 1979, 1982, 1987, 1991 or even 1997 that he’s always been the same guy with the same abilities.

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