leonard-hagler

My good friend Rick hipped me to a great article on the 1987 Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Marvelous Marvin Hagler fight.

Classic bout between two of the greatest fighters of all time! I thought Hagler won; Rick saw it for Leonard. I've got to respect Rick's take, as he's a former boxer and knows a lot more about "the sweet science" than I'll ever know.

After reading that article, I'm even more convinced that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. would beat Manny Pacquiao if they ever get it on. It's a little different because Mayweather isn't the glory boy like Leonard was, but Mayweather is smart and fast like Leonard. Leonard got in Hagler's head, and he played the fight just right, he played the judges just right. 15 or 30 seconds of going all out at the most crucial times, leaving that impression on the judges. Mayweather can do that, too.

Dang, Hagler went 11 years without a loss! Very impressive. And you have to wonder what would have happened if Leonard and Hagler had fought a few years earlier, like before the Mugabi fight.

I also watched some of the video from this page, including the last round of the Leonard-Hagler fight, the whole fight between Leonard and Mayweather, Sr., and the Hagler-Hearns fight.

I thought the last round of the Leonard-Hagler fight was a draw, and that Leonard wouldn't have had anything left after that round. Amazing flurries by Leonard.

Leonard-Mayweather was interesting. Leonard dominated the fight and had him in trouble numerous times, but Mayweather was game, and very crafty.  Good defensive fighter, but not as good as his son. Still, he hung in there well and seemed to frustrate Leonard a bit. Leonard finally got to him in the last round, though. Looked like Mayweather never hurt Leonard at all.

Hagler-Hearns: Probably the greatest few rounds of boxing I've ever seen. I had forgotten how good Hearns was, kinda, but that fight reminded me. Maybe Hearns wins that fight if he stands back and boxes a little more instead of mixing it up and going all out. Hearns landed some big shots on Hagler but Hagler shook it off and kept coming.