Duran Leonard Hearns Hagler

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And Trailing In 5th Wilfred Benitez!!!!!!!!!!

Not so far from Hearns either.

LOL @ the young pibe, that is a lot of hair right there

[Hearnsz]

I'm not sure if Leonard's power is underrated though. He wasn't the knockout artist but when he landed a clean punch, his opponent wasn't able to think straight anymore.
I'm thinking of Leonard vs Hearns I where hearns was leading with 6 points on each card or something, and Leonard scored TKO in 13/15 round

[Thread Stealer]

I like Duran as a lightweight and he is one of my favorite fighters
as a middleweight Marvin Hagler had a longer reach than Hearns, a granite chin and great movement that is one of the reasons he was so devistating in the middleweight division

Hagler's reach is listed @ 75 inches, and Hearns's @ 78 inches.

Hearns's reach and outside boxing ability is why Hagler fought him the way he did, rather than Hagler box like he usually did.

[HappyBoxingFan]

Indeed that was an awesome time for middleweight boxing. Mostly I can easily pick the - in my eyes - better fighter between a few legends. But these 4 were really worth eachother.

I'd say:
Power:
1. Hearns
2. Duran
3. Hagler
4. Leonard

Boxing:
1. Leonard
2. Hagler
3. Hearns
4. Duran

Overall:
Thats the question in the poll... I'd say Hearns but I'm still not sure...

Wha? Hagler's power is far and away better than the other three.

[Thread Stealer]

Wha? Hagler's power is far and away better than the other three.

No it wasn't. Hearns was the biggest puncher of them. He's arguably the hardest puncher ever at 147. His right hand is one of the most devastating punches in boxing history (and had a great left hook to the body too). It wasn't the same when he moved up in weight, but still good enough to knock Duran half-conscious at 154, knock Shuler unconscious at 160, drop Roldan numerous times @ 160, stop fighters above 160, etc...

Hagler, Duran, and Leonard all had good power, but Hearns was the biggest puncher of them.

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Hagler's reach is listed @ 75 inches, and Hearns's @ 78 inches.

Hearns's reach and outside boxing ability is why Hagler fought him the way he did, rather than Hagler box like he usually did.

Hagler was not boxing as much by 1985

[Thread Stealer]

Hagler was not boxing as much by 1985

His last 5 fights were the Hamsho rematch, Roldan, Duran, Scypion, and Sibson.

None of Hagler's game plans there were remotely close to the intense, balls-to-the-wall attack that he showed against Hearns.

The Hamsho rematch was the most aggressive Hagler of these fights, and that was still a long ways from the Hearns of the Hagler fight.

Even in the next Hagler after Hearns, against Mugabi, Hagler was more patient for the majority of the fight, jabbing Mugabi silly from the outside, before he decided to break Mugabi down up close in the 9th and 10th rounds.

[slicksouthpaw16]

Skill-wise, no one is "easily" the best.

Hearns was very difficult to outbox from the outside, as he outboxed Leonard and Benitez from the outside.

Hagler was an extremely versatile boxer puncher. Duran did nearly everything well in his prime. Good power and speed, pressure, box behind the jab (Dejesus rubber match), slip punches, roll with punches, etc...Leonard could box or brawl as well.

Hearns at welterweight was definitely ''easily'' the best. Outside game over everyone on the list, pound for pound power over everyone on the list, reflexes, speed (IMO) over everyone on the list, accuracy, ect. The only thing that Hagler and Leonard had over peak Hearns at welter weight was inside fighting.

Hearns out boxed Ray Leonard and he would have out boxed Hagler if Hagler didn't make it into a brawl. Hagler knew that if he had boxed with Hearns, then he would have lost, which is why he went after Hearns and didn't fight a technical fight.

[Thread Stealer]

Hearns at welterweight was definitely ''easily'' the best. Outside game over everyone on the list, pound for pound power over everyone on the list, reflexes, speed (IMO) over everyone on the list, accuracy, ect. The only thing that Hagler and Leonard had over peak Hearns at welter weight was inside fighting.

Hearns out boxed Ray Leonard and he would have out boxed Hagler if Hagler didn't make it into a brawl. Hagler knew that if he had boxed with Hearns, then he would have lost, which is why he went after Hearns and didn't fight a technical fight.

Skills are not just boxing from the outside. Fighting on the inside takes skill. For instance, positioning yourself on the inside so you can be effective at a certain angle and the other guy can't. Knowing the angles. Shortening up your shots so you don't need as much room for your punches to have power. It takes a lot of skill to fight on the inside, just as it does to fight from the outside. It showed the skills and versatility of Hagler to show that he could go so differently from how he usually fought, to find another game plan and defeat a great fighter like Hearns using another style.

[slicksouthpaw16]

Skills are not just boxing from the outside. Fighting on the inside takes skill. For instance, positioning yourself on the inside so you can be effective at a certain angle and the other guy can't. Knowing the angles. Shortening up your shots so you don't need as much room for your punches to have power. It takes a lot of skill to fight on the inside, just as it does to fight from the outside. It showed the skills and versatility of Hagler to show that he could go so differently from how he usually fought, to find another game plan and defeat a great fighter like Hearns using another style.

Hearns was above his weight but still a good fighter. At welter, Hearns punished fighters that attempted to get on the inside because they would be directly in range of his punches. I didn't see much skill at all from Hagler in that fight. He simply out lasted Hearns in a brawl. He didn't show any craftiness or boxing ability, he just went for broke and laid it all out there. I take nothing away from Hagler because he did a great job, but i didn't see any ''versatility'' there.

Pound for pound, Hearns was the better fighter. He also wasn't just an outside fight either. His left hook and straight right hand to the body was devastating. Thats why Hearns skill wise is over everyone on the list in my opinion. He could do it all and was the most effective at doing it.

I see what you are getting at though.