Better middleweight - Hagler or Hopkins?

[Stoppage]

I'm not talking about a fantasy match-up. I'm talking about their legacies.

Who's the better middleweight?

[Thread Stealer]

Who's the better middleweight? I'm not talking about a fantasy match-up. I'm talking about their legacies.

Who's the better middleweight?

Hagler.

I actually think it can go either way H2H, as both of them are two of the most well-rounded fighters you'll find, but Hagler has the superior resume at middleweight, particularly with his pre-title opposition.

[MANGLER]

Hagler. Bhop's reign was longer, but Hagler did better work by resume.

[Heru]

Hagler.

MH had better fighters to prove it against: Hearns-Trinidad, Leonard-De La Hoya, Duran, Briscoe, etc.

The way Hopkins handled all his opponents should be taken into account though because he barely lost rounds in his title reign. Which is what a great does against subpar opposition. B-Hop did it against everyone including the great opp. at an advanced age.

[GorillaBongsoon]

Yup. Hagler

[Princemanspopa]

Hopkins - Simply due to his recent comments concerning MMA.

[mickey malone]

Hopkins - Simply due to his recent comments concerning MMA.

hmmm, do they let you take the laptop on the special needs bus then?

The answer is Hagler, based on his resume and nothing to do with Bernard's recent MMA comments, as Slimepoppoofter would like to think..

[blacklodge]

Hopkins - Simply due to his recent comments concerning MMA.

Are you talking about when he was asked (Jim Rome?) how well he would do in MMA, and said "I'd probably get my ass whipped, because I haven't fought like that since I was in prison." I don't know that I agree, but it was funny.

[Princemanspopa]

“I don’t see any skill in (the UFC) or art ... anybody can do that kind of fighting off the street,”

- Marvin Hagler


“Everybody is different. I don’t want to watch two grown men wrestling with panties on. I’m from the hood, we don’t play that,” Hopkins told BoxingScene.com. “To me, I’m not buying a ticket to watch two grown men with panties on, sweating, [with] nuts in their face.

“That’s not me. To compare that to boxing is ludicrous. It’s a ****o. It’s an entertainment ****o. I’m not wrestling a guy with panties on and his nuts in my face, and they call that a sport.”

“I’m not criticizing people for what kind of entertainment they like,” Hopkins added. “I think most of those people have chains and masks in their closets. There is something out there for everybody. I can understand if 90% of women were going to those things but I can’t understand a grown man sitting there with a couple of guys watching two grown men with panties on, sweating. That’s just my opinion. It’s not a good look.”

- Bernard Hopkins

[bojangles1987]

Hagler beat some pretty damn good fighters during his reign. His fight with Duran was the only defense he had that went the distance. Hopkins simply didn't have the same kind of competition during his reign and didn't do it as impressively.