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Was having a discussion about Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard the other day. Looking for some insight so i am wondering how you history buffs rate these guys all time and who you see was a better fighter.
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I thought Leonard lost the fight with Hagler, but Leonard was still p4p the better one. also Leonard was given a gift over Hearns in the rematch.
Leonard didnt have too many fights, but he beat some pretty spectacular competition. Hearns, Duran, Benitez...these are all ATG fighters. not to mention on the side beating the #1 fighter at 154, Ayub Kalule.
Then you have his 'extra-credit' wins over Mayweather, Shields, Muniz, Gant, Ranzany, Price, Green, Finch, and then that weird double title thing with Lalonde...
Leonard was just an amazing fighter. -
Gotta give it to Leonard on the all-time scale. He loses points to Hagler on the subjects of longevity, consistency, & title reign --- but his frankly astonishing list of victims pushes him past Hagler, once you combine it with actually beating Hagler himself in the most unlikely of circumstances --- that really is the nail in the coffin of this discussion. Hagler really has no viable excuse, as I see it, for having lost the unloseable fight. Advantage Leonard, all-time.
Hagler's only saving grace in the end is that I think he'd have won a Middleweight fight between the pair around 1981-82.Comment
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Hagler > LeonardComment
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Both were great but Id give the edge to Leonard.Comment
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Leonard has a very impressive resume, even with his lack of fights, there are potentially 4 Top 50 ATG's he has beaten in Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Benitez and his other wins are solid.
Hagler on the other hand beat everyone available to him in the Middleweight division and made 12 defences of his Undisputed Title which gives him extra points.
Overall I have to give it to Leonard but, I don't think there is too big a gap between the two fighters on an All Time Great scale maybe 10 places or so, depending on how high you rank Ray Leonard. I rank Leonard just outside nthe Top 20 and Hagler around Top 30.Comment
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Its Leonard for me,he was simply an incredible fighter.For a guy with only 40 fights,his resume really is something elseComment
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Another way to look at them is to see how they place in the All-Time lists for both middleweight and welterweight.
I have both in the TOP 5 and a case can be made for both to be in the TOP 3. I think both are TOP 30s and both are border line TOP 20s.
I give the edge to Hagler for longevity although that's not "fair" to SRL because his career was shortened by injury. I may change my mind about this tomorrow (or even later on today).Comment
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Leonard is most likely the best athlete in the lower weight divisions I've seen - he was such a supreme talent. His movement in the 2nd Duran fight was just flawless. His wins over Hagler, Hearns, Benitez & Duran are what separates him from Hagler, who was a beast during his title reign. People may like to discredit his win over Hagler, claiming Hagler was not at his best, which is somewhat true, but let's not forget Leonard was jumping a weight-class, hadn't fought in nearly 3 years and suffered an almost career ending injury. It was also no robbery, a close fight, but Hagler should never have let Leonard win so many early rounds. Personally, Leonard is very high on my list of P4P greats, but he falls just behind the likes of McLarnin.Last edited by IRISH LULLABY; 01-21-2011, 10:23 AM.Comment
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