How close was Hagler vs Duran

[f15bone]

Memorable fight...

It was this encounter that led to one of the most epic fights of alltime...This bout gave "The Hit Man" all the confidence he needed...Falsely assuming that since he stretched Duran out like a centerfold he could & would do the same to Hagler...

Tommy assumed wrong...

[sonnyboyx2]

this is one of my favorite fights of all time featuring 2 of my favorite fighters. I like this fight because of the amount of skill involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8K_YBLcvLY

I've watched it so many times and would tell others to do so as well and to watch in close detail. Hagler is the stronger guy and often looks like the more effective fighter, but in close inspection you can see Duran scoring with sharp hard punches. Hagler is forced to shorten his punches up a great deal to land on the slick Roberto Duran and in turn loses some leverage and power. At the end of the fight you can see Haglers Swollen face and how essentially unscathed Duran is. Hagler also landed some very hard body shots which seemed to slow Duran down a great deal.

That being said, Hagler did strong work in the middle of the fight and at the very end, I'm not even dis*****g his win - but the cards were very close and I would like to hear other peoples opinion.

Duran is such a technical fighter this often happened to him a lot of the time, although the judges were usually good, the general crowd is often mislead by the commentating or their view from distance. This is evident especially in the Barkley fight, a fight in which I think Duran dominated (once again look at the faces after the fight and see why).

Back to Marvin Hagler however, I should say he had one of the best jabs in history in any weight class, and a tremendous skill set. Its safe to say he showcased his supreme skill in the Duran fight in his ability to beat Duran at his own game and adjust and use his strength.

i have watched the fight many times over the years and agree with all you say. Duran actually thought he had done enough to win, so coasted the last round, which cost him the fight. While in their corners awaiting the decision, Duran shouted over to Hagler, "You ain't No Marvelous"... Duran a lightweight, exposed Hagler as a very overrated middleweight champion. Sugar Ray Leonard returned after 5yrs off and clearly licked Hagler at every aspect of the game. Thomas Hearns was unfortunate to break his "Famous Right-Hand" in the opening round, otherwise he would have beaten Hagler on a cuts stoppage in 4rds.

[them_apples]

i have watched the fight many times over the years and agree with all you say. Duran actually thought he had done enough to win, so coasted the last round, which cost him the fight. While in their corners awaiting the decision, Duran shouted over to Hagler, "You ain't No Marvelous"... Duran a lightweight, exposed Hagler as a very overrated middleweight champion. Sugar Ray Leonard returned after 5yrs off and clearly licked Hagler at every aspect of the game. Thomas Hearns was unfortunate to break his "Famous Right-Hand" in the opening round, otherwise he would have beaten Hagler on a cuts stoppage in 4rds.

yeah the majority of the people replying to this thread did not rewatch it in close detail, they just stated a distance opinion. Duran was very crafty, he rolled and forced Hagler to give up a lot of leverage. Duran was scoring flush but not as frequently.

I disagree with you downplaying Hagler though, if you boxed in Durans range he could deal with anyone really. Hagler pretty much did this.

[Rspen46]

Hagler!

Here is how I see it, Hagler was, bigger, stronger, faster, he was the natural guy at this weight fighting a blown up LW, of course Duran was still good at all the weights he moved up in because he was an ATG, but Hagler should have and could have blown him out.

If the Hagler that fought Hearns went that way against Duran and Leonard, then you might have had near the same Results as the Hearns Fight, he pissed Hagler off, upset him and made him want to kill him, it showed in Hagler as soon as the bell rang, he did not have this dislike and hate and disrespect for Duran and Leonard, actually before the Leonard fight, they sat down and had Dinner together with their families, they were actually friends and Hagler had respect for Duran.

Go after both the way he did Hearns, he blows them out near the same way.

[sonnyboyx2]

Here is how I see it, Hagler was, bigger, stronger, faster, he was the natural guy at this weight fighting a blown up LW, of course Duran was still good at all the weights he moved up in because he was an ATG, but Hagler should have and could have blown him out.

If the Hagler that fought Hearns went that way against Duran and Leonard, then you might have had near the same Results as the Hearns Fight, he pissed Hagler off, upset him and made him want to kill him, it showed in Hagler as soon as the bell rang, he did not have this dislike and hate and disrespect for Duran and Leonard, actually before the Leonard fight, they sat down and had Dinner together with their families, they were actually friends and Hagler had respect for Duran.

Go after both the way he did Hearns, he blows them out near the same way.

Rubbish!!.. Hagler was only minutes away from being stopped on cuts in the Hearns fight. Had it not been that Hearns "Broke his right hand" in the opening round, i'm sure Hagler would have been beaten.

Take away that Hearns victory from Hagler's resume, it then looks very thin indeed.

[bowl]

Rubbish!!.. Hagler was only minutes away from being stopped on cuts in the Hearns fight. Had it not been that Hearns "Broke his right hand" in the opening round, i'm sure Hagler would have been beaten.

Take away that Hearns victory from Hagler's resume, it then looks very thin indeed.

Hagler was unaffected by the cut. The referee would have let the fight go on. Hagler would have broken down Hearns on the night if Hearns had three hands. You cannot make silly claims years later and expect anyone to downplay that victory.

[rightsideup]

The scoring was screwed in leonard hagler and vito hagler the judges did not give hagler breaks

[The Old LefHook]

I never felt it was a close fight. Duran merely showed that he was tough and clever enough to hang in there with a destruction machine and give him problems. The likes of Mugabi could not hurt Hagler. Shades of the Schulberg effect that Duran makes the fight competitive while losing nearly every round.

[Thread Stealer]

The scoring was screwed in leonard hagler and vito hagler the judges did not give hagler breaks

Also the loss to Watts. I definitely thought Hagler won that one.

I had no issues with Leonard winning, but 118-110? Crazy. It was a very close fight.

[Barn]

Duran won like 5 rounds.