Pac-Cotto = Leonard-Hearns

[The Underboss]

those 2 (leonard & hearns) were legitimate welterweights when they 1st fought...

this is more like hagler vs duran... at least to me...

though they may have the same dimensions, but at the end of the day it is hagler who is the natural middleweight & duran a blown up one...

Duran was pretty past when he fought Hagler, he had 77 fights when he fought him.

[nachorjj]

Roy Jones Jr vs Ruiz i think

[talip bin osman]

Duran was pretty past when he fought Hagler, he had 77 fights when he fought him.

there were signs that he was already past it, but he just administered a severe beating to davey moore prior to this hagler fight & just KOed a career welterweight HOF pipino cuevas before that...

past it? idk...

terribly inconsistent as a weight scaler, yes...

[The Underboss]

agreed; he should've never went up to middleweight; that's too much for him.

[talip bin osman]

agreed; he should've never went up to middleweight; that's too much for him.

no it wasnt compadre...

he gave hagler one of his toughest fights ever... tougher than any natural middleweight was able to give him...

manos de piedra almost won if not for the late rally done by marvin...

anyway, a 37 year old duran would finally annex a middleweight title against the stronger, faster, bigger & younger iran barkley...

a former bantamweight beating a legit middleweight champion @ age 37 was really something awesome to witness...

[Thread Stealer]

Duran was competitive with Hagler, but the scorecards were ridiculously close (just as when Duran fought Benitez).

Duran won about 4 rounds.

I have a tough time thinking of a fight in the past comparable in styles and the situation as Pacquiao-Cotto.

One that is a stretch but has some comparisons is DLH-Vargas. Vargas, like Cotto, is much more experienced at the weight than DLH/Pacquiao. Despite being much more used to the lower weights, Pacquiao is not at a real disadvantage in terms of height and reach, likewise, DLH was not at a disadvantage here either (he actually has a longer measured reach than Vargas and measured at the same height). Cotto's had two fights after suffering a brutal beating his first loss, in which he hasn't looked all too good. Vargas had two fights after suffering a brutal beating against Tito in his first loss, and didn't look good in those fights either. With Cotto, however, he was facing a better opponent in Clottey than Vargas was in either Rivera or Flores.

Cotto and Vargas aren't the most physically gifted fighters, but were generally pretty solid technically, thanks in part to their extensive amateur backgrounds (both had disappointing Olympics). Pacquiao's at a speed advantage, just like DLH was.

One big difference is that DLH at this point, was suited for 154. His body had grown into it. I have doubts about Pacquiao above 140.