Marvin Hagler vs Bernard Hopkins: Who was the better middleweight?

[street bully]

Hagler s rated higher, but Hopkins would probbaly beat him. Hopkins is considerably taller, and bigger than Hagler, and Haglers come forward style would not do him any favors. Hagler has been outboxed.

[dans]

Naw man. If anyone had raw power, it was Hearns.

They both had raw power, but Hearns power was rooted in athleticism IMO.

[Dynamite Kid]

Hagler was probably the better middleweight based on his resume. I think Hopkins beats him in a head 2 head though.

[andrewcuff]

Hagler was probably the better middleweight based on his resume. I think Hopkins beats him in a head 2 head though.

Sums it up perfectly I think.

[djtmal]

Lmao. Dude you could have said Hello and nothing else and I would have known what your answer was.

lol...hey what can i say?...head to head or otherwise, hopkins is a poor 90's bootleg version of hagler...hagler is the fighter that hopkins always tried to compare himself to and emulate, but imo doesn't come close...

[djtmal]

Hagler s rated higher, but Hopkins would probbaly beat him. Hopkins is considerably taller, and bigger than Hagler, and Haglers come forward style would not do him any favors. Hagler has been outboxed.

lol...@ 160 hopkins never beat anyone of hagler's caliber...couldn't even fight on even terms with his equal (jones) or a green jermaine taylor....anytime hopkins fought somebody of equal size and talent he chokes...i doubt if hopkins could beat mugabi at 160....

[Adamantium]

lol...@ 160 hopkins never beat anyone of hagler's caliber...couldn't even fight on even terms with his equal (jones) or a green jermaine taylor....anytime hopkins fought somebody of equal size and talent he chokes...i doubt if hopkins could beat mugabi at 160....

The problem with a fantasy fight between these two is that they really belong to different weight classes. Hagler fought during the days of same day weigh ins, which was a time when people had to fight in their natural weight class. Hopkins on the other hand fights, with the weigh ins being pushed forward by 24 hours, his a natural lhw fighting as a mw. a 5'9 160 lb guy vs a 6'1 170 lb guy, that's hardly fair.

I wouldn't say that the either of their divisions were deep in talent, but I would still say Hagler had the better resume. His wins over Hearns and Duran are much better than Hopkins wins over Oscar and Tito.

[djtmal]

The problem with a fantasy fight between these two is that they really belong to different weight classes. Hagler fought during the days of same day weigh ins, which was a time when people had to fight in their natural weight class. Hopkins on the other hand fights, with the weigh ins being pushed forward by 24 hours, his a natural lhw fighting as a mw. a 5'9 160 lb guy vs a 6'1 170 lb guy, that's hardly fair.

you know i usually am the first person to point out that hopkins is a natural lightheavy who fought at middle, so i'm glad you did...that said, even with hopkins grossly unfair weight advantage, he always loses to fighters close to his size with equal talent....thats why he can easily beat the robert allens of the world, but always loses to the jones' and taylors'...hagler was the ultimate fighting machine at 160 who proved he can beat tall guys...i believe hearns is taller than hopkins, and hagler flattened him...

[Adamantium]

you know i usually am the first person to point out that hopkins is a natural lightheavy who fought at middle, so i'm glad you did...that said, even with hopkins grossly unfair weight advantage, he always loses to fighters close to his size with equal talent....thats why he can easily beat the robert allens of the world, but always loses to the jones' and taylors'...hagler was the ultimate fighting machine at 160 who proved he can beat tall guys...i believe hearns is taller than hopkins, and hagler flattened him...

It would of been interesting to see what happened if Hopkins arrived on the mw scene earlier, with :Toney, Benn, McClellan, Jackson, McCallum, Eubanks etc around. Would he have dominated or just been a top ten contender and not much more?
The fact that he lost twice to Jermain Taylor, who has proven to be not very good by going 1-4 in his last five fights doesn't help Hopkins case either. I also had him losing the first Mercado fight as well, who wasn't a very good fighter.

[Drunk Punch]

Hagler and it aint even close.

You see Hopkins winning an out and and out slugfest with Hearns. I don't think so.