Why does Hagler get a pass for never moving up in weight?

[Doctor_Tenma]

ray leonardwas the first 168 champion. he "won" that bull**** title in that bull**** fight with donny lalonde

Still don't understand how the LHW title was on the line

That was indeed bull****.

[Calilloyd]

ray leonardwas the first 168 champion. he "won" that bull**** title in that bull**** fight with donny lalonde

That was for the LH title with a 168 pound catchweight. And yes, that was wrong.

[gqjohnb]

I don't mind guys staying in one division their whole career its the guys who move down and try to claim they are feared and so good because they don't get fights against the best lol I do think people should take into account fighters who move up because it is much more difficult to dominate more than one division.

[D-MiZe]

Hagler was as big as welterweights today in terms of height. He fought the best and when others moved up, he fought them.

The MW division was a lot better back then.

[lefthook2daliva]

Not saying it's bad, but am I wrong for saying it should be a blemish on your legacy if you never do it?

Yes. You absolutely are.

[MurderDeathKill]

No fighter has to move up in weight if they can make weight comfortably. If they still got abundant challenges at their current division, no reason for a jump unless it's money motivated. Hagler is a great fighter and earned that distinction in one division. Can't knock him for it.

[istmeno]

That was for the LH title with a 168 pound catchweight. And yes, that was wrong.

no that was for the newly created 168 and 175 title

[Thread Stealer]

I don't think it's a requirement to move up in weight to be great. It's a bonus. There wasn't 168 back then, and I doubt Hagler would've had much success in the excellent 175 lb. division.

I'm not sure exactly how much of a pass Hagler gets for staying in one division anyway. At least in comparison to the Fab 4. The opinions are pretty split on the Hagler-Leonard fight, but Leonard usually ranks higher on all-time lists than Marvin. Duran, like Hagler, dominated one division. But he also had success at higher weights, and he's generally ranked the highest of the Fab 4 on the all-time lists. Hearns generally gets ranked the lowest of the Fab 4. I think he often gets remembered unfairly for the defeats and people forget his wins.

he would have had he got the fight with leonard though.

Pryor had the chance to fight Leonard. He turned it down for more money.

But Pryor could've made 135 (he was ranked pretty high there in The Ring ranking when he was 140 lb. champ). So he could've been a two-division champ anyway under different circumstances. They don't list his weights for his earlier fights on boxrec, but some consider him winning the title @ 140 an instance of him moving up in weight.

[edgarg]

[B]

Maybe you don't realize that the lightheavyweight division is considered two divisions above the middleweight division today. Hagler was too small. As for Hopkins, he fought plenty of fighters his size and bigger. Moving up is not the only way to define greatness.

I don't think that Hopkins fought "plenty of guys his size and bigger" as you aver, A 6'1" middleweight who is really a dieting 175 pounder isn't going to meet many, (probably just a very few) who would be bigger.

And....2 fights before he won the IBF middleweight title he was still fighting "losing record" opponents, in fact he fought probably more than any other champion.

Hagler was a different sort, he took on all comers, mostly guys with excellent records. He "served his apprenticeship" by having more than 50 fights before he won the title, and ran from nobody. In fact as the Irish joke goes, "he ran at'em".

And, as has been mentioned he was not a big guy, and during his day there were larger differences between divisions, and those he has been compared with, fought partially or permanently when the Jr. and Super divisions were created.

Whoever picked Hopkins as an example was as wrong as can be. Another star fighter who kept "going up" is Macho Camacho, from Jr light to Super middle, and has done very well at it.

[indystress]

Alexander/Khan/Maidana/Ortiz can all move their asses up to 147lbs too. The division has more name recognition and it just makes since. They all have big frames and can carry the extra 7lbs easily.

its not necessarily "7 lbs"...it could just be an extra pound or 2...if alexander makes 140 consistantly on fight nite for a jr welterweight fight, he only needs to put on 1 lb, not necessarily 7 lbs to fight as a welterweight...who said you have to make the max weight limit to fight in that division, or any division? not all boxers make the max limit during official weigh-ins...most boxers make weight, but not necesarilly the max weight...STAY AWAY FROM THE MAX WEIGHT LIMIT and just focus on the weight range without going over the max weight limit.