Who was the better Welterweight SRL or Hitman Hearns?

[djtmal]

Yeah and Buster Douglas was a better HW than Mike Tyson.

If it was 12 rounds like today Hearns would have won the SRL fight. Hearns outboxed him

Leonard wouldn't give him a rematch until 8 years later when he looked like he was on his way out, he won the second fight (SRL agreed that Hearns deserved the decision) and was robbed.

i thought they were pretty even, with hearns being the better boxer, and srl being the better slugger...gotta give ray all the credit in the world too for taking tommy's big right hand...especially in the first fight...

[Jam Jars]

mike tyson hardly trained for the douglas fight. his life was getting out of control at that stage.

hearns was at the height of his powers when he fought ray leonard.

if it was 12 rounds it would be a completely different fight. they'd behave differently. that's a silly way to think about a professional boxing match.

Hearns outboxed Leonard and was unlucky to get caught late. Hearns outboxed him in the second fight too.

Hearns was the more skilled of the 2.

[richardt]

If it was 12 rounds like today Hearns would have won the SRL fight. Hearns outboxed him.

NOT true! Leonard would have kicked it into high gear earlier and almost knocked out Hearns earlier as it is. Hearns could not hurt a young Leonard and Leonard proved he could hurt Hearns. Leonard's body was not made for Middleweight so the second fight does not count at Welterweight. And skill also includes the ability to change styles mid-stream and Leonard was superior. They had ONE fight at Welterweight and Leonard won it.

[New England]

Hearns outboxed Leonard and was unlucky to get caught late. Hearns outboxed him in the second fight too.

Hearns was the more skilled of the 2.

you don't need to talk to me like i have not seen the fight. your suggestion that leonard "got lucky" leads me to believe that it is you who needs to revisit the fight.

hearns won some rounds with his boxing, but he didn't do anything to suggest that he was the outright more skilled fighter, especially considering that he was oft hurt, and finally stopped.

[djtmal]

you don't need to talk to me like i have not seen the fight. your suggestion that leonard "got lucky" leads me to believe that it is you who needs to revisit the fight.

hearns won some rounds with his boxing, but he didn't do anything to suggest that he was the outright more skilled fighter, especially considering that he was oft hurt, and finally stopped.

i thought tommy made ray dig deep, so it was ray's intangibles that tommy couldn't overcome in the ww fight, not srl's skillset

[boliodogs]

I voted that they were equals even though Leonard won their fight by KO. Under today's 12 round limit Hearns would have won a decision by a few points. Hearns had a better jab and more power and I think slightly faster hands although both had great hand speed. Leonard took a punch better and had better stamina. Steward said Hearns overtrained for Leonard and came in very light. I think fighting against a variety of other top welterweights they were both equally hard to beat.

[richardt]

I voted that they were equals even though Leonard won their fight by KO. Under today's 12 round limit Hearns would have won a decision by a few points.

It wasn't scheduled for 12 rounds and SRL would have started earlier if it was. SRL had Hearns badly hurt long before the 12th round.

[PhooLzRUs]

Have to go with SRL.

[Thread Stealer]

Leonard won H2H and has the superior resume.

As for "Hearns was winning after 12 rounds", fighters aren't robots (well maybe Amir Khan is). They react to the situation at hand. Who knows what would've happened if it were scheduled for 12? Leonard probably would've turned up the pace earlier knowing he had less rounds to go.

[jvsnypes]

No question that Hearns was a great welterweight, but not better than Leonard. Tommy had a lot of skills in the ring, but that is not what troubled Leonard. It was his height and reach. Skill wise they were close to being equal, but I give Ray the slight edge. Ray was just smarter and had the better chin and more stamina.