Did Leonard cherrypick Hagler?

[KingTito]

Well Leonard did wait to fight Hagler after he saw the Mugabi fight, but I have a hard time calling this a cherry pick. Hagler was supposed to smash him. Regardless of what you thought of the decision, coming back to fight Hagler was ballsy.

[vman075]

Hagler didn't win..Ray landed more punches officially,and as the Champion,
Hagler should have done more.The burden was on Hagler,he was the champ,
he should have knocked Ray out..but he didn't.

As much as I hate when people say that the burden is on the challenger to take the fight to the champion because he has to really beat the champ to take his belt, this is the first time I've ever heard that the burden is on the champ to go in and knock out the challenger.
Both ideas are ridiculous, yours even more so than the traditional idea of the challenger taking the champions belt. Each guy has the same burden of winning the fight on equal terms.

[toooooool]

As much as I hate when people say that the burden is on the challenger to take the fight to the champion because he has to really beat the champ to take his belt, this is the first time I've ever heard that the burden is on the champ to go in and knock out the challenger.
Both ideas are ridiculous, yours even more so than the traditional idea of the challenger taking the champions belt. Each guy has the same burden of winning the fight on equal terms.

Wrong answer...Leonard was off for 5 years,he had eye problems,he was
moving up in weight.....Hagler was the destroyer....the burden was on Hagler
...the reason why we are talking about this fight 27 years later is because
Hagler didn't do what he was supposed to do!...the burden wasn't equal
for this fight...RAY WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DESTROYED!...REMEMBER?

[jcpryor]

Hasn't sugar Ray admitted as much in multiple interviews?

[BattlingNelson]

Lol. How the hell would Hagler ever be a cherrypick let alone for a welterweight. LMAO.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

You can't cherry pick a longtime dominant atg champ, that you are a huge underdog against, and coming out of a five year retirement and fighting at a higher weight that you have never competed at...

Dumb question

[MayMosPeaHop]

Why do people keep bringing up the fact that Hagler was favored to win so it is not a cherry pick? Perception usually is not reality. Hagler was never going to destroy Sugar Ray. The fact that Leonard waited to fight Hagler was planned. Cherry pick is not the word I would use, but Leonard knew what he was doing.

[toooooool]

Why do people keep bringing up the fact that Hagler was favored to win so it is not a cherry pick? Perception usually is not reality. Hagler was never going to destroy Sugar Ray. The fact that Leonard waited to fight Hagler was planned. Cherry pick is not the word I would use, but Leonard knew what he was doing.

I don't care how long Ray waited,it was a HUGE gamble...Ray made it
look easy but it wasn't easy..Ray was 1/1000 of a second from being
knocked out throughout the whole fight,and he came through with the
W....it was a great win for Ray..no doubt.

[MayMosPeaHop]

I don't care how long Ray waited,it was a HUGE gamble...Ray made it
look easy but it wasn't easy..Ray was 1/1000 of a second from being
knocked out throughout the whole fight,and he came through with the
W....it was a great win for Ray..no doubt.

The fight was not some huge gamble. That is why Sugar Ray waited. Back to the perception vs reality! Ray was not a defensive genius, but he could move. He did what he had to do to get the W, but stop acting like Hagler was some boogieman. And the fight was not easy for Ray, but he got it done. Like I said, he waited for a reason. Do I agree with the TS that it was a cherry pick, No. But to dismiss the fact that he waited and stated in interviews that he waited should not be dismissed as nothing.

[Left Hook Tua]

He beat him fair and square....it's called BOXING not BRAWLING..Ray won.

it's called boxing not game of tag.

lmfao at flurrying ineffectively last 30 seconds to steal rounds as BOXING.

sugar gay ran from the rematch like a biatch too.

1A Duran
1B Hagler
3 Sugar Gay
4 Anorexic Tommy