Was Hagler a better switch hitter than Crawford? Who is the best in history at it?

[sunny31]

I don’t know who the best switch hitter was. Hamed, Hagler, and Bud are the only names that come to my mind who look smooth from both sides and all 3 looked smooth.

All 3 were/are great switch hitters, can compare in these videos. You can see Hamed took a lot out of Hagler's game.

[STREET CLEANER]

Hagler did it so naturally that it came off as if he wasn't even consciously doing it, he was just following the flow of the fight.

With Bud, it seems more deliberate/committed/planned. Very effective, but not as organic as Hagler.

I agree 100%

[spenz]

They are both equally good and smooth at switching, however, I'll wait if Crawford can do that switching and still win against elite fighters. In the future, we'll see if he can do it against Spence, Thurman, and maybe Pacquiao if he is still here.

Marvelous' demise against Leonard is due to that switching, he tried to do it earlier and Leonard capitalized on it, piled rounds earlier in judges eyes and caused an upset. Marvin didn't recognized that switching against that level of opponent is tantamount to handicapping yourself, he should have stick to his stronger stance from the start because after all he was fighting the best in that era. Sometimes things like that is the difference between winning and losing in a battle of two elites. You have to have awareness when it's time to bring your best and when it's time to play a little bit.

[boliodogs]

I'm 36 so I wasn't watching during Hagler's prime. Was he much better fighting ambidextrous than Crawford? Who I consider to be very good at it.

Both are excellent at fighting from either stance and switching back and forth effortlessly. I can't say one was better at it than the other. They both have perfected it.