Hagler's Best Performance

[jackgalveston]

In my free time yesterday, I revisited some fights (and fighters) I hadn't viewed in awhile. An eclectic list: Gerald McClellan, Henry Armstrong, Tommy Loughran, Kostya Tszyu...anyway...

I wound up watching Hagler-Hearns and hours later, I had watched, back-to-back, from Hagler-Antuofermo 1 to Hagler-Mugabi. Wore my eyes out but it was worth it. To be honest, I had forgotten just how great Marvelous was. Especially the display of versatility he put on vs. Tony Sibson. The punch selection, control of distance, footwork, pace control, defense- he was virtually flawless. Edit: also his switching from southpaw to orthodox never looked as seamless, IMO.

Granted, Sibson was no ATG but he was a sturdy, solid fighter who went on to twice challenge for titles at 175.

The question I pose, out of curiosity, what's his best performance in YOUR opinion?

[jackson8]

Tony Sibson! Sibson proved he was the top contender in the world but was destroyed by Hagler.

[Dynamite76]

Sibson, Scypion, or Caveman Lee, even Obel II.

[jackgalveston]

For me personally, the Lee fight just shows what Marvin did when parked in front of a fire hydrant. Lol. Utter destruction of an offensively talented fighter but if that was the only fight of his we had on tape, he might be viewed as a mobile Pipino Cuevas.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

I would say the minter or hearns fight.. Those were the fights that hagler felt he needed to prove something and losing wasn't an option..

Minter- Marvin had been screwed, avoided, and looked over in his hunt for the title. This was a just win on enemy soil

Hearns- hagler yearned for the glory of victory in big money fights, he couldn't land the big Leonard showdown, middleweight was pretty void of big names, hearns fight got cancelled. Hagler finally landed Duran, but he didn't win in dominant fashion, and Duran got most of the credit in the fight. Hagler had a huge chip on his shoulder going into the hearns fight.. He would not be denied..

I think those 2 versions of hagler are nearly unstoppable

[Ben Bolt]

Tony Sibson! Sibson proved he was the top contender in the world but was destroyed by Hagler.

After the Hagler defeat, I remember Tony saying something like he never realized there was such a gap between being a top 10 fighter and a top 3 fighter.

[Barn]

Hamsho I, in my opinion.

[jackgalveston]

Hearns picture under the heading "Hagler is shaking like a leaf on a tree" didn't help Tommy's cause that night either. I can't think of any time that Marv Marv ever attacked like that, even when he had someone in trouble. Shocked at the fury and disdain. He tore Minter to shreds, too, but he unloaded on Tommy. To this day I don't understand the comparatively calculating effort against SRL- if there was ever anyone I thought he would try to force a brawl with, it was Ray. For the record, I thought Ray won that fight but like Richard Steele said, (paraphrase) "...every time I watch it, Hagler gets closer to beating him". Now its one of four fights I refuse to watch anymore (DLH-Whitaker, Benn-McClellan, Jacquot-Curry)

Interesting that Tony would make that observation. In the pre-fight that I heard, he was very matter-of-fact about the task at hand, quietly confident. I wonder how long it took for him to realize he was in waaay over his head. I'll give him props, though, he was going for it until it was waved off. Scypion, for example, seemed discouraged rather quickly. Sibson seemed to fight harder as he got methodically beaten worse.

[jackgalveston]

Hamsho looks much better after seeing what Mustafa did to an admittedly shot-looking Benitez. Probably a very good thing because I couldn't imagine what El Radar would've possibly done to be competitive with Hagler.

Was it the give and take, Hamsho's relentless effort that did it for you? He definitely made Marvin work.

[Barn]

Hamsho looks much better after seeing what Mustafa did to an admittedly shot-looking Benitez. Probably a very good thing because I couldn't imagine what El Radar would've possibly done to be competitive with Hagler.

Was it the give and take, Hamsho's relentless effort that did it for you? He definitely made Marvin work.

I thought Hagler looked excellent in a challenging fight. You're correct, Hamsho made Hagler really work for it. It's the fact that Hagler had to fight in many different ways. There was boxing, brawling, power punching, infighting. It showed his versatility, in my opinion.