Why can't people accept the fact that Leonard beat Hagler?

Question

Marvin Hagler is my favorite fighter of all time. To this day it still pains me to watch the Hagler/Leonard fight, because, as many times as I've tried to convince myself that Hagler was robbed, the sad reality always hits home that he was outclassed by the best fighter of the 80's.
I totally disregard this nonsense that a fighter has to 'take' the championship ie; constantly come forward and outwork the other guy. If that were so, Muhammad Ali would never have won a decision.
Leonard's and Dundee's fight plan was brilliant, and as it began to unfold, it was painfully obvious that Hagler and his corner had no answer to it.
Sugar Ray Leonard won - end of story.

blogbaba - you know absolutely nothing about boxing.

Where do people get this idea that Leonard wasn't a big banger?
With a career record 36-3-1, he scored 25 ko's

Answer 1

SEVERAL POINTS TO CONCUR THAT LEONARD WON.

1). WHOMEVER THE REF/JUDGES SAY WON THE FIGHT THAT IS WHO WON, PERIOD (UNLESS THE FIGHT IS NULLIFIED FOR SOME LEGAL REASON).
2). ROBBERY IN BOXING IS AS COMMON AS ROBBERY ON THE STREETS OF AMERICA EVERYDAY.
3). THIS IS THE REASONS THAT LEONARD WON.
A). HAGLER AGREED TO LARGER GLOVES.
B). HAGLER AGREED TO A LARGER RING.
C). HAGLER AGREED TO A 12 RD BOUT.

HAGLER LET HIS EGO GET IN THE WAY, HE SAID/THOUGHT THIS TO HIMSELF; I LET HIM HAVE EVERYTHING THAT HE WANTS AND STILL BEAT HIS BUTT. DUH? WRONG!!!! PRIDE (EGO) GOETH BEFORE THE FALL.

P. S. AS FRED WOULD SAY TO LAMONT "WE WAS ROBBED" AND WE ALL KNOW THAT WAS UNTRUE.

Answer 2

I'm the biggest Leonard fan there is, but I maintain that NO fighter ever clearly beat Hagler. Sugar Ray turned in about the best possible performance ever and barely won. I don't consider a close win on a judges scorecard to be a solid win. We all know how badly many judges do their job. Marvin Hagler's HUGE mistake was letting Ray get off to a fast start, losing 5 of the first 6 rounds. Leonard only needed 2 of the next 6 to seal the victory, and that's what he did. Hagler's plan of wearing Ray down ALMOST worked, he had Ray right where he wanted in round 9. But someone forgot to tell Sugar he was supposed to succumb, and Ray went toe to toe and forced Hagler to back off. And that's what REALLY bothers the Hagler fans: Ray, for one round, gave Hagler the fight he and his fans wanted, and Leonard stood his ground. Hagler had no answers after that, losing 2 of the next 3. Ray won the tactical fight. The physical fight was a draw. Leonard made Hagler look feeble throughout the fight by landing MANY lead rights (a big no-no and an insult to the opponent), taunting, bolo punching and Ray even stuck his chin at Hagler, daring him to hit him. And Hagler tried and missed. I agree, Ray won the boxing match. But the fight was really a draw.

Something we all need to reflect upon is that never before and never since had so much talent and skill and ability had been in the ring at the same time. The fight was a pure masterpiece of boxing at its highest level EVER; a supreme slugger with good boxing skills and a supreme boxer with good slugging skills. As brutal and tough and exciting Hagler-Hearns was, this fight was as technically brilliant.

Answer 3

People can't accept the fact that Leonard beat Marvin Hagler because Hagler was one of the greatest of all time. He was a tough fighter and a hard hitter but there is always controversy in boxing. Marvin Hagler was obviously not phased by Sugar Ray's punches and this is why no one wants to accept it. He should have been giving the decision and to cheat a champion is something that no one wants to accept.

Answer 4

Brad, Marvin Hagler is a loved fighter. He's one of my favorites. I think it comes down to some people not liking Ray Leonard, let's face it he could be a ham and a hot dog, he could put people off. For all who can't accept the fact I've watch the tape as a Hagler fan and Leonard won the fight.

Answer 5

I feel the same as you do. I love Hagler and he is one of my all time favorites, but he lost to Leonard, plain and simple. In my opinion Leonard should've gotten a unanimous decision instead of a split verdict. All you have to do is look at the facial expressions and body language of the cornermen before the last round, Dundee was jubilant and celebrating and the Petronelli's looked like they were about to go to a funeral. They knew in their hearts that Marvin had lost that fight. Ray was sharper, faster, and fought a brilliant technical fight that night and Marvin looked sluggish and really had no answer for what Ray did that night. I think a lot of the people that picked Hagler to destroy Ray were shocked at the outcome and they just don't want to give Ray his due. Ray won that fight.

Answer 6

A lot of it is related to how people think a fight should be scored. If you give the fight to the guy who lands more punches, or the guy who throws flurries to huge crowd applause, or the guy whose defense is more impressive, you'd have to say Leonard won. If you're more into the guy who lands the harder punches, and the guy who presses the action, then you'd say Hagler won. There's a lot of debate because calling it is so subjective.

That being said, Hagler was an incredible fighter who never seemed to be phased by anyone's punches, and he had a devastating punch himself. Leonard was a showboat and a clown, which a lot of folks dislike him for. A lot of folks wanted to see Hagler kick his butt, and when Leonard ran away outboxing Hagler for most of the fight, they were disappointed.

Answer 7

Ray got the decision, Hagler quit boxing in disgust, and boxing as a whole lost. You cannot take the title from a great champion by running for 2:45 of a round and flurring at the end, but Ray did. I must have watched that fight 25 or 30 times and no matter how your look at it, Ray lost 8 of 12 rounds and still came away with a decision win.

Sugar Ray won - boxing lost - end of story.

Answer 8

To one of the precious respondents who said there was a difference between the boxing match and the fight, there isn't. If there were every boxer would have two different records! And Marvin Hagler was never a supreme slugger with great boxing skills. He was a physical "freak" because of his conditioning and training. He was like 5'8 with a 75 inch reach!!! His head was like a coconut. I dont think Tyson in his prime could have knocked him out! Ok that might be a stretch LOL. But that night in April of 1987 Ray outboxed him plain and simple. Doesnt matter whether it was 10 rounds to 2 or 7 to 5. Ray won. Some people want so bad for someone to win that they struggle to accept it when they lose. Thats what happened to Marvin. As good a champion as he was, I think it was cowardly of him to not try and come back and re-establish himself as the best in the sport. He instead chose to retire. What a copout. As for his style, he was a physical brawler with limited boxing ability, decent punch but he was not a pure slugger. He wore down people. When he beat Tommy Hearns, if you know any of the background of what happened prior to the fight, he was fortunate to get to a man who was too relaxed and who broke his hand very early in the first round. But, in all fairness, Marvin won. B-Hop would have outpointed Marvin, RJJ would have outpointed him as well, and Monzon would have beaten him also. But I dont know if I've ever seen a more muscular boxer. Ever. The man was like 1% body fat. Crazy.

Answer 9

Because Hagler came up the old way and didn't have the glamour Ray had, and was a powerhouse.Truthfully, he was fading a couple of years before he even fought Leonard, hence the win on Leonard's part.

Answer 10

over 35 years of watching fights (im 48 now) and I must say, it was one of the best fights ive ever watched...two of the best fighters of all time, I was rooting for Marvin (two good friends of mine Mardo Roybal and Jamie Bills shipped down to Palm Springs for camp with Curry and Hagler as he prepared for the Hearns fight) and felt he got 'jobbed' but as I watched closely, then studied film, I saw Leonard fought a masterful fight...I was saddened to see that Marvin retired after that, one of the all time best...his disassembly of Mugabi(who was 26-0 clanking everyone) was a thing of beauty(stopped him in 10 but brutal as both fighters were urinating blood afterwards) his fight against Roldan likewise(Marvins face after getting knocked down, fierce, after which he stopped him in 10( the only man to knock Marvin down btw)) 'the war' with Hearns...great fights