granberry wrote:Elton John wrote:I believe Tommy was the favorite to beat marvin following the Duran fight. said Tommy was too fast for him and punched too hard, that Marvin would never get a shot off. For sure Tommy was much faster than Monzon and a bit taller so I'm going to pick Marvin in this one.
I think Marvin would go after him and not let him box at a convenient pace as he let Duran do. I dont think Monzon could withstand Marvin's incredible power or southpaw jab. This is Marvin's fight all the way with the possible exception of the first two rounds. Similar to the first Obel fight where Marvin is adjusting to Obel's height and sizing him up at long range, Marvin then seeks to test his chin sometme around the 4th and strikes paydirt.
Timing one of Monzon's lazy left jabs, marvin comes over the top with a demonic right hook, and a violent torque of Monzon's head. For the first time in Monzon's career, he is a struck a lethal blow from which he cannot recover. Monzon cannot clear his head in time. Marvin sensing his opportunity, goes after his prey like a doberman after raw meat, attacking with unbridled ferocity and without mercy.
Striking at full force, lefts and rights rain down upon Monzon's unprotected head until his lifeless form collapses (similar to the conclusion of Pryor-Arguello)
The postfight commentary: "Monzon was brave in there. TOO brave for his own good" and "The ref should have definitely jumped in to save Carlos from those last few blows"
Parting from Larry Merchant: "Tonight we saw the best in boxing and the worst. We can also say we saw the best in Marvin seems to come out when he lets the animal instinct take over "
Marvin Hagler: "Tonight you saw the best in Marvelous Marvin". I knew I had him with that punch because when I landed it it felt beautiful on my hand then I just started putting the combinations together. I felt as though the ref should have stepped in a little before.
Now give your your fairy tale version of a fight between Hagler
and a fat, overweight, out of shape lightweight Roberto Duran.
LOL
You saw the real Hagler when he faced the best; a Tony Sibson, or Hamsho or Hearns, not the passive laid back Hagler from the Duran fight. Hagler can obviously perform at various levels and can elevate his performance to unbelievable degrees to take out his man almost immediately.
It may seem unbelievable that Hagler would stop the great Monzon but more often than not, when you're facing a man as dangerous as Hagler, the results are going to end up in a spectacular knockout.
Look at the results of Foreman-Frazier, Douglas - Tyson, Hearns-Duran, or Pryor- Arguello where the thought of any of these greats meeting with a devestating defeat was thought to be unthinkable.
To me the most shocking was Hearns-Duran, even harder to swallow than Pryor-Arguello but sometimes the aggressor is so fired up and well prepared, that he cannot be thwarted. And hagler has the perfect style to stomp the life from Monzon.
hagler being the southpaw supreme that he was, had a 70% connect rate in his prime! I see marvin working on countering the lazy left jab of Monzon. In a fight with marvin, this flaw would prove to be fatal.
It's just unfathomable to me that Monzon would be able to keep off the attack of Hagler for 15. Hagler would take it to him and score 1-2's to the ribs the way marciano did to drop his man's guard. Realistically, this is what would happen and with Hagler, it takes surprisingly little time to unravel the wiring of his opponent's legs. And what's Monzon without his legs to keep him out of harm's way?
This is much more difficult that the Valdez fight because Hagler has so many tools. Despite what some here are saying, Marvin did not have problems with taller opponents because he was the master of adapting to the opponent. With marvin's impeccable timing, airtight defense, mobility, I ask myself how Monzon can win?
Monzon has never coped with anyone like Hagler in his life and would simply not be up to it this time. IMO hagler could concievably outbox him if he wanted to. But that's not Hagler's way. Marvin would want to ensure that this would never go to the judges and concentrate on breaking him down.
