Luis Rodriguez vs Thomas Hearns

[Kalan]

Barkley beat Hearns twice and Duran beat Barkley and knocked him down...

But this had to do with reach... Barkley had 8" of reach on Duran and Roberto was able to finesse this disadvantage with his greater skill and experience.. However, Hearns had 12" of reach on Duran -- which is very difficult do deal with if a guy is also physically stronger than you.. In 90 Fights Duran had never seen that before and couldn't deal with it.. He was throwing at air and leaving himself wide open.

When you're dealing with the unfamiliar in Boxing, it flat out screws you up.. Barkley was a career middleweight and had seen long reaches from Michael Nunn and a lot of other opponents.. He was familiar with long armed Middleweights and wasn't bothered by it.. Neither was Hagler.

But it seems extremely freaky that you can beat a man who flattens another fighter, who blows you away like you're nothing.

[elmersalsa]

Of the welterweight greats that could beat the great Thomas Hearns at 147lbs, besides the great Sugar Ray Leonard, could be these guys:
Roberto Duran

How does Duran beat Hearns? We all know how that one plays out

The fight was at 154lbs. A weight class favorable for The Hitman and was never favorable for the Hands of Stone. One fight doesn't mean much. Especially, when one was on the decline and the other was in total prime.

At 154lbs, I don't picture in my mind nobody beating Hearns, except the great Mike McCallum.

[Kalan]

McCallum would have destroyed Hearns at 154, or 160.

[dr_devious]

Of the welterweight greats that could beat the great Thomas Hearns at 147lbs, besides the great Sugar Ray Leonard, could be these guys:
Roberto Duran

How does Duran beat Hearns? We all know how that one plays out

The fight was at 154lbs. A weight class favorable for The Hitman and was never favorable for the Hands of Stone. One fight doesn't mean much. Especially, when one was on the decline and the other was in total prime.

At 154lbs, I don't picture in my mind nobody beating Hearns, except the great Mike McCallum.

Their actual fight was one of the biggest beatdowns I've ever seen. Very difficult to see Duran beating Hearns at any weight

[Kalan]

Duran would win at Lightweight... Hearns looked like a Lightweight in the first Leonard fight... I never saw anything so skinny... 145??? Really?

Another 10 pounds lopped off and Duran would take him.

[elmersalsa]

How does Duran beat Hearns? We all know how that one plays out

The fight was at 154lbs. A weight class favorable for The Hitman and was never favorable for the Hands of Stone. One fight doesn't mean much. Especially, when one was on the decline and the other was in total prime.

At 154lbs, I don't picture in my mind nobody beating Hearns, except the great Mike McCallum.

Their actual fight was one of the biggest beatdowns I've ever seen. Very difficult to see Duran beating Hearns at any weight

Well, that's your opinion, but, I can not see it as absolutely the truth. I could see it at 154lbs and above, not at Welterweight and under.

One fight doesn't determine the outcome at all times. Especially when one was on the decline, and at 33, against a guy in his prime, at 25 and in a weight class that was perfect for him.

[elmersalsa]

Duran would win at Lightweight... Hearns looked like a Lightweight in the first Leonard fight... I never saw anything so skinny... 145??? Really?

Another 10 pounds lopped off and Duran would take him.

Exactly. The great Aaron Pryor beat The Hitman at 132lbs in the amateurs. Hearns was so skinny and frailed that he looked like a homeless man that needed nutrition.

Well, the fight was at amateurs level. Hearns was only 17 at the time. He didn't had the punching power that he later possessed at the pro level. Neither he was at the perfect weight class for his tall frame. Plus, the ONLY WAY to beat the Hitman was to give constant pressure. And Pryor was one of the best at that.

But, could that happen again at pro level where Hearns at 147 had that punching power? I can't see The Cincinnati Hawk taking Hearns' welter crown. Can anybody else see it differently?

[Kalan]

YUP!! ... I see Pryor knocking Hearns stiff if the Thinman came down to 140... Only 5 pounds to go from the Leonard fight.

Or maybe they could do a catch-weight with both coming in at 142.5... Meet Thinman half way... Still goes to Pryor by KO.

[elmersalsa]

YUP!! ... I see Pryor knocking Hearns stiff if the Thinman came down to 140... Only 5 pounds to go from the Leonard fight.

Or maybe they could do a catch-weight with both coming in at 142.5... Meet Thinman half way... Still goes to Pryor by KO.

I'm saying at 147lbs and above. We all saw what the Cincinnati Hawk can do at 140 or below.

At 147lbs, can the Cincinnati Hawk takes The Hitman's title?

[Kalan]

He could hit... That's what it takes to take out a Thinman... He knocked Arguello out twice... AA was smaller but about the same punch resistance... Arguello had the big right - which The Hawk absorbed easily for the few that connected.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

Duran would win at Lightweight... Hearns looked like a Lightweight in the first Leonard fight... I never saw anything so skinny... 145??? Really?

Another 10 pounds lopped off and Duran would take him.

your getting worste

[ClivePatrickLyons]

Yeah... Just like he destroys lowly Iran Barkley at any weight.. He was 29 when Barkley iced him.. Past his prime I guess.

Nini Benvenuti who was not a puncher ice Luis with one punch and another light puncher a Welterweight in Curtis Cokes stopped him Hearns in 1 devastating round anyday anyweight

[elmersalsa]

Yeah... Just like he destroys lowly Iran Barkley at any weight.. He was 29 when Barkley iced him.. Past his prime I guess.

Nini Benvenuti who was not a puncher ice Luis with one punch and another light puncher a Welterweight in Curtis Cokes stopped him Hearns in 1 devastating round anyday anyweight

I can't see a first round knockout. Nobody can do it to the great Luis Manuel Rodriguez. He was very underrated, Clive.

[Kalan]

I don't see Tommy Hearns beating Rodriguez any possible way... Not the way a prime Rodriguez beat Bennie Briscoe twice and Hurricane Carter twice... Nino Benvenuti was beaten.. He was bleeding from cuts above his eyes... Here's the UPI story:

"World middleweight champion Nino Benvenuti, his face a bloody mask from the 3rd round on, retained his title Saturday night with a stunning knockout of American challenger Luis Rodriguez in the 11th round. The end came at 1:10 of the 11th in a fight Rodriguez seemed sure of winning. The 32 year old challenger had cut Benvenuti's face open with slashing right hooks and counter-punching left jabs that left Benvenuti glassy-eyed. But Benvenuti came back with one sudden shot - a tremendous left hook - to Rodriguez' face. The challenger fell back and took the full count almost unmoving. A crowd of 18,000 erupted in wild cheers and fought its way into the ring to raise Benvenuti into the air. Rodriguez remained semi-conscious in his corner." -United Press International

It was a lucky shot that connected... Nino could hit... Sandro Mazzinghi was a very tough man and stopped only once in his career of 69 fights - when Benvenuti was way behind when he iced Mazzinghi with a perfect right uppercut.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

Yeah... Just like he destroys lowly Iran Barkley at any weight.. He was 29 when Barkley iced him.. Past his prime I guess.

Nini Benvenuti who was not a puncher ice Luis with one punch and another light puncher a Welterweight in Curtis Cokes stopped him Hearns in 1 devastating round anyday anyweight

I can't see a first round knockout. Nobody can do it to the great Luis Manuel Rodriguez. He was very underrated, Clive.

please you and Kalan are underrating a absolute LEGEND IN the hitman he would put Luis to sleep with out doubt
Luis was a TOP notch fighter but NOT a LEGEND Like TOMMY

[Kalan]

Nini Benvenuti who was not a puncher ice Luis with one punch and another light puncher a Welterweight in Curtis Cokes stopped him Hearns in 1 devastating round anyday anyweight

I can't see a first round knockout. Nobody can do it to the great Luis Manuel Rodriguez. He was very underrated, Clive.

please you and Kalan are underrating a absolute LEGEND IN the hitman he would put Luis to sleep with out doubt
Luis was a TOP notch fighter but NOT a LEGEND Like TOMMY

Tommy was legendary for getting blown away... Hearns was a legend for getting the living SHITT knocked out of him.

Didn't happen to Rodriguez in HIS 20's... He was 51-2.... With 2 extremely close losses that went to a decision.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

One single punch from Benvenuti Welterweight Curtis Cokes who punched with less half of Tommy power ONE SINGLE PUNCH ONE SINGLE ROUND

[Cojimar 1946]

Over his career Rodriguez faced and beat some decent hitters. Rubin Carter was a good puncher for example. Clearly it takes more than just power to beat Rodriguez. Also, given how many fights he had and his competition I would say he showed himself to be fairly durable.

[Kalan]

He could hit... That's what it takes to take out a Thinman... He knocked Arguello out twice... AA was smaller but about the same punch resistance... Arguello had the big right - which The Hawk absorbed easily for the few that connected.

So because Pryor knocked out Arguello at 140 it proves without doubt he knocks out a 147 Hearns? .... So how do we explain Bobby Joe Young knocking out Pryor

Arron Pryor was a badly deteriorated crackhead when he fought the inept Young.... He hadn't fought in years, was in horrible physical condition and eventually ran out of money entirely... He needed money to finance his drug habit and fought Young... Before the 2nd Arguello KO Pryor got hooked on cocaine big time and it kept getting worse and worse... Over the next 8 years he had 6 fights and could barely get his ass to the gym a couple of times in a month to train for a scheduled fight and took no sparring. He fought the worst opponents out there after Arguello... Because of the crack habit and no conditioning he knew he couldn't beat anybody.... Just another crackhead with unrealized potential.... There were many in Boxing.

He beat Arguello while heavily addicted, so he thought he could handle the drug fine... But it takes a while for cocaine to ravage your body... It takes years in fact because the human body is so adaptive and resilient.

Since you're the only person who doesn't know about it - here's the story of Pryor's battle with cocaine.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/farew ... 54691.html

[Kalan]

You're pathetic... The dumbest simpleton ever.

[Kalan]

Hearns couldn't hurt me with the hardest punch he ever threw ... and if I hit him with my best he'd be dead... He takes a punch as well as his son... A fighter with the skills of Luis Rodriguez would put the Thinman on the ropes and get rid of him.

I wouldn't call you a cabbage Old-N-Moldie...but you have the brains of one so you're probably related... Though nobody would make coleslaw out of you because you're too damned ugly... They'd throw you to the buzzards.

You would know something about brain damage and it's progression because you see doctors for it every week... and from the look of your posts, you're quickly sliding into advanced Alzheimer's symptoms.

[Cojimar 1946]

Could we maybe stay on topic. Which of Hearns opponents do people feel is most similar to Rodriguez stylistically?

[elmersalsa]

Could we maybe stay on topic. Which of Hearns opponents do people feel is most similar to Rodriguez stylistically?

I think it would be the great Wilfred Benitez. But, I think Luis Manuel was better.

[Counter-puncher]

Hearns couldn't hurt me with the hardest punch he ever threw ...

Just have a read of this, everyone.

I actually think this is ban-worthy. Even by kalan standards a new low.

[jas80s]

What about killing Hearns with a single punch?

I was waiting for him to weigh in on the thread on which of the big 4 would you choose to fight if you had to pick one. Only, with him, the question would be, which of the big 4 would you KO the quickest? And I think I know the answer, it's Hearns for sure.