BoxRec

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

fanman wrote:Leonard won that fight fair and square. Yes it was close and could of gone either way. But in i think the 9th round or so hagler hurt leonard. And leonard came back with ridiculous little flurries. He didnt win the round but those crazy little flurries blunted haglers offense and ray was home free.

The 9th round was great, Leonard rattled his big bald noggin all over the shop.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

Autobarn wrote:I think the Mugabi fight did for Hagler. Far into a hard career, fighting out of doors. You could see the fighters' breaths. Hagler must have been very cold and stiff, and started very slowly versus a very fired up and sharp, fresh guy - who hit him with many hard shots. Hagler ground him down but his timing and balance were poor during a long and punishing night, something SRL was able to take advantage of. Leonard was able to make one asset of his layoff, he still had plenty to give (his 1983 retirement had cut a great career well short) whereas Hagler's arms and legs looked old and heavy.

Another thing, the big occasion did seem to get to Hagler. He did not handle the stage well and also in his fight against Duran his approach was strangely subdued and low key.

To be sure, Hagler was shopworn, but he was still Hagler, and Leonard was taking a huge gamble.