BoxRec

What happens if Emile Griffith decided to fight one more match rather than retiring from Alan Minter by facing the young "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler in 1977? Also what happens if the prime Hagler faces the prime Griffith at middleweight?

Please answer my question, but for me I think Hagler would destroyed the past prime Griffith in the seventh round.

..prime time...three fights....all by disputed split decisions....if it woild follow the usual griffith pattern.

If they had fought in real time Hagler would have killed him. In their primes? Not all that different. Well, Hagler may not have 'killed' him but I would pick Hagler to beat him every time. Emile's prime was at welterweight. He was a great fighter but Hagler was a great MIDDLEWEIGHT.

I think Griffith would have given Hagler a stern test in the late 60s early 70s form he had... don't forget he gave a prime Monzon two very good fights in the early 70s. I could well see Emile nicking a decision off Hagler though I'd lean towards Hagler as being the better middleweight overall Emile is possibly the better boxer p4p... he's very underrated generally these days.

A fight between the faded Griffin and a young, determined Hagler in 1977 would be a sad match to watch. Hagler would have given the once great Griffin a prolonged beating.

A fight when both were in or near their primes would be mutch harder to call as other have said already. Over 15 rounds I see Hagler slowly grinding out a points victory, as Griffin was at his best at Welterweight.

Hagler by stoppage in 1977.

Hagler by decision if Griffith was in his prime.

Then again, Emile was a guy who could upset the applecart at any given time in his prime. He should never have been able to beat Dick Tiger, a great middleweight like Hagler, but he did, twice. It was even more surprising coming after Emile's disastrous one round KO loss to Hurricane Carter and Tiger's subsequent total ass-whipping of Carter, but as we all know STYLES MAKE FIGHTS.

CM wrote:Then again, Emile was a guy who could upset the applecart at any given time in his prime. He should never have been able to beat Dick Tiger, a great middleweight like Hagler, but he did, twice. It was even more surprising coming after Emile's disastrous one round KO loss to Hurricane Carter and Tiger's subsequent total ass-whipping of Carter, but as we all know STYLES MAKE FIGHTS.

Its possible Carter just caught Emile cold, generally Emile had a great chin.... he also beat Bennie Briscoe quite handlily and his two title fights with Monzon were very close bouts... Griffith was fast, skilled and very strong and I can see him as capable of upsetting Hagler.

Sure, anybody can get caught cold, and we all know that A beats B, B beats C, does NOT mean A will beat C, but it did make the Tiger fights more of an upset, which is all I was saying.

It's funny. Luis Manuel or Luis Rodriguez as he's better known in the English speaking world overall did better with middleweights than Emile did---he boxed Carter's ears in, for one---but he never got the title shot till it was too late. I thought he should have been 3-1 vs. Griffith rather than the other way around which was how the decisions went, all 4 of their fights were that competitive. Luis may be the most underrated all time great fighter.

silkov wrote:

CM wrote:Then again, Emile was a guy who could upset the applecart at any given time in his prime. He should never have been able to beat Dick Tiger, a great middleweight like Hagler, but he did, twice. It was even more surprising coming after Emile's disastrous one round KO loss to Hurricane Carter and Tiger's subsequent total ass-whipping of Carter, but as we all know STYLES MAKE FIGHTS.

Its possible Carter just caught Emile cold, generally Emile had a great chin.... he also beat Bennie Briscoe quite handlily and his two title fights with Monzon were very close bouts... Griffith was fast, skilled and very strong and I can see him as capable of upsetting Hagler.

Don't forget he was also smaller than Hagler, which would have played into his favour. I can see Hagler winning a best of three, but I think Emile's fast flurries on the inside (he was a better inside fighter than Hagler, IMO) would rack up the points for a clear UD in one of the bouts (probably the first).

CM wrote:It's funny. Luis Manuel or Luis Rodriguez as he's better known in the English speaking world overall did better with middleweights than Emile did---he boxed Carter's ears in, for one---but he never got the title shot till it was too late. I thought he should have been 3-1 vs. Griffith rather than the other way around which was how the decisions went, all 4 of their fights were that competitive. Luis may be the most underrated all time great fighter.

I may be wrong here, but if you add up all the rounds won and lost between Rodrigues and Griffith during all four of their fights Rodrigues comes out on top (I think).

Was Griffith's fight with Minter competitive?.Or was it a Holmes vs Ali type of fight.