BoxRec

can heart desire, and a helluva strong chin win it for lamotta or his he simply too outmatched in this fight?

Out-matched? Not quite. Hagler would have to move as he did inn the first Hamsho fight and be as accurate and sharp with his punches and then it would still be a long night because La Motta was infinitely ahead of Hamsho in terms of offensive and defensive skill and he didn't bust up like Hamsho tended to do. The infighting woul be fierce with the strength and work rate of La Motta vs. the crisper, more accurate Hagler. Niether guy can hurt the other so its going the distance, unless somebody lands something big late when the other guy is tired... Too close for me too call and draw sounds right but if I had to choose its Jake by a hair

I would hope that Hagler would have been smarter than to try and mix it up with LaMotta. Jake was great on the inside and punched like hell. He would have hit harder than anyone Hagler's ever fought.
Hagler could win a decision by boxing and moving, doing the switch-ups that only he could do so well. Even then, it would have been a really tough fight. But Hagler had the edge in boxing and movement skills. If he fought like that, he could win.

You think LaMotta hit harder than Hearns?

Hagler would have won on points.

He was a much better boxer than LaMotta.

15 rounds, unamimous decision for Marvin.

mrbassie wrote:You think LaMotta hit harder than Hearns?

The Hitman hit harder to the head I belive. But LaMotta threw punches in bunches - a lot of them to the body. That's why said that Hagler could beat him if he boxed from the outside and did not war with LaMotta. Jake had a stronger chin than Hearns did, so he'd be able to take more of Marvin's shots.

Syntax Error wrote:Hagler would have won on points.

He was a much better boxer than LaMotta.

15 rounds, unamimous decision for Marvin.

I agree with this. Of course LaMotta would definetely have a chance.

I would give Hagler the edge and say he would win a 15rd decision, but he would have to fight LaMotta's fight to beat him.

It is almost impossible to keep fighters like LaMotta at distance because they are the type of brave fighters who will take your best shots, shrug them off, and still keep coming forward. How can you keep fighters that take your best shots at distance? The hit but don't be hit model of boxing does not apply to these warriors. You have to outbrawl them over the distance, even if you're outboxing them in spurts. I think LaMotta would bring the brawler out of Hagler (a natural counterpuncher) and you would have a Emmanuel Augustus-Micky Ward type of fight. Hagler couldn't KO LaMotta and LaMotta would not hurt Hagler so they would trade freely. LaMotta would land a ton of punches, but Hagler's would cause more damage and he would win on points or by a doctor's stoppage.

Dnhar there's such a thing as giving your opponent different angles and lateral movement. Hagler did these things when he boxed. Which is why alot of posters here differentiate bewteen boxing and brawling.
And who could switch-up better than Marvin Hagler? Boxing from the outside, giving Jake angles, mvoing side-to-side and switching up, Marvin could win the fight. But it would be a long hard fight.

wlvrne wrote:Dnhar there's such a thing as giving your opponent different angles and lateral movement. Hagler did these things when he boxed. Which is why alot of posters here differentiate bewteen boxing and brawling.
And who could switch-up better than Marvin Hagler? Boxing from the outside, giving Jake angles, mvoing side-to-side and switching up, Marvin could win the fight. But it would be a long hard fight.

I'm not saying that Hagler couldn't give angles and box, but that LaMotta wouldn't allow it. Even Sugar Ray Robinson, a better boxer than Hagler, had to fight large portions of the fight on the inside because LaMotta took his jabs and came in anyway. If you are willing to take the punishment, you can get inside on anybody (look at Frazier, Basilio, etc). Hagler, when he fought Hearns, used the macho strategy of taking Hearns best right hands to break him down mentally and physically. I doubt he would stick to boxing LaMotta in that mythical matchup and a brawl would start fairly quickly IMO.