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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad: Remembering the Fight of the Millennium 20 years later
LAS VEGAS — The plane sat quietly on the runway at a private airport in Los Angeles, when its two most famous passengers were desperately needed an hour away at a resort casino. Instead, Don King was eating a plateful of ribs, making those waiting on him in Las Vegas very anxious. It was only a bit of the gamesmanship that went on in one of the most significant fights promoted by the two leading promoters in boxing history.
King and Felix Trinidad were supposed to be in Las Vegas for an early evening news conference to push the upcoming bout between Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya, the 1992 Olympic gold medal winner and the star, at the time, of promoter Bob Arum’s stable.
De La Hoya and Trinidad were unbeaten welterweight champions, each with a legitimate claim to the 147-pound throne, and a combined 66-0 record with 55 knockouts.
The intrigue in the fight was obvious. It pitted De Le Hoya, the boxer, versus Trinidad, the powerful slugger. It was De La Hoya, the wildly popular Mexican-American star, versus Trinidad, the idol of millions in Puerto Rico.
And perhaps most of all, it was a battle of boxing’s most intense and long-running rivalry, Bob Arum versus Don King.
“Most of my fights were in the heavyweight division, but there were a couple of guys at that time who were very popular and you knew could do big numbers,” King told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday. “Julio Cesar Chavez was an idol in Mexico and we did that massive crowd [of over 130,000 in Mexico City] there with [Greg Haugen]. He was a fighter of the people. And then there was Oscar and Tito. They were two really good fighters and they had a great rivalry and there was that Mexican and Puerto Rican rivalry there and the thing with me and old ‘Lonesome Bob,’ and it just clicked.”
The bout was something of a litmus test about how non-heavyweights could do on pay-per-view. Pay-per-view, in the form it is known now, wasn’t quite 10 years old in 1999. It debuted on April 19, 1991, when TVKO, HBO Sports’ pay-per-view arm, put on a heavyweight title fight between George Foreman and Evander Holyfield in Atlantic City.
De La Hoya-Trinidad wasn’t a heavyweight fight on the scales, as combined their 294 pounds were only slightly more than the 257 Foreman weighed eight years earlier when he fought Holyfield. But their bout was a heavyweight attraction at the box office and probably the most compelling non-heavyweight match in the sport since Sugar Ray Leonard fought Marvelous Marvin Hagler for the middleweight title 12 years earlier.
The 20th anniversary of the day that, as King gleefully put it on Sept. 18, 1999, “the lights went out in Arumville,” is one that still makes De La Hoya’s stomach flip.
“That fight haunts me every single day of my life,” De La Hoya told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday. “Jesus. It’s a tough one for me to talk about even now. Not a day goes by that people don’t bring it up to me. Of course, they tell me that they think I won, but still … ”
His voice trails off, his disappointment at the controversial majority decision that favored Trinidad still gnawing at him.
https://s.yimg.com/it/api/res/1.2/IT...7-d12d516cfd08
Nearly all of the principals are Hall of Famers. King was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997 and Arum in 1999. De La Hoya and Trinidad went in together in 2014, while judge Jerry Roth was inducted in 2017.
Roth had one of the two scorecards that infuriated many who saw the fight. He favored Trinidad, 115-113. Bob Logist scored it 115-114 for Trinidad, while judge Glen Hamada had it 114-114.
The fight was De La Hoya’s to win, but he inexplicably ran the final three rounds and threw next-to-no punches.
De La Hoya was trained for the Trinidad fight by another Hall of Famer, the late Gil Clancy. De La Hoya was boxing well and scoring, and told Yahoo Sports on Wednesday he felt he could have stopped Trinidad down the stretch had he fought differently.
But Clancy was among the greatest trainers of all time and his instructions in the corner were to do anything but engage with Trinidad.
De La Hoya obeyed instructions and it led to the most disappointing loss of his career.
“I swear to you, my trainer, Gil, he was almost slapping me in the corner and was yelling at me, ‘Get out of the way and box; do not stand in front of him,’” De La Hoya said. “I was hearing it almost every round when I’d go back to the corner. I think in those last three rounds, if I’d have stood in front of him, Gil Clancy might have knocked me out.”
When ring announcer Michael Buffer called Trinidad’s name as the winner, Mandalay Bay erupted and King exulted.
He’d won what would turn out to be the biggest non-heavyweight bout in boxing to that point. The fight did 1.4 million on pay-per-view, then a record for non-heavyweights, and revenue was higher than expected across the board.
King crowed at Arum at the post-fight news conference and insisted the contracts be flipped for the rematch since Trinidad had won. De La Hoya, as the bigger star, had gotten more in the first fight. Arum refused and they never fought again.
King was cackling and mocking Arum so much at the news conference, referring to him repeatedly as “Lonesome Bob,” that Arum ordered publicist Bill Caplan to end the proceedings. Caplan pulled the plug on King’s microphone as King repeatedly bellowed, “The lights are out in Arumville!”
https://s.yimg.com/it/api/res/1.2/9l...f-523dec1b1b41
King held his own news conference at the Las Vegas Hilton the next day, where a massive Puerto Rican flag flew in front.
“There should have been a rematch, but that’s Bob, you know?” King said. “You saw how mad he was. If things weren’t his way, if you added your own style or flair or personal interpretation, ‘Lonesome Bob,’ couldn’t take it. He was a my-way-or-the-highway kind of a guy. I’m a promoter for the people and of the people, and I think that common person’s touch is what led to my success.
“But that fight was a good fight, but Oscar didn’t want to get in there at the end. Most people don’t remember how good the fight was, because all they remember was Arum pulling the microphone off of me and then not doing the rematch.”
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/osc...001700558.html
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
9-26-86
Edwin "Chapo" Rosario KO's Livingston Bramble in two rounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lKs1MWkM4c
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
If Bramble had anything it would prove to be a rock hard head and seeing him dumped in a heap like that all over is still surprising. Out the window went the unification with Macho Camacho and out the division went Camacho as he def didn't want more Chapo left hooks after the narrow escape first time ;D. Crazy how Rosario was written off in hindsight at such a young age. He continued to come back after this to again pull off 'big upsets' and take trinkets. Sad end for a fantastic fighter who died way to young.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
"Chapo" was the real deal. Seeing him dismantle Bramble in that fashion was amazing. This was the same durable guy who had twice beaten Ray Mancini. Yeah, he died way too young... victim of a questionable lifestyle with drug abuse and the like.
At his peak he was incredible, though.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Did not really register to me that Edwin Rosario was Chapo. I know Tyson trained with him and was in awe of him as he was the first current champion at his stable. This victory over Bramble was spectacular, Rosario was a big puncher. I am a Julio Ceaser Chavez fan and their fight was just brilliant.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
October 2, 2004
Felix Trinidad vs. Ricardo Mayorga
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHjItwoPx60
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
I watched that live in PPV, early was breathtaking as Mayorga was landing well, plus the bravado of letting Trindad hit him flush. I recall it was evenor close to even for 3 or 4 before Trinidad knock him out. Mayorga was such a strange fighter you don't know really how he will punch or able to land , it's so unorthodox
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Mayorga has the crazy smoker bad man image which he enjoyed and played up to. Taking those punches from Tito was taking that image too far and nearly got knocked out. Hated the fact Mayorga beat Fernando Vargas.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
This fight was not televised because they could not agree the amount with ITV and we missed a classic live.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
January 28, 1978
Alexis Arguello defeats Alfredo Escalera via 13th-round TKO for Escalera's WBC junior lightweight championship, in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
It was the first of two fights between them, both 13th-round TKO victories for Arguello.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ipr2Ev3wa8
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
January 30, 1982
Wilfredo Benitez def. Roberto Durán via 15-round UD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0UQ6OA2Fyg
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
30 years today since Douglas took Tyson apart.
Fucking hell I remember it like yesterday getting up and going down and putting ceefax on then running upstairs shouting to my dad he'd been knocked out. Biggest shock of my lifetime and I suspect will not be beaten.
I'm also feeling fucking old.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
March 6, 1976
Wilfredo Benitez defeats Antonio "Kid Pambelé" Cervantes to become the youngest world champion ever at 17 years of age.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-qy_3sDyto
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Crazy to again realize his age and relative inexperience going in against a champion of that caliber. Even worse the powers that be stripped the guy for having the nerve to be injured in a car accident leading to rematch. A precursor to history, he'd fall under new management be brought Stateside and become a great.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
On this day in 1970 Henry Cooper beat Jack Bodell at Wembley as he retained his British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles.
Cooper triumphed on points against his fellow Briton in what was their second fight.
They had previously met in June 1967 at Wolves’ Molineux stadium, where Cooper won via technical knock-out.
https://s.yimg.com/it/api/res/1.2/yS...1e932aea7b7fb0
The rematch came in the same year that Cooper became the first two-time winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
The former European champion subsequently retired in 1971 with a record of 40 wins (27 KOs) from 55 fights. He was knighted in 2000.
Cooper, who died in 2011 at the age of 77, famously fought Muhammad Ali twice, losing both times – once in a non-title bout at Wembley in 1963 that saw him floor the fighter then known as Cassius Clay in round four, and then at Arsenal’s Highbury Stadium in 1966 when he was challenging for Ali’s WBA and WBC titles.
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/pic...060000913.html
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
April 3, 1998
Felix Trinidad KO's Mahenge Zulu for the 12th defense of his IBF welter world title. At the time, Trinidad surpassed Pipino Cuevas, who had 11 defenses of his WBA welterweight title. Trinidad finished with 15 defenses of his welter title (12 KO's), second only to Henry Armstrong, who had 19 defenses. Trinidad held the welterweight title for almost 7 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD3pCTrA0QI
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
That is classic Tito Trinidad, so crisp with his punches and that left hook finish was like watching Julian Jackson KO.
Brilliant fighter and champion. became a fan of his after he beat my favourite fighters Carr and Campus.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Master
That is classic Tito Trinidad, so crisp with his punches and that left hook finish was like watching Julian Jackson KO.
Brilliant fighter and champion. became a fan of his after he beat my favourite fighters Carr and Campus.
Not only that... they were both undefeated when he beat them.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Master
That is classic Tito Trinidad, so crisp with his punches and that left hook finish was like watching Julian Jackson KO.
Brilliant fighter and champion. became a fan of his after he beat my favourite fighters Carr and Campus.
Not only that... they were both undefeated when he beat them.
Do not remind me, it still hurts. Trinidad would have slaughtered Julio Ceaser Chavez if Don King had allowed it.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Titos fight with Anthony Stephens was also a fun scrap. Stephens showed a young Trinidad caught too many right hands but also gave early glimpses of his adaptability and the way he would always storm back after being rocked or dropped.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Master
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Master
That is classic Tito Trinidad, so crisp with his punches and that left hook finish was like watching Julian Jackson KO.
Brilliant fighter and champion. became a fan of his after he beat my favourite fighters Carr and Campus.
Not only that... they were both undefeated when he beat them.
Do not remind me, it still hurts. Trinidad would have slaughtered Julio Ceaser Chavez if Don King had allowed it.
I think so too. Too much firepower.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Spicoli
Titos fight with Anthony Stephens was also a fun scrap. Stephens showed a young Trinidad caught too many right hands but also gave early glimpses of his adaptability and the way he would always storm back after being rocked or dropped.
I remember when he was dropped by Campas. I think it was a short left hand or something... and I began thinking of Campas' power and that awesome record he had. But Trinidad recovered and his knockout of Campas was pretty scary to tell the truth. Ref jumped in not a moment too soon.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Spicoli
Titos fight with Anthony Stephens was also a fun scrap. Stephens showed a young Trinidad caught too many right hands but also gave early glimpses of his adaptability and the way he would always storm back after being rocked or dropped.
I remember when he was dropped by Campas. I think it was a short left hand or something... and I began thinking of Campas' power and that awesome record he had. But Trinidad recovered and his knockout of Campas was pretty scary to tell the truth. Ref jumped in not a moment too soon.
That was a brutal finish against Campus. Tito was a good finisher and his left hook had scary power. Tito was down early against our Kevin Lueshing too. He gets up and destroyed him.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
This day in sports history: Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard fight to controversial split decision
For the better part of the first half of the 1980s, newspaper sports sections were filled with stories about a potential bout between Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
The seeds of the bout were first sown early in Leonard?s career, on Nov. 30, 1979, at the Caesars Palace Sports Pavilion in Las Vegas. That day, Hagler drew with Vito Antuofermo for the WBA-WBC middleweight titles on the undercard of a show headlined by Leonard against Wilfred Benitez. Leonard stopped Benitez in the 15th to win the WBC welterweight title.
By that point, Hagler was respected, but hadn't gotten nearly the recognition or acclaim that his considerable talents deserved. After the draw with Antuofermo, which most believe Hagler won, Antuofermo declined a rematch. Three months later, Antuofermo lost the title at Caesars Palace to Alan Minter.
Hagler was the most avoided man in boxing, and his promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, told Yahoo Sports that in order for him to get another title fight, it took intervention from Tip O?Neill, the then-Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative, and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, both of Massachusetts.
Leonard was just 23 years old and 25-0 when he met Benitez that night, but he was already a full-fledged star. He starred in commercials before he ever had a pro fight. His debut was on national television and his face was on magazine covers month after month.
Before getting to Hagler, though, Leonard had business to take care of. When he won the welterweight title, he sat atop a deep and talented division that included the likes of Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Pipino Cuevas and Benitez, all of whom would go on to be Hall of Famers.
https://s.yimg.com/it/api/res/1.2/JG...f-04eeabde3694
By late 1982, though, Leonard had beaten Hearns, Duran and Benitez, and had won a super welterweight title when he defeated Ayub Kalule. He hosted a charity event on Nov. 9, 1982, at the Baltimore Civic Center, and invited scores of celebrities. Howard Cosell served as master of ceremonies. Boxers, including Muhammad Ali, Ken Norton, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and Matthew Saad Muhammad, got up and spoke about Leonard.
Hagler did, as well, fully expecting that Leonard would challenge him at the end of the event.
Leonard and Hearns was The Showdown, Hagler said. We've got to be Fight of the Century.
Leonard got up and acknowledged that a bout with Hagler would be one of the greatest in the history of boxing. As the crowd roared, he stunned everyone when he added, Unfortunately, it will never happen.
He proceeded to announce his retirement because of concerns about his vision as a result of a detached retina.
That left Hagler seething, and he remained bitter and angry at Leonard for years. When Hagler was inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015, referee Richard Steele made it a point to bring the two together and posed with them. Hagler smiled uneasily, the painful memories of the past overcoming him.
Leonard unretired in 1984, defeated Kevin Howard and promptly retired again.
He was no longer an active boxer, but he was still a large part of the sport, calling fights for CBS and HBO. Hagler moved on and built a reputation as arguably the greatest middleweight who ever lived.
In 1985, he stopped Hearns in three fearsome rounds in one of the most frenetic and action-paced major fights in boxing history. He'd also beaten Duran and had finally escaped Leonard's considerable shadow.
Leonard was a fierce competitor and never lost that urge to compete. When he watched Hagler fight John The Beast Mugabi in 1986, he picked up the phone and called his attorney, Mike Trainer.
Years later, Leonard explained it to Yahoo Sports.
Marvin was just destroying everyone, but when I saw that fight, I just felt like there were things there that I could take advantage of, Leonard said in 2016. I always believed in myself, but when I saw that, it really motivated me to get in there and fight him and be the one to end his lengthy streak.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Leonard's management gained him several significant advantages during negotiations. The fight was 12 rounds instead of 15. They wore 10-ounce gloves instead of eight-ounce gloves. And the fight was in a 22-foot by 22-foot ring instead of the standard 20x20.
Each of those points would ultimately play a role in Leonard's favor.
By the time the fight was made, it was predictably massive. More than 1,100 media credentials were issued.
The late Hall of Famer, Irving Rudd, was embedded in Leonard's training camp, with his partner, Lee Samuels, in Hagler's camp. Rudd told the Los Angeles Times that interest in the fight was unprecedented.
When I was doing New York and New Jersey fight shows in the 1930s, $1,500 bucks was a huge gate, he said. For this fight, for the eight weeks I spent in Hilton Head (at Leonard?s South Carolina training camp) and the last two weeks here just returning writers phone calls my phone bill alone will be $1,500 bucks.
The Times Earl Gutskey polled 50 people, a group of which included prominent trainers, fighters and reporters, and 46 picked Hagler to win. Four had Leonard, and one, Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post, seemed to have tongue-in-cheek when he picked Leonard by KO in the second.
The legendary New York sports columnist Dick Young seemed to speak for the masses when he chose Hagler.
Hagler, quickly, he told Gutskey. ?It?s a mismatch. One guy hasn't fought for years and has what I consider to be a physical impairment . . . and if it isn't a physical impairment, it's a mental impairment.
Those, though, who expected Leonard to be blown away were shocked when the bell sounded. Leonard had long since proven his toughness in bouts with Duran and Hearns, among many others, and didn?t try to make any needless points.
Instead, he did what he needed to do to win. He used his hand speed and lateral movement and would flurry at the end of each round, as if it were a sign to the judges about who was doing more.
Hagler was a southpaw who could go conventional at times, but for some reason, he fought much of the fight against Leonard from a conventional stance.
https://s.yimg.com/it/api/res/1.2/HS...8-65d0693bc14c
Leonard leaped out to an early lead, and did just enough in the second half of the fight to pull out the win. Judge Lou Filippo had it 115-113, or seven rounds to five, for Hagler. Dave Moretti had it 115-113 for Leonard. Either of those two scores was acceptable.
But the reason controversy remains 33 years later is because JoJo Guerra gave 10 of the 12 rounds to Leonard and had the fight 118-110. Not even Angelo Dundee, Leonard's lifelong trainer, believed Leonard had won 10 of the 12 rounds.
Jim Murray, the late legendary sports columnist for The Los Angeles Times, came away impressed by Leonard. He wrote:
He didn't just outpoint Hagler, he exposed him. He made him look like a guy chasing a bus. In snowshoes. Marvelous Marvin Hagler should have put stamps on his punches. He kept aiming them at places Sugar Ray had left much earlier in the evening. Sometimes, you expected Hagler to tap the referee on the shoulder and say, Excuse me, did you see a little fellow, about 5 foot 10 with dark hair and a nice smile go by here tonight I was supposed to fight him but I guess he couldn't make it.
Hugh McIlvanney, another exceptional sports columnist who long wrote about boxing, thought Leonard pulled a fast one on the judges. In his book, The Hardest Game, he wrote:
What Ray Leonard pulled off in his split decision over Hagler was an epic illusion. He had said beforehand that the way to beat Hagler was to give him a distorted picture. But this shrewdest of fighters knew it was even more important to distort the picture for the judges. His plan was to ?steal? rounds with a few flashy and carefully timed flurries and to make the rest of each three-minute session as unproductive as possible for Hagler by circling briskly away from the latter's persistent pursuit. When he made his sporadic attacking flourishes, he was happy to exaggerate hand speed at the expense of power, and neither he nor two of the scorers seemed bothered by the fact that many of the punches landed on the champion's gloves and arms.
The outcome remains as controversial today during a global pandemic as it was 33 years ago on that nice spring night in the parking lot at Caesars Palace. A lot of highly respected, fair boxing people felt Leonard had done enough to win. Just as many of the same type of people felt Hagler deserved to win.
It was the final fight of Hagler's career. A rematch wasn't immediately forthcoming, and when talks started up a few years later, Hagler shot them down. He was in the middle of an acting career and had lost the desire.
Leonard would go on to win versions of the super middleweight and light heavyweight titles on the same night, by beating Donny Lalonde but was never nearly as good as he was on that night against Hagler when he had to be, and was, marvelous.
Leonard never looked very good in a fight again and retired for good after being stopped by Hector Camacho Sr. in an ill-advised comeback bout in 1997.
The win over Hagler was the high point of his career, which he noted to Yahoo Sports in 2016.
You beat a guy like Marvin, and you know you've done something significant, Leonard said. ?There weren't ever many better than that guy.
They both were among the best to ever live.
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/thi...171510795.html
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
SRL's the true TBE for me... but his fight with Hagler left me as unsatisfied as two other megafights..... Trinidad-De La Hoya, and Mayweather-Pacquaio.
It baffled me just how wrongly Hagler fought Leonard that night. Imagine destroying Hearns in three rounds in one fight.... and then pussy-footing his way to a decision loss to Leonard in the other.
IMO, Hagler had no one to blame but himself for that loss. SRL may be the TBE to me, but Hagler was still one of the most fearsome MW's in history.
Had he pressed the action the full 12, it may have been a totally different outcome.
Still, with all the HOF scalps on his record, it's hard to argue against SRL as the TBE.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
SRL's the true TBE for me... but his fight with Hagler left me as unsatisfied as two other megafights..... Trinidad-De La Hoya, and Mayweather-Pacquaio.
It baffled me just how wrongly Hagler fought Leonard that night. Imagine destroying Hearns in three rounds in one fight.... and then pussy-footing his way to a decision loss to Leonard in the other.
IMO, Hagler had no one to blame but himself for that loss. SRL may be the TBE to me, but Hagler was still one of the most fearsome MW's in history.
Had he pressed the action the full 12, it may have been a totally different outcome.
Still, with all the HOF scalps on his record, it's hard to argue against SRL as the TBE.
TBE should be SRR it is ingrained in all boxing nerdom.
Leonard is an ATG but that comeback made me hate him with a passion. Very manipulative, opportunistic and had no substance to it when he fought Lalonde, Hearns and Duran. So much so that I loved what Norris and Macho Man did to him.
Hagler made many mistakes that cost him that fight boxing orthodox for one but that judge who saw all those flashy cluster punches from Leonard that caused no damage really ruined the fight.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Master
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
SRL's the true TBE for me... but his fight with Hagler left me as unsatisfied as two other megafights..... Trinidad-De La Hoya, and Mayweather-Pacquaio.
It baffled me just how wrongly Hagler fought Leonard that night. Imagine destroying Hearns in three rounds in one fight.... and then pussy-footing his way to a decision loss to Leonard in the other.
IMO, Hagler had no one to blame but himself for that loss. SRL may be the TBE to me, but Hagler was still one of the most fearsome MW's in history.
Had he pressed the action the full 12, it may have been a totally different outcome.
Still, with all the HOF scalps on his record, it's hard to argue against SRL as the TBE.
TBE should be SRR it is ingrained in all boxing nerdom.
Leonard is an ATG but
that comeback made me hate him with a passion. Very manipulative, opportunistic and had no substance to it when he fought Lalonde, Hearns and Duran. So much so that I loved what Norris and Macho Man did to him.
Hagler made many mistakes that cost him that fight boxing orthodox for one but that judge who saw all those flashy cluster punches from Leonard that caused no damage really ruined the fight.
I know... I'm an against the flow kind of guy on the TBE thing. ;D
I didn't like it when Leonard beat Benitez, but the list of scalps he ended up with is nothing if not spectacular. Benitez, Duran, Hearns, Hagler....... doesn't get much better than that. Epic fights, too.
Only the Hagler fight was underwhelming for me, and I put the blame squarely on Hagler. Yeah.... especially going orthodox on Leonard and serving the "W" up in a silver platter. Disgusting. I expected more of Hagler, TBH.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
That's a great flashback there. I managed to juuust miss Leonard 'live' when he was on top and first saw Hagler v Leonard on the old Superbouts broadcast by ESPN. First time seeing him live was Uno Mas and it's fair to say we'll never see that one tucked away in a time capsule :-X. Always felt Leonard edged Hagler but could be a perfect month to find time and watch it through and score accurately. The 118-110 was always way off base.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
I did revisit Leonard's career at welterweight to see what the fuss was about and he was a true great. That level of boxing skill and opponents he beat were top draw.
Anyone who could, not just get in the ring but, beat that frightening Tommy Hearns deserves respect. I could only think SRR could have done better.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Hearns was an undefeated, 6'-1" beanpole of a welterweight with long jackhammer arms with which he had knocked out the vast majority of his previous victims.
Leonard went in there and knocked him out. That one is hard to overrate.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Joe Calzaghe celebrates his emphatic win over Peter Manfredo after the referee stopped the fight in the third round of the bout at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
Calzaghe successfully defended his WBO super-middleweight title for the 20th time, an accomplishment which saw him equal the records of fellow greats Larry Holmes and Bernard Hopkins.
In front of a record indoor crowd of around 35,000, Calzaghe blazed out for the third round and rained a seemingly endless supply of hooks down upon hapless ‘Contender’ star Manfredo.
The Welshman would go on to become the longest-reigning super-middleweight world champion in history with victory over undefeated WBA world champion Mikkel Kessler in November 2007 his 21st successful defence – holding the title for over 10 years.
https://s.yimg.com/it/api/res/1.2/SK...86fa7740c557d5
Calzaghe stepped up to light heavyweight and secured two stunning wins over Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr in his first ever fights in the United States, cementing his place as one of the best pound for pound boxers in the world.
The ‘Pride of Wales’ won the 2007 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award and retired in 2009 as an undefeated world champion, with 46 wins and no defeats in a glittering career.
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/pic...050000877.html
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Master
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
SRL's the true TBE for me... but his fight with Hagler left me as unsatisfied as two other megafights..... Trinidad-De La Hoya, and Mayweather-Pacquaio.
It baffled me just how wrongly Hagler fought Leonard that night. Imagine destroying Hearns in three rounds in one fight.... and then pussy-footing his way to a decision loss to Leonard in the other.
IMO, Hagler had no one to blame but himself for that loss. SRL may be the TBE to me, but Hagler was still one of the most fearsome MW's in history.
Had he pressed the action the full 12, it may have been a totally different outcome.
Still, with all the HOF scalps on his record, it's hard to argue against SRL as the TBE.
TBE should be SRR it is ingrained in all boxing nerdom.
Leonard is an ATG but
that comeback made me hate him with a passion. Very manipulative, opportunistic and had no substance to it when he fought Lalonde, Hearns and Duran. So much so that I loved what Norris and Macho Man did to him.
Hagler made many mistakes that cost him that fight boxing orthodox for one but that judge who saw all those flashy cluster punches from Leonard that caused no damage really ruined the fight.
I know... I'm an against the flow kind of guy on the TBE thing. ;D
I didn't like it when Leonard beat Benitez, but the list of scalps he ended up with is nothing if not spectacular. Benitez, Duran, Hearns, Hagler....... doesn't get much better than that. Epic fights, too.
Only the Hagler fight was underwhelming for me, and I put the blame squarely on Hagler. Yeah.... especially going orthodox on Leonard and serving the "W" up in a silver platter. Disgusting. I expected more of Hagler, TBH.
Hagler fought with his ego; Leonard fought with his brain, that's why he won the fight.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
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Originally Posted by
Syntax Error
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Originally Posted by
TitoFan
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Originally Posted by
Master
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Originally Posted by
TitoFan
SRL's the true TBE for me... but his fight with Hagler left me as unsatisfied as two other megafights..... Trinidad-De La Hoya, and Mayweather-Pacquaio.
It baffled me just how wrongly Hagler fought Leonard that night. Imagine destroying Hearns in three rounds in one fight.... and then pussy-footing his way to a decision loss to Leonard in the other.
IMO, Hagler had no one to blame but himself for that loss. SRL may be the TBE to me, but Hagler was still one of the most fearsome MW's in history.
Had he pressed the action the full 12, it may have been a totally different outcome.
Still, with all the HOF scalps on his record, it's hard to argue against SRL as the TBE.
TBE should be SRR it is ingrained in all boxing nerdom.
Leonard is an ATG but
that comeback made me hate him with a passion. Very manipulative, opportunistic and had no substance to it when he fought Lalonde, Hearns and Duran. So much so that I loved what Norris and Macho Man did to him.
Hagler made many mistakes that cost him that fight boxing orthodox for one but that judge who saw all those flashy cluster punches from Leonard that caused no damage really ruined the fight.
I know... I'm an against the flow kind of guy on the TBE thing. ;D
I didn't like it when Leonard beat Benitez, but the list of scalps he ended up with is nothing if not spectacular. Benitez, Duran, Hearns, Hagler....... doesn't get much better than that. Epic fights, too.
Only the Hagler fight was underwhelming for me, and I put the blame squarely on Hagler. Yeah.... especially going orthodox on Leonard and serving the "W" up in a silver platter. Disgusting. I expected more of Hagler, TBH.
Hagler fought with his ego; Leonard fought with his brain, that's why he won the fight.
Leonard was the dark lord sith who cheated his way to that victory. Ray loaded the match in his favour and there was no way that he would lose that fight. He is evil I tell you, his apprentice Floyd took over his place and now Canelo has it.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Master
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Syntax Error
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Master
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
SRL's the true TBE for me... but his fight with Hagler left me as unsatisfied as two other megafights..... Trinidad-De La Hoya, and Mayweather-Pacquaio.
It baffled me just how wrongly Hagler fought Leonard that night. Imagine destroying Hearns in three rounds in one fight.... and then pussy-footing his way to a decision loss to Leonard in the other.
IMO, Hagler had no one to blame but himself for that loss. SRL may be the TBE to me, but Hagler was still one of the most fearsome MW's in history.
Had he pressed the action the full 12, it may have been a totally different outcome.
Still, with all the HOF scalps on his record, it's hard to argue against SRL as the TBE.
TBE should be SRR it is ingrained in all boxing nerdom.
Leonard is an ATG but
that comeback made me hate him with a passion. Very manipulative, opportunistic and had no substance to it when he fought Lalonde, Hearns and Duran. So much so that I loved what Norris and Macho Man did to him.
Hagler made many mistakes that cost him that fight boxing orthodox for one but that judge who saw all those flashy cluster punches from Leonard that caused no damage really ruined the fight.
I know... I'm an against the flow kind of guy on the TBE thing. ;D
I didn't like it when Leonard beat Benitez, but the list of scalps he ended up with is nothing if not spectacular. Benitez, Duran, Hearns, Hagler....... doesn't get much better than that. Epic fights, too.
Only the Hagler fight was underwhelming for me, and I put the blame squarely on Hagler. Yeah.... especially going orthodox on Leonard and serving the "W" up in a silver platter. Disgusting. I expected more of Hagler, TBH.
Hagler fought with his ego; Leonard fought with his brain, that's why he won the fight.
Leonard was the dark lord sith who cheated his way to that victory. Ray loaded the match in his favour and there was no way that he would lose that fight. He is evil I tell you, his apprentice Floyd took over his place and now Canelo has it.
Noooooooooooo...........
I got your humor with the Lord Sith thing... but nooooooooooooooo........
You put Leonard and Canelo in the same universe. My head is about to implode.
Ok... Leonard stacked the deck in his favor against Hagler (plus... Hagler fought stupidly and half-heartedly). But in NO WAY IN HELL does Leonard's career even begin to resemble Canelo's.
Leonard earned every single victory he ever got. He out-boxed Benitez, out-fought Duran, out-boxed and out-slugged Hearns..... he was the winner who emerged from this Who's Who of Boxing at the time.
Leonard didn't wait for Benitez to get old. ;) He didn't bring Duran up two weight divisions to fight him. ;) He didn't fight Hearns in Leonard's hometown with Leonard's family as judges. ;)
Canelo is a manufactured future HOF'er. Leonard is close to being TBE.... and I'll give in a little on SRR. ;D ;D
Hell...... even Floyd would be thoroughly pissed off if he knew you were mentioning him and Canelo in the same sentence.
Floyd once said in an interview that Canelo had been the EASIEST fight of his career.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
I was joking, it was more about the glamour fighter verses the blue collar less fashionable fighter.
Leonard was great no question but that comeback smacked of a being spoilt brat.
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Master
I was joking, it was more about the glamour fighter verses the blue collar less fashionable fighter.
Leonard was great no question but that comeback smacked of a being spoilt brat.
Well... he was kind of spoiled, I'll grant you that. ;D
He was earmarked for greatness even before he became a pro.
That's why Hagler's performance against him pissed me off so much.
He destroys Hearns and The Beast Mugabi...... and goes out with a whimper against Leonard. :-X
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Re: This day in boxing. A look back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TitoFan
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Master
I was joking, it was more about the glamour fighter verses the blue collar less fashionable fighter.
Leonard was great no question but that comeback smacked of a being spoilt brat.
Well... he was kind of spoiled, I'll grant you that. ;D
He was earmarked for greatness even before he became a pro.
That's why Hagler's performance against him pissed me off so much.
He destroys Hearns and The Beast Mugabi...... and goes out with a whimper against Leonard. :-X
Hagler overthought the fight too much and ended up confusing himself. He will be seething and livid inside with himself until the day he dies. That will hurt him.
