Top Five Reasons You Can't Blame Hagler

[marbleheadmaui]

For losing to Ray Leonard. This was on ESPN last night (don't know when it first aired) and was hosted by Brian Kenny. The show is a series that seeks to show why failures in sports are often complex and involve more than merely a failure on the part of the or team.

Here is the ESPN Hypothesis. The Hagler defeat must be examined in light of

#5-John Mugabi-Their eleven round war revealed that Marvin had slowed and was no longer the fighter who had beaten Alan Minter and Mustapha Hamsho and Tommy Hearns. Ray Leonard targeted him because of this.

#4. Mike Trainer Outnegotiated the Petronelli's-Ray got the bigger gloves he wanted, the ring size he wanted and the then unusual twelve round distance he wanted. Marvin just got the dough.

#3. Ray Fought Dirty Without Penalty-While Richard Steele repeatedly warned Leonard for holding and flagrant low blows, he never penalized him so Leonard did it all night.

2. Poor Judging-In a close fight the 118-110 scorecard was a joke and many reputable ringside observers, Al Bernstein, Mike Katz and others thought the judges simply blew it.

#1 Ray Leonard Superstar-Because he was a media darling and as popular as anyone at that time, he was able to create the illusion in the ring he was doing more than he did. Credit to Leonard for creating the illusion.

I'm a HUGE Hagler fan. But I'm not buying this. Hagler was who he was after Mugabi and if he didn't want to fight anymore? OK. But if you take the fight? You take the fight. As far as the negotiations go? Marvin wanted the dough and figured the rest didn't really matter. He'd knock Ray out. As far as Ray fighting dirty? Yup. But Marvin never complained, to his everlasting credit, and neither should anyone else. Poor judging? I dunno. I had it a draw. Was the one guy out of bounds? Yup. But it was only one. Ray Leonard superstar? You bet yer arse! But he was also SMARTER than Marvin. He understood the role it would play in ways Marvin never did.

Finally, had Marvin not made one mistake? None of the above matters. The fight was only close, and Ray only had the energy to survive late, because Marvin fought the first 3+ rounds as an orthodox fighter. He was trying to prove a point. Ray was trying to win the fight. If Marvin fights the way he usually did, southpaw from the opening bell, even the slower Marvin with the big gloves, in the big ring, taking dirty shots, and with bad judges stops Ray from creating the illusion he was in control. And stops Ray period.

Marvin blew it and Ray put on a display for the ages.

What say you?