This day in boxing. A look back.

[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.

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.

[Spicoli]

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 . 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.

[Master]

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.

[TitoFan]

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.

[Master]

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.



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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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.

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.

[Master]

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.

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.

[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.

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.

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.

[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.

[TitoFan]

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.

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.

[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.

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.

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.