Quote Originally Posted by OumaFan
Hearns was one of the best jr. middles of all time. The quantity might not be there but the quality is, win over Benitez, and the dominant win over Duran, along with all the other wins he had there. Just how good he looked there gives him a spot.

Especially considering 154 is not one of the old divisions, how many great 154's have there been? You've got guys like Terry Norris, Mike McCallum, Winky, a lot of guys didn't stay long at 154.
i dunno man yeah hearns was a bad bad man, a great fighter for sure but things could have been alot different for duran had he chased these fights earlier and at lower weights etc..
i mean put it this way... duran beat leonard in about 1980 1981 .. and didnt fight hearns till something like 4 years later and then didnt fight hagler till something like another 5 years after hearns or something..
and if duran had not blown up 40 odd pounds after each fight and had to loose all the wieght before each fight that on top of bieng naturally a heavy handed lightweight, he just couldnt stand up to hagler and hearns at the time he fought them...
i say this while taking as little as possible away from hagler hearns lol i cant say i dont take anything away from them cos that would be false.. but still very big wins!
peace