So How Good was Marvin Hagler Exactly?

[DaxxKahn]

I always looked at Marvin as one of the few fighters in history you never need to question how good he really was or if he was over rated etc....Hagler fought in a very strong era of MWTS he could take a punch like very few and he could dish out the punishment just as well if not better...Marvin in the clutch never fell apart and he never backed down....

The punches Hagler took from John Mugabi would have retired most fighters and made Hagler piss pure blood for almost a week straight.....When Hearns had the better of him Hagler did what a champion does and makes you come take what belonged to him he was not laying down be it quiet or otherwise....

Hagler was simply put Hagler and the moniker "Marvelous" fit perfectly...Always a gentleman, always in shape, always ready to fight who was next in line without a question or complaint....

After the Leonard fight Hagler walked away from the sport rightfully so because he gave boxing what it asked for in a champion, fighter and representive of the game...In return he was screwed and treated like another fighter to help the Leonard bandwagon keep going and in losing was not even given credit for the performance while he deserved to still hold his title..... almost as if he was robbed called the police and they arrested him.

Hagler would have beaten Monzon, Hopkins and Jones on will alone......Perhaps the greatest MW to ever wear the title

[generalbulldog]

Monzon liked to come into his fights with a half ass training camp. If he did that in a hypothetical matchup with Hagler, Monzon ain't walking out of that ring as champ or with his senses intact.

[DaxxKahn]

Monzon liked to come into his fights with a half ass training camp. If he did that in a hypothetical matchup with Hagler, Monzon ain't walking out of that ring as champ or with his senses intact.

Yeah he was infamous for being a party animal be it during training or not....

With that being said imagine how much better would ha have been if he was always in top shape?.....

[Nameless]

Monzon was a great fighter, Hagler was a total beast. I go with the Marvelous one by a K.O around the 7 against a tired and smothered Monzon.

[THE THIRD MAN]

Monzon was undefeated in his last 81 fights, had power in both hands and possessed one of the most lethal right hands in boxing history. 59 Ko's! His size, power and boxing ability (Monzon was no slugger) would see him win a late round stoppage or a UD over a frustrated Hagler.
I think Monzon's low proifile in the US goes against him in discussions like this, overall i think you will find that Monzon is ranked the number one Middleweight of all time. What a fight it would have been though, it was talked about and nearly came off. Monzon was 36 when he retired.

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

I have to be honest, I know absolutely nothing about Carlos Monzon as a fighter :/
I should make the effort!

But goin back to Hagler... When roughly did it become common knowledge (or at least when was it suspected) that he was a right handed southpaw?

[THE THIRD MAN]

I have to be honest, I know absolutely nothing about Carlos Monzon as a fighter :/
I should make the effort!

But goin back to Hagler... When roughly did it become common knowledge (or at least when was it suspected) that he was a right handed southpaw?

I did see somewhere that Angelo Dundee asked a kid to go and get Hagler's autograph before the Leonard fight, he signed it right handed! He was a switcher, but fought predominantly as a southpaw most of the time.

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

I have to be honest, I know absolutely nothing about Carlos Monzon as a fighter :/
I should make the effort!

Okay I've seen a probably about 2 hours worth of footage on Monzon ( not enough I know...) and I can see that Monzon is physically strong, tough and can hit real hard... plus he is deceptively accurate but his style is just wired I think his height and reach had a LOT to do with his success... I mean, he strikes me as a bit of a bully in the sense that he isn't very subtle and crude... I think Hagler is levels above him in the skill dept. and just as tough.

Although oddly enough, Monzon reminds me of Vitali Klitshcko

But you know, this is a typical post from someone who wasn't there to witness it so of course, it's in now way definitive. I just think Monzon was a big crude tough guy

[TitoFan]

Monzon was undefeated in his last 81 fights, had power in both hands and possessed one of the most lethal right hands in boxing history. 59 Ko's! His size, power and boxing ability (Monzon was no slugger) would see him win a late round stoppage or a UD over a frustrated Hagler.
I think Monzon's low proifile in the US goes against him in discussions like this, overall i think you will find that Monzon is ranked the number one Middleweight of all time. What a fight it would have been though, it was talked about and nearly came off. Monzon was 36 when he retired.

I think that's the key right there. It's hard to compare unless you've seen plenty of both. My hat's off to both of them... ATG's at middleweight. Never saw much of Monzon, but Hagler was awesome. The fight with Hearns is probably the best 3-round fight of all time. No one (especially Hearns) thought Marvin would just shake off The Hitman's best shots like they were flies buzzing around. How demoralized Hearns must've been at that moment.

[THE THIRD MAN]

Monzon was undefeated in his last 81 fights, had power in both hands and possessed one of the most lethal right hands in boxing history. 59 Ko's! His size, power and boxing ability (Monzon was no slugger) would see him win a late round stoppage or a UD over a frustrated Hagler.
I think Monzon's low proifile in the US goes against him in discussions like this, overall i think you will find that Monzon is ranked the number one Middleweight of all time. What a fight it would have been though, it was talked about and nearly came off. Monzon was 36 when he retired.

I think that's the key right there. It's hard to compare unless you've seen plenty of both. My hat's off to both of them... ATG's at middleweight. Never saw much of Monzon, but Hagler was awesome. The fight with Hearns is probably the best 3-round fight of all time. No one (especially Hearns) thought Marvin would just shake off The Hitman's best shots like they were flies buzzing around. How demoralized Hearns must've been at that moment.

I just watched it again last night, Hearns hit Hagler with his best shots and although Hagler was wobbled a couple of times he just kept on coming, the thing with Monzon compared to Hearns is Monzon was a Middleweight all his career and Hearns built himself up from a skinny Welter. Monzon also had a chin made of granite!

[Syntax Error]

IMHO, Hagler belongs in the top 5 MWs of all-time.

The only weakness I think he had was that he could be out psyched at times & that sometimes led to him paying his opponents too much respect (I refer specifically to the Duran & Leonard fights).

The only MWs that I could feasibly rank (if pushed) above him are Monzon, Greb & Ketchel.

[LBSCFC]

Monzon was a great fighter, Hagler was a total beast. I go with the Marvelous one by a K.O around the 7 against a tired and smothered Monzon.

i agree. great post. hagler was also one of the smartest fighters I ever saw. great chin, durable, underrated boxing skills and power. at his peak as close the to the perfect fighter you could get.

[NUCLEAR BULL]

how good was he?......a true legend, tough as nails, power in each hand with iron chin......in his prime in was quite simply Marvelous

[generalbulldog]

Hagler was no chicken shit. He became the MW champ the hard way, and even when he beat Minter in England he still couldn't celebrate that title with a mini riot occurring. As for being a diva that took advantages of his foe's weakness, that's Leonard. After Leonard saw Hagler slipping due to age, he wanted to finally fight Hagler. Hagler when he fought Leonard was close to 33 years old with a lot of wear and tear on that body especially the Hearns and Mugabi fight took a lot out of the man, not to mentioned at that time he was fighting once a year. It was a great opportune time to take on Hagler.

And Hagler always wanted a rematch, in fact he begged for one, didn't get one and just retired to Italy becoming an movie star.

[Mr140]

Gen you got to be shitting me Leonard was as far removed from his prime as Hagler. He had not fought in 3 years and the fight Leonard was in he looked done. He had a career ending injury vs Hearns and was fighting at middle weight for the first time in his career. I also think its BS that Hagler called the fight a robbery when he gave away first part of the fight. To me could of gone either way and for the rematch, It seem to me Hagler was done with sport because he felt so robbed in the fight with Leonard.