First, let me say that I think Marvin Hagler was a superb fighter and one of the greatest of all time. But I think that If you look at his biggest wins at Middleweight, and you look at Bernards biggest wins at Middleweight, there are some similarities.

Hagler was indeed one of the fabulous four. He was also the naturally biggest man out of all of them and the strongest. He beat Hearns, who was not far removed from Welterweight, so this win as spectacular as it was, was not surprising. He beat Duran, who as we all know started his career a lot lighter, in a fight that was extremely close. As for Leonard, he was removed from his prime, and like Hearns, past his best weight. Still Leonard was victorious in a competitive and close fight. Hagler had other good wins win his career against credible opponents, but these fights were highlights in his career.

On to Hopkins. His reign at Middleweight went under the radar for quite some time, but he was defending his title against top contenders. It wasnt until he fought Felix Trinidad that he got his recognition as one of the best fighters at the time. Still, he was criticized because Trinidad was a former Welterweight champ and passed his best weight. Sound familiar? Then Hopkins went on to beat De La Hoya, who much like Duran moved through the weight classes and was much higher than his prime weight. Again, Hopkins was given some credit but the naysayers still critisized him for beating another "smaller man." ...For the rrecord I am not comparing Trinidad to Hearns and Oscar to Duran in terms of greatness, only in terms of circumstances.

I believe that that both of them were unquestionably two of the greatest Middleweight Champions of all time. But when someone says that Marvin has a much better resume at Middleweight than Hopkins, I disagree to a point. The names do stand out more, but the accomplishments at that weight are pretty even. I think it should also be noted that between the two champions, neither was ever stopped and neither was ever decisively beaten in a one sided fight. I credit both guys and this thread is not a knock on Haglers great accomplishments, its just my perspective on the two fighters and how theve been looked at by the boxing population, and if the ever fought prime for prime, I think it would be a tough fight to call.