Fight Franchise

i entirely agree with this post .... I had Marvin winning and think there was a lot of politics and BS behind the decision. ...... im still bitter too!!!!

It always stuck to me what Steele famously said after the fight. He said that Leonard won by his estimation, but everytime he watched the fight afterwards, it got closer and closer everytime.

Ive always been of the opinion Leonard won by very close margin. I just felt that Hagler done nearly nothing in the first 3 rounds and although coming on strongly, he struggled to entirely pin back those 3 early rounds.
I watched it again recently and scored it a draw.

I think the thing is that no one expected Leonard to win at all, nearly every journalist thought Hagler would mow him down in 6 rounds. Then when Leonard fought so well, it convinced people he won the rounds when maybe he shouldnt have because people didnt expect it to be competitive.

So i still believe Leonard JUST deserved the decision but the judge who scored it 118-111 i believe really should have been shot

Yeah, I think that Leonard just snuck it... I love that fight. Leonard was superb in the first half, and befuddled Hagler with his movement and speed- whatever you say about Leonard, what can't be denied was his ring generalship and brilliance at his craft; he was such a smart fighter.

Almost everyone who fought Hagler got sucked into a war of wills early, and ended up paying the price by being worn down- difficult to name many physically tougher middleweights than Marvin. But Leonard had the perfect gameplan, and it was only that his underused legs began to get tired in the second half of the fight, along with Hagler's strength of will and refusal to be outclassed that made it so even.

But equally, Hagler's performance was excellent, dragging himself back into the fight against a guy who was clearly a superior boxer. It reminds me a little of Taylor-Chavez, in that the blows that Hagler were landing were much more telling in terms of the toll they were taking, and how he didn't mind how much he was getting tagged so that he could stalk Leonard down to try and land as much as he can.

It may not have quite as much toe-to-toe action as so many other classic bouts, but the level of drama was tremendous, as was what was at stake...the winner was bound to be crowned the best fighter of the 80's (along with Tyson.) It's easy to slate Leonard, but Hagler chose to fight 12 rounds rather than 15, and, let's be honest, fights nowadays have much less of an impact on a fighter's health and will prolong them for a bit more.

Got to be in my top 5 fights...possibly the fight of the decade?