‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler, and Thomas ‘The Hitman’ Hearns are 3 of the greatest all-time fighters in the history of boxing. During their professional boxing careers, these 3 fighters’ paths crossed at one point in time.
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First Leonard fought Hearns, then Hearns fought Hagler, and then Hagler fought Leonard. ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard beat Hagler and Hearns in these clashes. With that being said, however, was Leonard the best fighter of the 3 during this time?
Back when Leonard, Hagler, and Hearns was fighting, they fought 15 round fights for most of their professional boxing careers. By the time these 3 fighters started fighting 12 round fights, they were either out of their primes or heading towards it.
In the first collision of these 3 boxing legends, it was Leonard vs. Hearns. In their first fight back in September of 1981, Hearns was so far ahead on the judges’ scorecards that he would have beaten Leonard if the fight was a 12-round fight.
The Leonard vs. Hearns fight back in 1981, however, it was a 15-round fight that gave Leonard the chance to seize the moment to stop Hearns in the 14th round. Leonard and Hearns would rematch in June of 1989 were the 2 fighters fought to a controversial 12th round draw. A lot of the boxing world felt that Hearns should have won that fight.
In the second collision of these 3 boxing legends, Hearns was knockout by Hagler in their fight back in April of 1985 in the 3rd round. Hagler left no doubt as to who won that fight. Though Hagler vs. Hearns only lasted 3 rounds, it was one of the most explosive fights in boxing history.
Now on to Leonard vs. Hagler. That fight took place back in April of 1987. Leonard vs. Hagler was such a close fight that every time you watch it, you may say Leonard won the fight, and then the next time you watch it, you may say Hagler won the fight. In any case, ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard was awarded the close 12th round split-decision victory.
The split-decision loss frustrated ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler so much that he never put on another pair of boxing gloves. During their primes, Leonard, Hagler, and Hearns were the best fighters of the era they shared.
All 3 of these boxing legends beat some great competition in their era. Fighters like ‘Hands of Stone’ Roberto Duran and ‘The Radar’ Wilfred Benitez just to name a couple. Okay, Boxing World. Prime for Prime, who was the better fighter out of these 3 boxing legends in the boxing era they shared?
‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler or Thomas ‘The Hitman’ Hearns? Check out Potshot Boxing’s (PSB) latest boxing poll and vote!
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