Ali was a champion who deserved the credit he got, but pound for pound I think Hagler was just as good. He didn't have the pinache of an Ali. He wasn't liked as Sugar Ray was, but I'd put money on Hagler before him any day. I don't know why Hearns turned his back in that last few seconds, but I don't tink he would have lasted much longer.

Either way, the first round is probably one of the most exciting I've ever seen.

Good action there. I remember more famously the Haggler-Leonard fight, which many thought Haggler won.

At the risk of sounding unpopular or just giving a lazy analysis, I think Mike Tyson in his prime was probably the greatest or at least toughest to defeat professional fighter, at least in the TV age. Tyson's reputation put fear in people I never saw Ali do. Tyson's strength was unbelieveable, I watched a program where they showed slow motion action of Tyson's body shots, and the opponent's musles in his body would ripple from the punch and radiate out across the body like something splashed in water, you could see the deep damage done in each shot.

True, Ali had some awesome footwork and had tons of charisma, but he didn't invoke the fear that Tyson did. Opponents would even seem to quit before the fight even got started just based based on Tyson's ferocious reputation. Tyson had knockout power that Ali didn't have, who tended more to wear out his opponents. It comes down to what style you prefer- a guy who could end it with a single, crippling power shot, or a guy who would dish punches with immunity until his opponent dropped.

Yeah, Marvelous Marvin and Hitman Hearns, one of the best scraps ever....a real war! I have this in my YT favourites too. I happen to think Sugar Ray leonard was the greatest of all in terms of pure boxing ability and ringcraft, master of the art. But in terms of just being an absolute superstar, you have to say Ali. None of the current crop really grab my imagination, I respect Floyd Mayweathers ability as a defensive fighter and great counter-puncher.....He has that Philly shoulder roll down to a tee and its amazing how he can slip out of reach....I just think hes a complete asshat though and he gets on my nerves lol. I prefer the warrior attack minded types, but you have to give Floyd some props too to be fair. Manny 'Pacman' Pacquiao is great as well, definite future hall of famer.

Another fighter I wish I could have seen was Jack Dempsey, the 'Manassa Mauler'. Frikkin evil left hook, saw him smash a blokes teeth out flying with one in a YT clip lol....you don't want to get caught with that. Loved Nigel Benn too, he was all heart and his war with Gerald McClellan was a great spectacle, but such a tragic and sad ending....I feel McClellans corner was a joke and it could have been avoided. It was very obvious Gerald was badly hurt, and the repetitive and glazed blinking was a big warning sign. Shame really....and the guy was very lucky not to have been killed. Couldn't fault his courage, but its sport at the end of the day and the fighters health ahould always be paramount, nobody wants to see someone badly hurt like that, though there is always a risk for sure.

> I happen to think Sugar Ray leonard was the greatest of all in terms of pure boxing ability and ringcraft, master of the art

Couldn't agree more. Sugar Ray was Great! His jabs were so fast...remember No Mas?-)

I like the heavy weights though. Ali. Period. BUT, if Mike Tyson had of kept D'Amato by his side....

I'm not a boxing fan, but that was awesome!!!

I have not seen a good boxing match in years.
Thanks for posting, brings back memories.

George Foreman had Tyson's power in his younger days. It was one of the reasons it was so shocking to most people that Ali won the fight in Zaire between him and Foreman.


Wheels

There's something about Hagler's raw power I like more than Sugar Ray Leonard's finesse and speed. I did like watching Leonard and can't deny his talent and I know I wouldn't want to get hit by him...LOL. I have a habit of rooting for the underdog too, which Hagler fir to a tee.

Tyson should have been the greatest. I don't know what went wrong, but the power he had couldn't be matched. Unless Ali could take a beating and wear Tyson down, I don't think even he could beat him. Forman was big. He may have given Tyson a good fight in his prime.



In those days, the only way to catch a boxing match was usually on a broadcast of Wide World of Sports. The Thrilla in Manilla was broadcast on prime time, but most other times you had to wait until the following Saturday afternoon to watch it with Jim McKay. GAWD I feel old.

It would have been hard to beat Tyson in his prime, but I don't think he was the greatest boxer, or even close for that matter. He was very strong, quick and on his best days very fit, with a killer instinct that was rare for his era. But a great boxer, no.

Tyson, never had the competition that the legends of the sport: Johnson, Dempsey, LaMotta, Lewis, Marciano, Ali. The sport changed and there was no one in his weight class who was a true contender. Hollifield was not a true heaveyweight, but he was IMHO a superior fighter to Tyson. Tyson could have been beat,his skills were never truly tested, and when he went up against a true fighter, he was shown to be lacking.

Even though Forman was not as skilled as his peers, he could have seriously hurt Tyson.

Tyson defeated Spinks and Holmes, certainly those guys weren't tomatoes. Do you think it could be a chicken or the egg scenario? Does the quality of Tyson's opponents account for his record, or did Tyson just simply make them appear to be out of his league? Tyson unified the the heavyweight titles at such a young age that no one had done then or since. To the extent you could explain his record owing to a lucky streak given poor opponents, that would be difficult to do if Tyson himself weren't so good even if his opponents were mediocre. If Tyson weren't a great fighter, he would have lost more.

I'll go back over what I said and retract: I shouldn't go so far to call him the greatest, technically, usually the middleweight and welterweight fighters are often the best pound for pound by virtue of being tougher divisions, plus the catchweight fighters that tend to move down up or down in those classes tend to make them more competitive. But I believe Tyson could have defeated any marquee fighter when he was at his best.