Hagler-Leonard

Reposted from 2018

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At the time (1987), I was a Marvin Hagler fan and thought he had won.  Watching the fight on film a few years ago convinced me that I was wrong.  Boxing matches are not evaluated as fights, they are scored as matches.  Leonard outscored Hagler, as I can now see.  He outwitted him, even if he didn't outfight him.

Yet I had learned something in the interim, that illustrates the outwitting even more.  There were the usual negotiations about money and guarantees, which Hagler and his people focused on.  He wanted a payday.  Because of this, they did not negotiate as hard on the rules of the fight as they might have.  A 15-rounder would have favored the stronger Hagler; Leonard successfully negotiated a 12-rounder instead. Heavier (and more usual at 160 lbs) 14 ounce gloves would likewise favor the stronger Hagler; Leonard's handlers arranged for 12 ounce gloves.  Lastly, the boxers fought in an extra-large ring, favoring the more agile Leonard over the more powerful Hagler.  The fight was so close that it is likely that Hagler would have won if he had had any one of those three advantages. Leonard also psyched him out by talking up how much he was going to slug it out toe-to-toe with Hagler, then dancing away from him for much of the fight. Now that you know these things, you can see them in the fight, even though the announcers do not.

I was thinking of drawing a lesson from this, but I had best not.