For those of us who have spent more than 20 years posting and participating in online boxing forums dating back to the late 1990s, when it comes to boxing history one thing is clear – some topics are timeless!
Whether it’s debating who’s the best Pound-for-Pound boxer of all time, or whether it’s arguing over the top 10 boxers from a given weight class or a given point in time, or even speculation over rematches that never happened. What would have happened if George Foreman got an immediate rematch with Muhammad Ali, or if Mike Tyson got an immediate rematch with Buster Douglas, or more recently, what would have happened if Lennox Lewis had a return bout against Vitali Klitschko. And of course, there are other varieties of hypothetical match-ups, a popular one being who would have won between prime versions of Ali and Tyson.
Another common debate involves the who really won variety. This topic often arises when we have historically significant match-ups that resulted in close and somewhat controversial decisions. The textbook example of this is the classic middleweight showdown between Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard. During all my time participating on online boxing forums – the debate over whether Hagler deserved to win against Leonard is one subject that continues to produce spirited debate to this very day – more than 30 years later.
It was April 6, 1987, at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada – reigning WBC middleweight world champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler put his championship on the line against former two-division world champion Sugar Ray Leonard. At the end of the evening, Leonard was awarded a split decision victory, that was considered controversial in the eyes of many.
So did Hagler deserve the victory against Leonard? Who really won?
This edition of Rummy’s Corner provides a brief fight recap on a round-by-round basis where we attempt to score the fight while also reflecting back on the official judging of the bout. For one man’s view on a timeless boxing debate, please watch and enjoy the video!