Who Won The Series? A Second Look at the Greatest Rivalry of All Time

The fabulous four. It is the most talked about, argued about, and marveled over rivalry in boxing history. Sugar Ray Leonard. Roberto Duran. Thomas Hearns. Marvin Hagler. Four of the very best fighters ever whose primes intersected and whose paths crossed in the ring (often more than once).

The rivalry produced some of the most memorable moments ever witnessed in a boxing ring. I am not writing this post to rehash those moments; that’s been done to death. Rather, I am here to ask the question: Who won the series? At first blush, the question seems silly. After all, Ray’s the obvious winner, right? He’s the only one who defeated three of the others. So, he’s the winner, plain and simple. That’s the usual take on it. However, I am going to suggest here that this view is short-sighted and does not take everything into account. Fact is, it’s not so clear at all and a case can be made for any of them as the winner of the series.

Let’s start with a closer look at Leonard’s fights with the other Fab Four members. His record against the others is four wins, one loss, and one draw. He beat Duran twice, Hearns once, and Hagler once. Two of those wins came inside the distance. And the first time he beat Hearns and the first time he beat Duran, both were in their primes. So, obviously, he wins the series, right? Well … not so fast. Let’s take a closer look.

First, his fights with Duran. Almost everyone agrees that the second time they met Duran was not right. Indeed, Leonard, knowing about Duran’s propensity to blow up between fights, deliberately pushed for the rematch as soon as possible, hoping Duran would come in weakened from losing too much weight too fast. And, according to pretty much everyone, that’s exactly what happened. Leonard, of course, won that fight when Duran quit in the eighth round. They met again in a third fight when Duran was undoubtedly over the hill, and Leonard won a boring decision. So over the course of three fights, the two men only met once when both were at their best, and Duran won (and did so coming up from lightweight). Therefore, one could make the case that Leonard did not prove his superiority over Duran.

Now let’s look at his fights with Hearns. The first time they met, Leonard won clean, stopping Hearns in the fourteenth round when both men were in their primes. No excuses. However, the second fight was a different story, with the two men fighting to a draw in a fight almost everyone said Hearns won. Now, some will say the rematch doesn’t count because they were past their primes. However, that’s revisionist history. While it was universally understood at the time of the actual match that Hearns was past his prime, this was not the consensus about Leonard. And even if one wishes to argue that both were past their primes, it’s almost certain that Hearns was further past his than Leonard, and yet he still got the better of Ray.

That means he had improved since the first fight, and one can make the case that had Hearns possessed more smarts and experience the first time they had met (like knowing how to clinch), he would have won. It also means that one can reasonably argue that over the course of their two fights, Ray did not prove his superiority over Hearns.

Now, the Hagler fight. It’s possibly the most debated decision in history. Ray got the nod, but about half of the boxing world thought Hagler was robbed. So one could make the case that Ray really didn’t prove his superiority against Hagler.

However, one could argue that two of the other members – Hagler and Hearns – did prove their superiority over at least one other member. Hearns destroyed Duran, and Hagler destroyed Hearns. Neither fight was controversial. Both men registered clear, devastating knockouts. And while one could argue that Duran was undersized against Hearns, no such case can be made with regard to Hagler and Hearns.

So, let’s sum it up by looking at each man’s record against the others and their case for being declared the winner of the rivalry.

Ray Leonard. He registered wins over all three other members of the Fab Four, but cannot claim superiority over any of them.

Thomas Hearns. He registered a clear win over Duran, a draw that should have been a win against Leonard, and a clear loss to Hagler. He has a case that he demonstrated superiority over two of the three members.

Marvin Hagler. He is 2- 1 against the other three members, with the one loss being controversial and the win over Hearns being beyond reproach. The win over Duran could be attributed to Duran being undersized, but it was a clear win nonetheless.

Roberto Duran. Although he lost to all three members, a case can still be made for him being the best. Consider, he came up from lightweight and beat Leonard the only time they met in their primes. He also fought well against Hagler, giving him a better fight than did Hearns. It could be argued that had Duran been a natural welter, he would have beaten all those guys.

So, that’s my take on the greatest ring rivalry of all time. Who do YOU think won the series?

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