"Nobody outboxes a prime Thomas Hearns"

agREED. This notion is ridiculous.

 

I don't get why some folks refuse to see fighters the way they really were instead of trying to recreate them in some manner because the reality doesn't work for their arguements.

 

No they can't. You might as well call them poor man's Ali's.

 

Wilfred Benitez at his very best out boxes Hearns. I have no doubt in my mind!

 

David Haye would outbox a Prime Hearns- and if the fight doesn't happen now- then Hearns is a coward.

 

ludicrous

I'm not saying that Norton and Frazier fought like Foreman..I'm just showing the error in people making arbitrary comparisons just based upon a couple similarities.

 

this

 

Nope.

 

Pretty sure he was joking..

 

Milton McCrory had Hearn's physique and his style was very similar... long jab, his best punsh was a straight right hand... he fought in almost the exact same manner except with about 1/8 the level of skill and talent

its a PERFECT comparison of "poor man"

Castillo had a similar approach to Chavez, cruder and less effective due to Chavez's big edge in talent, but very similar

Norton and Frazier fought NOTHING alike at all, no similarities at all... Foreman, in turn, fought nothing like either one of them

its an idiotic position

 

Foreman didnt use the cross arm defense until his comeback in the 90s

Frazier was a bob and weave guy all the way and he predicated everything on one punch

Norton was a vastly better defensive fighter than either of them and his favorite weapon was a counter jab, an overhand right and a hook to the body

Foreman walked forward slowly and on flat feet, stuck his jab out there, mostly to set up one of his roundhouse punches... his defense was based almost entirely on parrying as a young man

three guys who had absolutely nothing in common

the fact that Norton and Foreman were both 6'3 is the dumbest point I have ever heard made... its like saying that Chavez and Whitaker were both 5'6 and therefore, alike

Hearns and McCrory had literally the same body and the same way of using it, same style... the difference was talent and toughness

 

Maybe. But I have been hearing "If Benitez was at his best..." comments from his fans for a long time now.

 

He's not joking.

 

I'd say Norton & Fraizer fought similarly. Both lead volume punchers (swarmers). There are useful stylistic comparisons to be made there in terms of how each would deal with common opponents. As it proved....

 

Of course it does. If it doesn't we may as well chop the heads off chickens and have them run on a roulette wheel until they fall down as basis for our fight picks. That's as clear and useful a stylistic point of comparison as there is.

 

Nope I'm not!!!

 

Personally, and this is just my opinion, but I think Hearns and McCrory were very similar stylistically. It's difficult not to make the comparison given the size, weight, and trainer that they basically had completely in common.

That being said, there were also huge differences in their games. McCrory had better wheels and was more fluid on his feet. He almost never seemed as clumsy or lanky as Hearns often did. McCrory also did a far better job of not getting lured into exchanges. Milton's defense, at times, was superior.

On the flip side, McCrory didn't have the same damaging jab or thunderous right hand that Hearns owned. Tommy was also heads and shoulders better at keeping guys at range. And believe it or not, I think Hearns had the better chin.

But with all that said, their similarities or differences really do nothing in terms of calculating how a McCallum-Hearns match would go.

It cannot be overlooked that Hearns, McCrory and McCallum sparred like savages against each other. They knew each other inside and out. McCallum knew he could stand with McCrory and slowly, methodically wear him down without fear of being hurt. Likewise he would know that he couldn't do the same with Tommy.

So despite McCrory and Hearns sharing many similarities, the bigger factor is that McCallum would never fight Hearns the same as he fought McCrory. He was just too smart a fighter for that.

I have always said that a mythical McCallum-Hearns fight would always be decided by how McCallum was able to take the very first flush right hand that Hearns landed. If McCallum didn't fall, he would take Tommy's heart and legs away over the long haul and win the fight. McCallum was stunned, to some degree, by Jackson and Curry but stayed upright and was never really affected. I don't think there is a question that Tommy would out box McCallum, but like McCrory he would pay a price to do so. Over a 15 round fight, I can see Hearns wilting and falling. I just can't see the granite chin McCallum getting stopped.

 

Yes. The McCallum-McCrory fight is a valid comparision when discussing a Hearns-McCallum fight...and Hearns is a significantly better fighter than McCrory in pretty much every way.

 

Fixed it for ya...

 

Great post. This is thinking things through.

 

I second that. Very good post, the kind that shows maturity and analytical thinking.

 

Pernell Whitaker would had outboxed him and Felix Trinidad would had KO him in 2 rounds.

 

I appreciate your boxing insight, Trpl. :bears:

 

Hearns fought and competed magnificently in so many divisions, this is a complicated question.

At 147: I will definitely select Robinson, Napoles, and Leonard over Hearns, and possibly Emile Griffith as well.

I remember where a young Hearns was dead against Harold Weston, and escaped halfway through the bout to a swollen eye.

Hearns was always top-heavy, and had weak legs.

When he was on top as a destructive assassin like when he buried Pipino, Curry, and Duran; that young hitman was a sight to behold.

Karl

 

I wouldn't say I'd "definitely" go with Leonard over Hearns at 147. Yeah, he won the first encounter, but there was a reason Ray didn't want a rematch.

 

the fact that one used a jab consistently and the other never threw one in his life makes them a lot different than McCrory and Hearns, add in the fact that one threw an overhand right as his primary power punch and the other never threw one? that makes them substantially different than McCrory/Hearns