Ray Robinson vs. Marvin Hagler

I won't write much about this one. I want the opinions of the board.

I'll say this. Hagler was as great as his biggest supporters claim he was. However, his movements were predictable. If you watch enough films, you can predict which punch he'll throw and when he'll throw it. The original "Sugar Ray" was the antithesis of that description. That's the way I see it.

I honestly can't think of a way Hagler could've bested Robinson, but I'm all ears for this one.

frank i wont say much except im in agreement with you.robinson was a combination of the best from ray leanord and tommy hearns and then some.he wasnt perdictable for sure.he could stick and move.hit extremly hard with either hand.perhaps the greatest 3 -4 -5 punch combination fighter ever.he could fight on the inside as effectively as the long range arena also.fastastic hand speed with power.i wish i could remember the fight but robby in his prime hit a guy and on his way falling down backwords hit him with a 5 punch combo with awsome speed power and accratecy before the guy hit the floor..that by far was the most awsome display of punching and finishing a guy i ever saw ...
his ring intelligence and generalship knew no supierior...carmen basilio told me more then once and he hated robinson but said when god gave out guts robinson was first in line.

I think SRR is the greatest fighter to ever walk the planet. I think Hagler was the greatest middle to ever walk the planet. Put em together 100 times and you probably have a 50-50 split. The difference to me is Haglers size and strength and the fact the Robinson at middle was NOTHING like Robinson at welter. Hagler was physically big and strong, but in his PRIME (not the guy that fought Hearns, Leonard, and Mugabi) was also very fast and very slick. I think he probably beat Ray for the same reason Maxim did. Too big, too strong, too durable.

It's really hard to say, Robinson was hell when he was well, but so was Hagler.

Robinson's best years were at Welterweight, but he was no slouch at Middleweight. Just for the sake of argument, i'll give the nod to Robinson over Hagler, because his speed, superior boxing skills, and vast ring experience would give him the edge.

A little trivia: When Jake LaMotta handed Robinson his first loss, it was in 1943, as a welterweight, 67 fucking years ago.