Fantasy Fight: Thomas Hearns Vs. Sergio Martinez at Middleweight

I always thought that middleweight was a little big for Hearns, he did however have success there with victories over Roldan, DeWitt and a moral victory over Leonard. He was also starched by Iran Barkley.

We know what Martinez has done at this weight and he has a future ahead of him.

I'm taking Martinez in this one at this weight.

At '54 I have Hearns.

geez ..anything above 160 its tommy..hearns did ok at LH. at 147 early in segios career its tommy.at 154 tommy also i feel.at 160 slight edge to sergio for sure.sregio holds his own at 154 but tommy i think prevails.

i think Hearns murders him. i'm going to put it out there and say that i think maybe Martinez's current success is leading to people overrating him. Martinez has 2 notable victories on his resume, Kelly Pavlik who whilst being the undisputed champion was 2 fights removed from being schooled by B-Hop as well as being an alcoholic. Williams was a fighter that started his career of at 147lb and got his reputation as being the most avoided man in boxing, at 147lb, because of his size. at 160lb, or 158lb rather where the rematch took place, Williams had actually achieved nothing and he clearly isn't as formidable a force as he was being a 6ft2in 82inch reach welterweight. Dzinziruk... how high can we really rate him as a challenger compared to some of the guys Hearns was fighting in the 80s? Dzinziruk had a big padded record with no notable victories on it. Martinez has been down in 2 of his last 4 fights and stopped early in his career at a lower weight by Margarito who isn't particulary renowned for KO power but more his relentless pressure. maybe it was fighting at a lower weight that was the reason Martinez got stopped. anyway i'm not trying to discredit what Martinez has achieved, he has achieved it the hard way and the legitimate way. i just wonder if the division being in such a weak state is making us fans overrate what Martinez is. Martinez has yet to fight both an athletic and skilled boxer at middleweight, mainly because there are none at the moment. Martinez is also a pretty small middleweight in comparison to past greats in the division such as Hagler and Monzon. i just really wonder if Martinez would be anywhere near as successful against the middleweights in the 80s as he is now. he wouldn't be as successful in a division that boasted guys like Barkley, Hagler, Duran, Hearns, Leonard, Mugabi, Nunn, McCallum.... even Herol Graham if he could have laid off the weed!!! i wonder if the currently weak division is flattering Martinez...

that all being said, i think Martinez truly deserves his position in the top half of the top 10 p4p rankings and any plaudits he gets for the work he has put in over the last 18-24 months to get there. he's done it the hard way and the legitimate way and i believe that deserves a whole mountain full of credit. i'm just questioning how well his career would have gone if he was fighting during the 1980's crop of talent

I really think Maravilla would have been right there with the top middles from the 80's. He'd lose to Hagler beat Mugabi, he beats Nunn and its a wash with McCallum. Hagler was a 5'9" southpaw and Martinez is 5'10" soutpaw. Hagler beats Martinez 8-10. Martinez beats Barkley and Duran imo. Prime Toney at Middleweight would be tough. Leonard drew with Hearns in 89 at middle split with an old Duran (Should specify these were Supermiddleweight fights under 160) and got beat by Camacho and Norris at the end. Leonard also eeked out a victory with an old Hagler. All that said I think a guy with the speed and conditioning of Martinez is right there with this crop of Middles. At middle I think he beats Middleweight Hearns.

hardcorebee24 wrote:I really think Maravilla would have been right there with the top middles from the 80's. He'd lose to Hagler beat Mugabi, he beats Nunn and its a wash with McCallum. Hagler was a 5'9" southpaw and Martinez is 5'10" soutpaw. Hagler beats Martinez 8-10. Martinez beats Barkley and Duran imo. Prime Toney at Middleweight would be tough. Leonard drew with Hearns in 89 at middle split with an old Duran (Should specify these were Supermiddleweight fights under 160) and got beat by Camacho and Norris at the end. Leonard also eeked out a victory with an old Hagler. All that said I think a guy with the speed and conditioning of Martinez is right there with this crop of Middles. At middle I think he beats Middleweight Hearns.

cool

dbudge wrote:

hardcorebee24 wrote:I really think Maravilla would have been right there with the top middles from the 80's. He'd lose to Hagler beat Mugabi, he beats Nunn and its a wash with McCallum. Hagler was a 5'9" southpaw and Martinez is 5'10" soutpaw. Hagler beats Martinez 8-10. Martinez beats Barkley and Duran imo. Prime Toney at Middleweight would be tough. Leonard drew with Hearns in 89 at middle split with an old Duran (Should specify these were Supermiddleweight fights under 160) and got beat by Camacho and Norris at the end. Leonard also eeked out a victory with an old Hagler. All that said I think a guy with the speed and conditioning of Martinez is right there with this crop of Middles. At middle I think he beats Middleweight Hearns.

cool

Go screw

martinez would fit in the mix for darn sure.duran was past his peak and yes had pockets of second harrah suprizes but non the less was past his best..martinez has a excellent chance if he gets trommy into the later rounds.12 13 14 and 15 where his legs fade..unlike paul williams tommy fights tall.excellent jab and that right hand with power is danger.unlike pavik tommy can move well.unlike citron tommy fights with avengence.at 147 hearns kos him.ditto 154 and forget over 160..at 160 martinez is at his best.he wont catch tommy fighting short like he did williams at all..hes intelligent enough and has plenty of abilty to get to the later rounds.thats the edge im talking about..tommy is a great fighter that fought several other good to near great to great fighters.martinez mearly has fought good fighters.hearns is a greater fighter yes by far.thats not the question at all.
the issue is at 160 how would sergio do..hes good enough to do well .if he gets hearns in the late rounds he pulls out a win.can hearns ko him..absolutely and sergio would realize that.hes excellentin executing a fight plan.he better against hearns.

Martinez could KO Hearns as well.

i think Hearn's range and that straight right delivered with extreme power is all wrong for Martinez. Martinez has every disadavantage if he fights Hearns in my opinion. Pavlik and Williams are flat footed fighters that don't amount their attacks behind a decent and effective jab. yeah Pavlik gives it the 1,2 but he is predictable. Hearns would keep Martinez away with that jab and catch him with a crippling right hand straight on the chin of Martinez in that Southpaw stance. and i don't think Martinez would be able to take Hearn's shot

dbudge wrote:i think Hearn's range and that straight right delivered with extreme power is all wrong for Martinez. Martinez has every disadavantage if he fights Hearns in my opinion. Pavlik and Williams are flat footed fighters that don't amount their attacks behind a decent and effective jab. yeah Pavlik gives it the 1,2 but he is predictable. Hearns would keep Martinez away with that jab and catch him with a crippling right hand straight on the chin of Martinez in that Southpaw stance. and i don't think Martinez would be able to take Hearn's shot

Sweet

hardcorebee24 wrote:

dbudge wrote:i think Hearn's range and that straight right delivered with extreme power is all wrong for Martinez. Martinez has every disadavantage if he fights Hearns in my opinion. Pavlik and Williams are flat footed fighters that don't amount their attacks behind a decent and effective jab. yeah Pavlik gives it the 1,2 but he is predictable. Hearns would keep Martinez away with that jab and catch him with a crippling right hand straight on the chin of Martinez in that Southpaw stance. and i don't think Martinez would be able to take Hearn's shot

Sweet

mmmmmm stop it you're hurting me. you're so big and tasty......

dbudge wrote:

hardcorebee24 wrote:

dbudge wrote:i think Hearn's range and that straight right delivered with extreme power is all wrong for Martinez. Martinez has every disadavantage if he fights Hearns in my opinion. Pavlik and Williams are flat footed fighters that don't amount their attacks behind a decent and effective jab. yeah Pavlik gives it the 1,2 but he is predictable. Hearns would keep Martinez away with that jab and catch him with a crippling right hand straight on the chin of Martinez in that Southpaw stance. and i don't think Martinez would be able to take Hearn's shot

Sweet

mmmmmm stop it you're hurting me. you're so big and tasty......

Cut it out, I told you not to say that stuff here.


The elephant emoticon is hilarious.

hardcorebee24 wrote:

dbudge wrote:

hardcorebee24 wrote:

dbudge wrote:i think Hearn's range and that straight right delivered with extreme power is all wrong for Martinez. Martinez has every disadavantage if he fights Hearns in my opinion. Pavlik and Williams are flat footed fighters that don't amount their attacks behind a decent and effective jab. yeah Pavlik gives it the 1,2 but he is predictable. Hearns would keep Martinez away with that jab and catch him with a crippling right hand straight on the chin of Martinez in that Southpaw stance. and i don't think Martinez would be able to take Hearn's shot

Sweet

mmmmmm stop it you're hurting me. you're so big and tasty......

Cut it out, I told you not to say that stuff here.


The elephant emoticon is hilarious.

it was perfect for the occasions. i was looking for a better cockgobbler one but it doesn't appear that we produce such vulgarity on this gentleman's forum

Even at 160, Hearns KO's Martinez. Maravilla would be on his horse running from the git go. At 6'1" with a 78" reach, Hearns can out jab him & his power is mucho macho man. Just the three rounds he went with Hagler is more impressive than Sergio KO'ing Dzinziruk. Even in his losses to Barkley, he was killing Iran until the fatal blows landed. Ask yourself this....could Sergio handle Virgil Hill? When Tommy wanted to box, he could. Look at Leonard I, Wilfred Benitez & Hill.

Hearns is a different class of fighter than Martinez. Sergio has a fan in me, but he is not even close approaching the level of the hit man yet. In fact, he still has a way to go to reach the level of the guys below Hearns. Nunn, McCallum, Kalambay, Benn, and company.
Dont forget that Kelley Pavlik (who is not highly respected)had Martinez on the verge in thier bout. He was getting whacked around pretty good by Kelley in the 7th round until the cut changed the fight back in his favor.

Hearns was a tall fighter that fought tall. He was a M_O_N_S_T_E_R_O_U_S puncher at 154 and a HUGE puncher at 160 and 168. Even at 175 he was a KO puncher with either hand. At 190, he started having trouble hurting guys with one shot. Hearns was also every BIT as fast with his hands as Sergio. BIG disadvantages for Sergio in this match-up. I just dont think he could win. Hearns lost ONE decision in his entire career, and that was WELL past his prime at 175 pounds. In his prime, NOBODY could touch him as a boxer and that includes HOF and ALL-TIME-GREATS Sugar Ray Leonard and Wilfred Benitez.