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Short aggressive fighters just don't do well against quick power hitters who stand half a foot taller. Only a prime Duran might have given Hearns trouble at 147. Despite what most think, 147 was not Hearns' best division. He was best at 154 and, by most estimations, remains that division's greatest of all-time.
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Pacquiao is an aggressive fighter but, if you look closely, he still has a lot to learn about defense. He still has that glaring Bad habit of leaving himself Wide open if he misses a right hook. This would be suicide against Hearns. Not only that, if JM Marquez can nail Pacquiao with a solid right to the face, TWICE, what do you think the much taller and harder punching, quicker Hearns can do.
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This one's easy. Hearns by KO before 3.
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Mayweather would last longer but he would lose most of the rounds against Hearns. He's not easy to hit but, again, Hearns' blend of height, speed and power would render Mayweather's offense nearly useless. What good is defense if you can't counter? Mayweather is conditioned and smart enough to go the distance. However, there is also the possibility that he could be caught. Hearns wins on points or by mid-round KO.
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The big difference between these fighters is that Hearns was very young at 147. Mayweather has been at 147 for eight years now. This is why he likely goes the distance. Experience would actually be in his favor as he would be much more mature than the 22 year old Hearns. Still, Hearns wins this one.
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Either way you look at it, Mayweather fairs much better against Hearns than does Pacquiao.
BQ 1: it's possible but i doubt it because when Pacquiao fights a guy who comes straight at him with no head movement he can throw all these great combinations but when he fights someone who can box and counter like Marquez he throws significantly less and is restricted to the same jab jab straight left hand combo. I don't think his left hand would land frequently or hard enough to trouble Hearns.
BQ2: again it's possible especially if he fought the Hearns that Leonard fought, Hearns was drained and wound up weighing in at 145. For such a tall and thin guy that can't be good no matter how great he is. Leonard was able to rock Hearns with a hard left hook, of course Floyd don't hit as hard as Leonard but the leaping left hook is one of Mayweather's best punches so it's possible that he can land it just hard enough to be a significant scoring punch and catch the viewers attention. Floyd was suprisingly good at maintaining distance against the taller and longer Corralles by jabbing to the body and leaping left hooks, of course Hearns is on a different level to the late Diego but this is perhaps an indication of some moderate success Floyd could have.
With Hearns being 22 when he fought Leonard experience has to be considered. Great win over Cuevas but other than that no real superfight he had experience prior to Leonard. Pacquiao and Mayweather would be around 29-32 with a lot more experience. Maybe Hearns could get careless and fall into the left that both Floyd and Manny dropped Hatton with, but i highly doubt it. Nightmare matchup for both.
Hearns KO 4 Pacquiao, UD over Mayweather
Edit: 2 rounds? i agree Hearns was clearly winning and outboxing sugar but i don't think it was that lopsided or relevant to say Floyd couldn't at least have SOME success against Hearns. Leonard ain't even a classic counter puncher like Floyd anyway, he can box at times but he's more of an unconventional boxer puncher/slugger with flashy combos. Mayweather is a better technician than Leonard and has better defence. Hearns outboxing Leonard after Leonard rocked him, dum da da dum... slugger Leonard to the rescue, Leonard is now the stalker and eventually finishes the tired Hearns. Also he fought Duran in the pits in the first fight, the way he fought against Duran in the rematch and Hagler suggests he is a classic mover with counter punching ability, which he can be but that was out of his comfort zone. He got beat by a better slugger in Duran so changed up, against Hagler he decided to box after being knocked down in sparring. Mayweather is far more comfortable as a counter puncher than sugar, it's his nature. Leonard is a slugger in disguise IMO.
i was thinking about this a couple of days ago , at first i thought floyd would lose on points by a wide margin but the more i think about their styles i could see floyd getting smoked early ..... floyd's high left shoulder would be his weakness hearns would just come straight over landing that huge right hand on an unprotected mayweather i wouldn't be surprised i hearns did floyd in the first hearns is just to big `.`
i'd expect manny to get ko'd as well but if he got past the first 3 he might last to the bell
Floyd because of his superior boxing skills, movement and defense. Manny would probably engage Hearns toe-to-toe and he'd be in big trouble if he did that. Tommy hit much harder than Pac and his power could take out even heavyweights. Manny lost a bit of his punching power when he moved up in weight.
Just happened to see the Leonard-Hearns 1 super fight again very recently, this time on you tube and I saw some things I never noticed as much when I first saw it on TV back in 81. I saw how Tommy was having some hard time with Leonard's constant movement, especially his lateral movements in the first three, four rounds when he was virtually stalking Sugar Ray. I also saw how vulnerable Tommy was when Sugar started to stand his ground and catch him with some powerful lefts and combinations. Of course, Tommy was not in his best shape. He came in at a low 145 lbs to be able to match Leonard's speed but he was so thin and looked weak and almost gassed by the sixth round. He no longer had the same pop on his punches.by the 7th round and it became just a matter of time before Leonard finishes him which happened in the 14th. Tommy lasted that long because he turned from stalker to boxer beginning the 8th round.
Based on that fight, how would have Floyd and Manny fared against Tommy given his same condition in that losing bout with Sugar Ray? One important thing to consider though: Tommy was a tall welterweight at 6-1, almost 6-2 but Sugar Ray was a muscular 5-10 tall welter. Comparatively Manny is just 5-6 and Floyd about 5-7 or 5-8 and therefore would suffer much in comparison height and reach-wise against Tommy.
Given that and based on what I saw in Tommy in that fight, I doubt it if any of Manny or Floyd could have managed to reach Tommy with anything significant by way of their best fight weapons.
But between Manny and Floyd, I would say that Floyd, with his mobility and defensive prowess would have fared better against that version of Tommy. But still Floyd would lose by wide points decision if he survives to 12. I think it would be asking to much to expect Manny to force the fight against a big, powerful and mobile welterweight as Tommy especially in the opening rounds though to manny's credit, he also has good defense. But coming in to force Hearns to open up as he does against the likes of Clottey and Margarito would put Manny in the high risk of a KO. If Manny elects to wage a defensive fight, he will fare much worse than Floyd.
Mayweather, because he has a better defense.
BQ1- No, he would get picked apart, and finished in the mid rounds.
BQ- No, he would make it close, but Hearns would be too much.
Interesting debate going on about Pacquiao's chances vs Tommy Hearns so I thought I'd make another May-Pac question lolol.
I think Mayweather might survive longer but Manny would have more success against Hearns and a better chance of beating him. Both would suffer the fate of Duran and get knocked out early. I believe Manny has a better chance of finding that glass while swarming him. Floyd might survive for a while but no one out boxes Tommy Hearns, which is Floyd's only way to win. Ray Leonard couldn't do it, Duran never had a chance, Floyd would get smoked.
BQ 1: Could Manny find the glass?
BQ2: Could Floyd out-box the Hitman?
