Marvelous Marvin Hagler was one of the most intimidating and ferocious prize fighters of the 1970s and 1980s. His legendary career spanned 67 professional fights over 15 years. He held the undisputed Middleweight Championship for the better part of 7 years and reigned over the division with an iron fist from 1980-1987. He fought in some of the biggest and most remembered fights in the history of boxing and will always be remembered for his tremendous chin, rated as one of the best, if not THE BEST ever. He was ferocious in the ring and never touched the canvas once in his career. His fight with Tommy Hearns is simply referred to as "The War" and is considered by many to be one of the greatest fights in the history of boxing. He closed his career by fighting Sugar Ray Leonard in one of the most anticipated and exciting fights of all-time and walked away from the sport when the fight ended in a controversial decision that is still highly debated to this day.
If you've never had an opportunity to see any of Hagler's fights I highly recommend a trip to youtube to take a stroll down memory lane to see one of the finest Middleweights of All-Time. He made his professional debut on May 18th, 1973 in Brockton, Massachusetts at the Brockton High School Gymnasium - a 2nd round knockout of Terry Ryan. Hagler spent his early years in the central ward of Newark, New Jersey, and following the riots that occurred there in July 1967, the Haglers decided they needed to get their family away from the violence and when the opportunity to move to Brockton, MA presented itself, the family uprooted. Brockton proved to have plenty of rough streets itself though, and after losing a street fight in 1969 he took up boxing when he walked into a gym owned by the Petronelli brothers - Goody and Pat, who became his trainers and future managers. Hagler had always been a loner and he found the perfect outlet to unleash his pent-up frustrations. Under the Petronelli's tutelage, Hagler won the 165-pound AAU title in 1973 and turned pro shortly thereafter.
By November of 1974, Hagler had piled up a record of 17-0 with 14 coming by knockout. He took on Sugar Ray Seales in a rematch in Seattle, WA after defeating him by unanimous decision just 3 months earlier. The fight ended in a controversial draw and Hagler for the first time experienced the harsh realities of the boxing business. By the end of 1975, Hagler had established a record of 25-0-1 and he and his team decided it was time to move up in competition and "throw their hat in the ring" with the real Middleweight contenders as the Petronelli's would say. That meant going through Philadelphia, and into what they called "The Lion's Den" - The Spectrum - where many of the great Philly fighters made their mark. Hagler's first foray into The Spectrum was a bout with Middleweight contender Bobby Watts in January of 1976. Watts won a very close, controversial majority decision, and Hagler got his first taste of defeat. Just over two months later, Hagler was back in action at the Spectrum once again and battled Philadelphian Willie "The Worm" Monroe.
Monroe had one of those nights, and fought perhaps the best fight of his career, as he took apart the younger and less-experienced Hagler. He won by a relatively wide decision in 10 rounds, and Hagler was quoted following the bout as saying, "From the 2nd round, I couldn't breathe. I learned a lot from Monroe and I'm still young".¹ He went on to make his third return trip to Philadelphia in September of the same year, this time knowing that he needed to come out with a victory, and he did exactly that - getting Eugene "Cyclone" Hart to retire after 8 brutal rounds. He went on to avenge the loss to Monroe by dispatching him with a 12th Round TKO, this time on Hagler's turf in Boston, Massachusetts.
They fought their rubber-match in August of 1977, back at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, and this time Hagler left no doubt as he turned from his southpaw to an orthodox stance and stunned and then dropped Monroe in the 2nd round. After regaining his feet, he staggered around the ring and the ref waved off the fight. By the end of 1977, Hagler was considered the top Middleweight contender, especially after his 2nd round stoppage of Monroe. Yet, the top contenders avoided him like the plague, as Hagler continued to go about his business, but struggled to get the best to step in the ring with him and piled up a record of 46-2-1, before he finally got his first shot at the Title - in his 50th career fight -against Vito Antuofermo from Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas in November of 1979.
Hagler out-worked Antuofermo and pummeled the Italian, opening up cuts above both eyes. He was a battered mess by the end of the fight, with 6 cuts, and Hagler was cut himself as well, as Vito continued to bull forward the entire fight and was able to turn it into a back alley brawl as the fight wore on, en which Hagler obliged. At the conclusion of the 15-round bloodbath, the outcome seemed apparent to everyone except the judges as referee Mills Lane instructed Hagler to turn toward the camera and he would raise his arm after the decision had been announced. And then came the decision - a draw. Howard Cosell, doing the tape delay for ABC couldn't believe the decision and was joined by the majority at ringside in stunned disillusionment with the verdict. Hagler was crushed, and vowed that he'd never leave it up to the judges again, raising his two fists and saying you can't leave anything in the hands of the judges, I'll let them do it for me [referring to his two raised fist].
Antuofermo went on to lose the Title to Great Britain's Alan Minter, and in late September of 1980, Hagler got his second crack at the undisputed Middleweight crown when he met Minter at Wembley Arena in London, England. Hagler sliced and diced the cut-prone Minter and opened up his face like a finely crafted surgeon, and by the end of the 3rd round, Minter had bad cuts around both eyes, particularly a deep gash above the left eye, that were spraying blood around the ring. The fight was stopped, and while Minter's corner had no problem with the stoppage, the crowd went berserk, fueled by racial comments made by Minter in the buildup to the fight. He had exclaimed, "I am not letting any black man take that title from me". He later claimed that what he had really said was, "I won't let 'that' black man take that title from me". The subsequent riot that followed was an embarrassment to the highest, as beer bottles and glass rained down on the ring from the crowd, and the fighters were forced to flea the ring under police cover. Hagler never got the much-deserved right to receive the Middleweight belts in the traditional ceremony in the ring following the fight.
Once he finally received the belts, Hagler cherished them dearly and made certain that no contender was going to take his hard-earned achievements. In his second title defense, he offered Antuofermo a rematch, and pummeled him through 4 rounds, once again opening up Vito's cut-worn face. The corner stopped the fight and claimed it should be a no-contest due to head-butts, but it was clear that none of them were intentional from Hagler and that if anything, Antuofermo leaned in too much and caused the contact to happen. At any rate, Hagler had gotten his revenge, and went on to dispatch his next 5 opponents by knockout or stoppage.
Hagler had pushed his record to 57-2-2, and had made 7 successful title defenses, when a super-bout with the great Roberto Duran came calling. The two met in November, 1983, in Las Vegas, as Duran moved up in weight to challenge for the Middleweight Title. Hagler was a 4-1 favorite, and for the first time as Champion, was forced to go the distance. He eked out a close unanimous decision in a fierce battle with Duran, and while Hagler was satisfied with the victory, many were disappointed that he didn't get the knockout. Hagler claimed he wasn't worried about winning the bout, as he was ahead on the scorecards and figured there was no need to "take unnecessary punishment unless you have to?" Especially from a fighter of the caliber of Duran. He was known as "The Hands of Stone" afterall.
The fight with Duran set the stage for what Hagler was hoping would be a very lucrative showdown with Sugar Ray Leonard that had eluded him for years. Leonard had invited Hagler and others to a charity event in Baltimore, MD. in early November of 1982, with what he termed "A Big Announcement" about his future. The Hagler camp figured the invite meant Leonard was finally going to accept an offer to meet him in the ring - but instead, Sugar Ray announced his retirement saying a bout with Hagler would unfortunately never happen. Hagler was left at the wayside once again and missing the vindication and massive pay day - he thought he would finally get.
Flash forward to the beginning of 1985 and former Welterweight and 2-division Champion Tommy Hearns needed another big fight after what many considered to be his pinnacle moment in the ring - a brutal 2nd round knockout of Roberto Duran - in which Duran was knocked cold for a moment and was left dazed and rattled. It was the first time Duran had been knocked out in a fight in his long and illustrious career, and Hearns had looked spectacular in doing it and was rewarded as being named the 1984 'The Ring' magazine and Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Year. Waiting at Middleweight was a potential mega-fight with the great Marvelous Marvin Hagler and when the fighters agreed to the fight there was genuine bad-blood between them then and in the build-up. Hearns claimed he had to be one to do all of the talking during the press tour because Hagler didn't bring anything when it came to excitement in the build-up. Marvelous found Hearns to be very cocky and couldn't stand all of the talk and by the time fight night came around in April 1985, both fighters were ready to go at the one-another with everything they had.
There was an electricity in the air that night from the out-door arena at Caesar's Palace as the two met and after the bell rang to start the first round, the fighters rushed to the center of the ring and instantly began throwing all-out bombs at each other with reckless abandon. Hearns was 40-1 going into the fight with his only loss being to Sugar Ray Leonard 3 1/2 years earlier and managed to hurt Hagler with one of his signature massive right hands and continued to connect, but Hagler withstood the barrage and was firing back and connecting with huge right and left hooks of his own and he staggered and hurt Hearns as well. By the time the bell rang and the dust settled on the first round, the entire crowd and everyone at ringside could not believe the brutal display of all-out, non-stop action they had witnessed in the greatest first round in the history of boxing.
The second round was inevitably unable to live up to the first, but was still an action-packed display with both fighters continuing to throw big punches. In the third round the action picked right back up again at the beginning of the round and one of those big right hands from Hearns opened up a cut up on Marvin's forehead that was causing blood to stream down the Middleweight Champs' face. The referee called for a halt and had the ringside doctor examine the cut and he asked him if he could see and Hagler reportedly replied, "I ain't missing him am I?" The fight resumed and everyone could tell that Hagler must have felt the urgency because once the action resumed he went after Hearns with all he had and staggered him with a clubbing right hand that caused him to turn his back on Hagler and float toward the ropes. The Champ knew he had Hearns hurt and finished it up with another right hand against the ropes that sent Hearns completely out and falling face-first into the canvas. He was somehow able to make it to his feet just before the count, but was completely dazed, lost, and out of it, and the fight was halted with a thundering conclusion in favor of Hagler.
It was a fight that raised the profiles of each fighter tremendously, and earned each an enormous amount of respect. It is perhaps the most brutal 3 rounds of all-out war in boxing history, and is considered by most to be among the greatest fights in the history boxing, if not the greatest fight ever. With his legacy now cemented and money in the bank, Hagler began to focus more on Carlos Monzon's division record of 14 consecutive title defenses. His next opponent was John "The Beast" Mugabi, who was an olympic silver-medalist from Uganda and was an all-out clubber and brawler. He was a perfect 25-0 with 25 KOs and was ranked as the #1 challenger to Hagler. The two met in March of 1986, and engaged in a brutal affair in which Mugabi was able to effectively hit Hagler, as many noticed at ringside that the long-time Champ was beginning to show early signs of ring fatigue and appeared a bit slower. None-the-less Hagler knocked Mugabi out in the 11th round and seemed to hint at retirement during the interview in the ring afterward.
Many could tell that the brutal wars with Tommy "The Hitman" Hearns and John "The Beast" Mugabi had taken their toll on Hagler, and that included Sugar Ray Leonard, who was watching the fight from ringside, and it was after watching this fight, that he decided he could beat Hagler and offered to come out of retirement if Hagler wanted the fight. It was Hagler this time, however, that wasn't sure about taking the fight - he had seriously been considering retirement and just wasn't feeling the same desire anymore. Promoter Bob Arum was even quoted as saying he figured Hagler was going to retire in the face of being challenged by Sugar Ray. After a couple of months, Hagler agreed to the fight, and the mega-fight that should have occurred years earlier was finally on.
The two All-Time legends met for the undisputed Middleweight Championships of the World in the biggest fight of the 1980s on April 6, 1987 from Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Hagler came out and surprised many by boxing orthodox in the early rounds, instead of his natural southpaw, but he was actually extremely effect whenever he switched to orthodox throughout his career, it just seemed to help Leonard settle in instead in this bout. Sugar Ray was able to use an effective strategy of boxing and moving, and then clinching whenever Hagler got close to jump out to an early lead on the scorecards easily controlling the first 4 rounds. He began to tire in the fifth round though, and the champ began to bring on the pressure and score with body shots. Hagler seemed to take control of the fight in the middle rounds by being the aggressor and in round 9 had a tiring Leonard pinned against the ropes and was attempting to tee-off on him just when Leonard came up with a flurry that allowed him to get off the ropes just in-time. The 10th round slowed, Leonard was surprisingly effective in the 11th after being exhausted a few rounds earlier, and the 12th was another close action-packed round that seemed to lean toward Hagler as both fighters celebrated at the final bell. Hagler broke into a little dance and Leonard raised both arms in triumph.
It was announced that the judges had reached a split decision and the crowd broke into a frenzy. Lou Fillipo 115-113 for Hagler was the first card, JoJo Guerra 118-110 for Leonard to the dismay of everyone in the Hagler corner was the second, and Dave Moretti 115-113 for Leonard - It was a split-decision in favor of Leonard, and Hagler was visibly disgusted. The split-decision victory for Sugar Ray Leonard ended Hagler's cherished run at Middleweight at 12 and was hotly contested and debated - and still is - even to this day. The scorecards from the ringside press attest to how incredibly close the fight truly was:
The AP, Newsday, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, and San Jose Mercury-News all scored the fight for Hagler, while the New York Daily News, Houston Chronicle, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Baltimore Sun, and Oakland Tribune all scored the bout for Leonard, and the New York Times, New York Post, and Washington Post all scored it a draw. That put the final tally slightly in Leonard's favor at 6-5 with 3 even, but that also meant that the majority at ringside (8-6) felt that Hagler should have retained his titles. Personally, I've watched the fight 3 times and scored it two of those times and came up with slightly different scoring of the round-by-round results each time, but the same total in the end - 115-114 in favor of Hagler. It's difficult for me to award rounds to Leonard when he did a lot of holding and only fought in flashy flurries that many seemed to fail to realize bounced off Hagler's gloves and arms. In the end, I have no problem with a draw and believe that was probably the fairest outcome - Leonard fought bravely in a return after a long lay-off and Hagler brought the fight to him for the majority of the bout after the 8th round and did enough to at least retain his belts. Leonard never hurt Hagler at all in the fight, and while he moved better and connected with the flashier punches, he was hurt a couple of times in the fight - most notably in the 9th round. In the end, Ray got it, and Hagler was left frustrated, in dis-belief, and disappointed and urging for an immediate rematch. Larry Merchant had one of my favor quotes about the fight when he said "Sugar Ray Leonard stole that fight fair and square." And that is exactly what happened - Leonard was able to hold and frustrate Hagler for most of the round, while the champ attacked, and then would throw a flashy combination in the final 30 seconds of the rounds to try and "steal" rounds and the strategy worked to perfection for Leonard.
Leonard relinquished the Middleweight belts following the fight and once again retired. By 1988 Hagler had enough of chasing for a rematch and decided to retire and moved to Italy where he became a B-Movie star. In 1990, Leonard finally offered Hagler that rematch but he was over it by then. He had moved on from boxing at that point and been disappointed by how it had given him the short end of the stick on numerous occasions - most notably his first career Title fight with Antuofermo and what proved to be his last fight with Leonard - both took place in Vegas and both had been complete injustices in not just Hagler's view, but many others.
In the end, Marvelous Marvin Hagler finished his career at 62-3-2 with 52 knockouts and his career 78% knockout % is a record among all of the undisputed champions. He possessed ferociousness, the heart of a lion, and had the killer instinct as Goodie Petronelli would say. Hagler never quite got a fair shake, but none-the-less enjoyed a legendary Hall-of-Fame career that has him remembered as one of the greatest Middleweights of all-time. His 12 Title defenses as undisputed Unified Champion is the second longest ever in the history of the sport for an undisputed Unified Champion. Most major lists have him ranked between # 4 - # 6, I have him ranked slightly higher, as the # 2 greatest Middleweight of all-time, second only to perhaps the greatest fighter of all-time, Sugar Ray Robinson. It's quite the accomplishment to be considered one of the best, and Hagler is very much deserving of the honor.
¹ - quote curtesy: http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Marvin_Hagler_vs.Willie_Monroe(1st_meeting)