Ringside Report Pays Tribute to The Late/Legendary Former Undisputed Middleweight Champion of the World Marvelous Marvin Hagler (1954-2021)

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

For once mere words may be insufficient to record the significance of one person’s passing. Words like colossus, legend, icon are peppered around like confetti when an ordinary person may be lost but, when a man who had the humility and the presence of Marvin Nathanial Hagler, 62-3-2, 52 KO’s, unexpectedly lose their life, even those words seem vacuous.

Born on May the 23rd 1954, the man we came to know as Marvelous Marvin Hagler, was much more than a boxer. A 7 year stretch in the middle of the 1980’s when he was the undisputed middleweight champion is a sentence that has been oft quoted. The fact that he did so whilst Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard were active is a box set of experiences the likes of which we hope we may see again; such was its magnificence.

There were quirks and there were other careers – he changed his name to Marvelous in 1982, allegedly because he was annoyed that people would not use it. He became an actor after his professional career ended though he would never make the Oscars. In his entire professional career, he was knocked to the canvass but once – and he disputed that knockdown!

Hagler was brought up on the mean streets and never forgot where he came from. From taking control of his own gym bag, to refusing to dispense with the managers, Pat and Goody Petronelli, who he had from the very beginning when things got tough, Hagler never had any difficulty in continuing to fight and do the hard stuff when the good stuff flowed through his door.

Wins against the likes of Hit Man Hearns, the Fists of Stone Duran, the UK’s own Alan Minter, Tony Sibson and Kevin Finnegan, John Mugabi, Sugar Ray Seales, Willie Monroe, Bad Benny Briscoe, Vito Antuofermo… the list goes on like the hardest and toughest career ever…

Marvelous Marvin Hagler NEVER ducked, he never dived, and he always managed to provide us all with headlines. With Hagler though, the headlines were justified. The substance was there, in bucketloads.

The fight against Hearns is possibly THE legacy fight which has been most discussed and remembered in all of the obituaries. That fight in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas in 1985, in the open air was without a doubt one of the most exciting fights in the history of boxing. Ever. No matter what era you want to define. Given that it was promoted as “The Fight” by Bob Arum that was hardly surprising but again the headline gave us the start, Hagler finished it off with a supreme performance but also managed to highlight just how much one winner depends upon his opponent to be propelled to greatness.

When the fight looked as if it might be stopped in the third round, due to a deep cut that was flowing into his eyes, Hagler was asked if he could see. His reply? “I ain’t missing him, am I?”
The fact that it only lasted three rounds because Hagler, realizing he might lose his title, hit Hearns with such ferocity that he laid him out, makes this possibly the most significant ten minutes of sport.

Three rounds, two fighters, one result, but millions of people in awe at The Fight.

Of course, the story of getting to be a world champion and defending it 12 times over 7 years is hardly told with one fight. You needed dedication and skill. Dedication as a breeze. Hagler had no problems getting up to train. He knew how to manage the hunger when the silk pajamas arrived. Hell, he probably never owned silk pajamas. He went training and running in combat boots so it would have been an odd look.

He had skill in abundance. Oftentimes he would adjust his boxing depending not just on who he boxed but how they performed in the fight. Hagler was boxing smart.

His life was littered with stunning wins and given the beating he dealt Alan Minter to win the world title, it was never going to be a career that was far away from being a trailblazer in the sport. Minter had managed to create a very hostile atmosphere by saying he would never lose his title to a black man; it would not be contemplated now. Ironically, the fight lasted less than three minutes with Minter cut round the eyes. The disgrace did not end there as Hagler had to be shielded from glasses and bottles being thrown at him on his exit. British boxing rightly hung its head low.

In 1987 he took a risk in fighting Sugar Ray Leonard but then again, his whole career had been a risk. Losing in a split decision, with his finances and health in a decent place he retired. And he stayed retired. The loss to Leonard was the only one that he did not avenge.

He moved to Italy, learned Italian, acted in a few movies and lived his life according to his needs and wishes. The effect that he had in the sport was never more obvious in one story from Oliver McCall. Fresh from winning his world title after beating Lennox Lewis, McCall went for a walk in London. He saw Marvelous Marvin Hagler. He approached him and graciously Hagler commented that “You done it, champ. You done it up right, big congratulations.”

After the encounter McCall turned to his companion, journalist Michael Marley and said, “He called me “champ”. So, I guess it’s official.”

Understated, humble, magnificent and marvelous, we mourn the loss of a man who can be nothing less than one of the greatest ever boxers of all and any time.

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