Sugar Ray Leonard Vs Marvelous Marvin Hagler and the Halcyon Days of the 1980’s

The night of April 6, 1987 was a bitter sweet memory for this particular boxing fan. See I had idolized both Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvelous Marvin Hagler growing up, following both passionately for nearly a decade. They were icons and role models for me, each in his own unique way. Sugar Ray Leonard was the first to capture my attention. It was something about him; Quiet and soft-spoken one minute, explosive and bombastic the next. He reminded me a little of myself I guess. My first memories of him in the ring were his destructions of Pete Ranzany and Andy Price. Marvelous Marvin Hagler wasn’t as flashy or gifted but I admired his tenacity and incredible work ethic. This was one tough sonofabitch. The first time I saw Hagler in the ring was when he challenged Vito Antuofermo for the Middleweight title in November 1979. Like most fans, I remember feeling like most that he got screwed by the judges that afternoon. Later that night, I was excited to see Sugar Ray Leonard defeat Wilfred Benitez for the WBC Welterweight title.

The following March I watched Sugar Ray nearly decapitate Davey “Boy” Green in his first title defense. Imagine this was just one of four championship fights that were televised free on network television that night. This was a great era for boxing and I was fast becoming a convert. I wasn’t able to watch Leonard’s June 1980 showdown with Roberto Duran as it was on closed circuit. However, I intently listened to the round by round results on the radio and was crushed when he lost. We all know what happened next with Leonard embarrassing Duran in the rematch. Watching Hagler destroy Alan Minter in September 1980 was pure ecstasy!

By 1981, I was devouring every boxing magazine I could get my hands on. One of them did a pound for pound ranking and had Leonard as #1 and Hagler as #2 which I loved and agreed with. Then Hagler destroyed Fully Obel, Vito Antuofermo and Mustafa Hamsho, while Sugar Ray outlasted “The Hitman” in “The Showdown”. I reveled in watching all of these fights. Sugar Ray and Marvelous Marvin were like gods to me. Talks of a Hagler-Leonard showdown began after the Leonard-Hearns fight. I was very ambivalent about this. It was like trying to choose between my mother and my father. I did not want to see either one of these guys who I cared so much about lose.

My problem was conveniently solved by Sugar Ray’s eye injury which also gave the Marvelous One the chance to emerge from his shadow. In November 1983, I watched Hagler face Roberto Duran in his first super fight. Marvelous Marvin won but his performance was less than spectacular, leading to criticism from the boxing establishment and indifference from fans. I was disappointed for Hagler but still ardently in his corner, feeling the criticism was unfair. Who were these judges, no way in hell that fight was close! Based on Marvelous Marvin’s performance against Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard decided to launch a comeback.

By now, I was looking forward to the prospect of a Leonard-Hagler matchup and was excited that he was coming back. However, my excitement was short lived as Sugar Ray retired once again after a disappointing performance against Kevin Howard. Again, I turned my attention to Marvelous Marvin. In the aftermath of Leonard’s retirement, the red hot Thomas Hearns emerged as Hagler’s chief challenger. While the Marvelous One had won a close decision over Duran, Hearns blew him out inside of two rounds in June 1984. Many experts favored Hearns over a Hagler who seemed to be on the decline.

On April 15, 1985, I witnessed the 8 most hellacious minutes in boxing history. Hagler survived early trouble and finished the Hitman off in the third with a crushing right. I jumped up and down and screamed with excitement as I watched this. For me, it was the most exhilarating moment I’d ever seen in any sporting event. Marvelous Marvin’s career was at its pinnacle. He was now indisputably a superstar in his own right who transcended the sport of boxing. This was freaking awesome!

One year later, Hagler entered as a heavy favorite against John “The Beast” Mugabi. The Beast gave the Marvelous One everything he could handle before Hagler stopped him in the 11th round. Hagler showed an impenetrable chin and the iron will that made him such a great champion. However, the brilliant boxer puncher that had decimated the likes of Minter, Antuofermo, Hamsho, Obel, and Sibson was now more one dimensional, lacking the speed and defensive skills of his youth. At the time, I did not appreciate this but one spectator at ringside did.

His name was Sugar Ray Leonard. Sugar Ray announced yet another comeback and a fight with the Marvelous One was signed for April 1987. Most, including myself, thought this was tantamount to suicide on the part of Leonard. After all, this man had only been in the ring once over the past five years. The last time we’d seen him, Sugar Ray was knocked on his ass by Kevin Howard. Now, three years later, he was now going to move up in weight to challenge the consensus best fighter in the world, without so much as a tune up.

Was he flipping serious???????

I recall thinking: Why now? Sugar Ray what do you have to gain here? Like most, I thought Leonard was in for an ass whipping of epic proportions. My best hope for Leonard is that he would last the distance which would preserve his legacy. He had no chance of winning. However, these were my two favorite fighters and there was no way in hell I was going to miss this one. So on the night of April 6th, 1987, I trekked off to the Old Boston Garden with my father and two of my best friends to watch what I was afraid would be a massacre.

I don’t think anyone expected what would come next. Sugar Ray looked like the Sugar Ray of old, dancing, moving and landing the blinding combinations that had dazzled us several years ago. In contrast, Hagler looked old, slow and uncharacteristically passive. I watched in utter shock as Leonard shoved the Marvelous One back after a clinch. By the 4th, Sugar Ray was taunting and clowning and Hagler seemed to have no answers. At this point, I was excited as I simply didn’t think a performance like this from Leonard was possible.

However, my thoughts then turned to Hagler. He’d worked too hard to get to this level and I didn’t want to see it end like this. Sugar Ray had already exceeded expectations on his end. He didn’t need to win this fight; Marvelous Marvin did. So now I found myself rooting for Hagler. The Marvelous One rallied and the fight got closer and closer. However, when Angelo Dundee screamed: “Nine minutes!……..[and]…….new champion!” between the 9th and 10th rounds, I knew it wasn’t Hagler’s night.

We all know the outcome. Leonard won by a close and controversial split decision. Judge Jose Juan Guerra had the temerity to score the bout 118-110 for Leonard. To this day, I still don’t know what the hell he was watching that night. I had it scored 115-114 for Sugar Ray. After watching the replays numerous times over the past 29 years, I still think that is about right. In retrospect, it was an incredibly difficult fight to score as evidenced by the statistics. Leonard landed more punches 306 to 291 and connected at a higher percentage 49% to 37%. At the same time, Hagler pressed the fight and indisputably landed the harder and more damaging punches. Ultimately, it was Sugar Ray who did more to transcend the moment and that’s why he won. Sorry Marvelous Marvin, I love you. But this time I don’t think you got screwed.

Ultimately, Hagler’s legacy was not tarnished and he’s still [rightfully] considered among the top five Middleweights who ever lived. Many fans still believe and strongly insist that he won the fight against Leonard. Who knows? They might be right, depending on your point of view. As far as Sugar Ray Leonard, whether you believe he deserved to win the fight or not, his brilliant performance on that particular night is unquestionable. His accomplishment of defeating the best pound for pound fighter in the world after a five year layoff is unprecedented in boxing history. Ultimately, they both hold a place in my top 20 pound for pound fighters of all time. Thank you Sugar Ray and Marvelous Marvin for the memories! My only regret is they only faced once. A two or three fight series between these two legends would have been phenomenal!

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