Ringside Report Looks Back at Marvelous Marvin Hagler Part II

[AdSense-A]

By Vinny “Glory Days” Lucci

The last stand of Marvelous Marvin Hagler should have been a triumphant celebration of a glorious hall of fame career where the culmination of sixteen arduous years dominating two eras of the best middleweights that dared to challenge him. Instead, he allowed himself to get held up at gunpoint in the boardroom negotiating his farewell bout with a fifteen-million-dollar payday obstructing his focus like blinders on a race horse.

After easily turning back the challenge of tough as nails contender Wilford Scypion in 1983, the challengers on middleweight landscape started diluting in competition. Scypion was Hagler’s fifth mandatory defense inside of three years. The money was rolling in and the proclamation was heard. Marvelous Marvin was head and shoulders better than anyone ranked at 160 pounds.

With the advent of wanting to make history Hagler challenged the now famous junior middleweights below him who were considered to have equal boxing skills and acumen inside the ropes. Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran and Wilfred Benitez all looked like they were one steak dinner away from moving up so Marvin challenged them all in a quest to put some fistic icons on his ledger. Leonard had suffered a detached retina the previous year against Bruce Finch and after long rehab decided to hang up his gloves.

He came back a year later in 1984 and struggled through 9 rounds against Kevin Howard and quickly retired again. Duran who had recently looked like he had reclaimed the fiery passion of his youth with an 8th round stoppage of Davey Moore stepped up to meet the challenge. Uncharacteristically Duran refused to enter the pocket with the unbridled aggression he was known for was outdueled at the gate by the southpaw middleweight sensation. Wilfred Benitez lost his place on line being mauled to the brink over twelve rounds by Mustafa Hamsho.

Thomas Hearns stepped up to the world stage and put on the most memorable battle in the history of the sport but was stopped in three spectacular rounds. Hagler would collectively make twelve successful title defenses with the last coming off an epic battle of extraordinary magnitude against John “Beast” Mugabi who fell in eleven memorable rounds. Having been named the “Fighter of the Decade” and guaranteed hall of fame career secure it seemed like the perfect time to walk away from the vocation of ring wars and glory and then finally the long-awaited phone call from none other than Sugar Ray Leonard.

With a 62-2-2, 52 KO’s ledger Marvin was looking to incarnate into ‘Kraven the Hunter” just one last time and collect his mythical unicorn for his trophy wall before hanging up the gloves for good. What his corner never dreamed of in their philosophies is that Ray was not idle for his self-imposed three-year retirement but was training the entire time and maintaining a middleweight frame. He even went as far as to take a page out of the history books form the 40’s and 50’s and had unofficial closed door 10 round bouts complete with referee for preparation before the first board meeting to draft the contracts. He also was about to invent the first boxing Arbitrage broker’s license in which all superstars who followed would copy the blue print. That is to say, since Leonard’s name always carried clout, he would make ridiculous demands upon the champion with the threat of pulling the plug unless all aspects were met.

The only negotiation the Hagler camp didn’t concede was earning a million more than Ray. The fifteen-million-dollar payday was the largest of Marvin’s career and the temptation to accept challenge from a fighter three years into retirement must have been irresistibly disarming. Somehow Pat and Goodie Petronelli who guided Marvin’s career never seemed phased that Ray was two years younger and fought half as many bouts. They didn’t consider the fact the while Ray did fight common opponents Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns, he did not spend his entire career negotiating the gauntlet against bigger more brutal fighters like Hagler did, which brought about both camps to the bargaining table.

Ray Leonard’s attorney /advisor Mike Trainer who had guided Ray to a soaring hundred twenty-million-dollar career without signing with a promoter was about to orchestrate a contract tantamount to selling your soul at the fabled crossroads. The first demand was the Leonard camp wanted the biggest ring possible, 22’ x 22’ in which the now heavy footed Hagler would literally have to chase a fleet footed challenger twelve steps every time he wanted to touch gloves. The second contract surrender was in rounds. Leonard wanted the traditional 15 still in session chopped to 12 which was usually reserved for title eliminators, not title bouts. The coup de gras came in the form of horse hair as final hurdle to getting contract signed was conceding the usual 8-ounce leather gloves that were always Hagler’s favorites for a circumspect 10 ounce more commonly used for sparring. The boxing pundits questioned in the media why Ray didn’t request head gear while he was at it.

The Event took place on April 6, 1987 and was hosted at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. The title bout would be for the WBC belt only. The WBA inexplicably stripped Hagler for accepting Leonard’s challenge instead of their new mandatory Herol Graham. Considering Marvin made 8 mandatory defenses in less than seven years the move was more political than warranted. The IBF refused to sanction defense since Leonard was not ranked. Ray would not be able to win their version of belt, but Marvin would lose it if he lost the fight.

History will tell us that Ray Leonard was awarded one of the most controversial decisions in the history of the sport. The split decision victory is still debated over 33 years later with the fan base of each fighter never budging an inch. That is to say, Hagler fans going in thought he won convincingly and Leonard fans did likewise. The only other time I have witnessed this phenomenon with no margin for error was the recent pairing of Gennady Golovkin versing Canelo Alvarez. The score cards of 118-110, 115-113 and 113-115 seemed to reflect the torment and frustration of the fans trying to score the bout on their own. Some had slight margins for victory while others saw their champion run away with the fight.

Several key elements have always been denied or ignored by the Leonard faction. Ray was warned in every single round by referee Richard Steele for excessive holding but never was a point deducted. Each round Hagler would bring the fight to Leonard walking his man down and throwing body shots that for some fantastical reason weren’t carrying the fight in the judge’s eyes, yet, Leonard freely admitted he tried to “steal” every round with a concerted flurry. Fact is, it was working quite effectively as judges and fans alike were watching Ray box and showboat circling in retreat while ignoring Marvin’s momentum. Quite frankly, after getting dropped and embarrassed by one Kevin Howard in his last bout three years earlier which Ray won by 9th round TKO, no one expected Ray to put up much of a fight and were exalting his flashy bravado of the moment. The polarization after decision was announced only grew wider with Ray’s absolute reluctance to give Marvin a rematch giving rise to his arrogance and belief, he could never pull it off twice.

OK, so as a boxing journalist and handicapper I was compelled to revisit the event or scene of the crime and erase every previous thought and notion making new notes round by round. This was not to score the fight one more time but rather clarify the hysteria for those who might want to trip the light fantastic and put themselves inside the hyperbole yet again but with a more profound insight.

With the table now neatly dressed be honest with yourself in evaluating what you are witnessing and not what you hear. The match was called by the great Gil Clancy and “yes man” Tim Ryan. I can’t recall any fight of this magnitude where the commentators were so egregious and hypercritical though out the course of the bout. The first two rounds were transparent enough, with Hagler’s corner thinking that Ray trained to fight a southpaw and his coming out orthodox would confuse him.

Ray boxed on a dime and kept Marvin just outside the pocket. Marvin would then finish the completion of the bout in southpaw stance and was able to get inside of Ray’s wheelhouse and work the body with fire short punches up top. This became the familiar pattern of the fight. Clancy would say Hagler was closing the gap and walking his man down landing the harder punches and Ryan would agree. Then Leonard would respond with a handsome flurry and somehow, they had Marvin going from evening things up in the fifth round to actually saying if he lost the round would be hopelessly behind! Follow the rounds carefully and often you will hear banter between broadcasters of no significance while Marvin is controlling the entire round and then Ray throws a bolo punch that is too low to score and he miraculously wins the round. Marvin’s momentum is quite clear in the sixth as a frustrated Ray is twice warned for hitting and holding. The seventh round if you are not following the deceptive fabrications saw Marvin take the “Ali” type glide out of Ray’s foot work and begin to rough up his agile opponent much more to his liking.

The round bell sounded for next round and Steele called a halt to the action as one of Leonard’s gloves needed taping. This was one of Angelo Dundee’s oldest tricks to give his fighter another moment to regain his wind while extra tape was applied and hopefully break Marvin’s concentration but to no avail. Hagler was in full control of this bout and the best Ray could do was offer flashy one/two combinations to Hagler’s five/six. Clancy would exclaim that Ray had nothing on his punches. Raising his hands at the end of several rounds was a clear indication he was hurting while trying to impress the judges. The ninth round was “the” best action round of the fight and was toughest to score. Break it down punch by punch and calling it “even” is the fairest way to say you approved of both superstars putting it all on the line.

The last three rounds were fascinating in their own right as Dundee with microphone and camera inches from his face starts screaming at Ray that he is nine minutes away from becoming new champ trying desperately to sway the judges in earshot to believing Ray held a commanding lead. In the tenth Clancy declares that Richard Steele is doing a hell of a job referring the contest even though every single round he warns Leonard for excessive holding but fails to penalize him, then quickly retracts his statement seconds later saying Steele is losing control of the action. The last few rounds Ray is still in fight boxing, but now has been in retreat mode fighting off his heels losing real estate round after round and looking exhausted. Dundee’s speech about three minutes to new champion before final round has both Ray and crowd pumped screaming his name as he finds his footwork and takes the final round with a better than never second wind born of sheer adrenalin.

Now, if Sugar Ray Leonard fans think this was a real contest where the cards weren’t stacked in his favor before the first bell rang and after it after with help from referee and judges so be it. The Hagler fraction witnessed Ray ignore Marvin for years acting disinterested when he ruled everything with a heartbeat at a 160 pounds until the ring wars brought about whispers of retirement.

But, if you truly believe that first axiom, then Terry Norris who kicked the living stuffing out of Leonard giving him the beating of his life dropping him twice from both sides and owning every round was the better fighter because he proved it the night they met. Oh, I think I got your attention now and perhaps it’s time to start putting this bout into perspective once and for all; or do I need to bring up how little Hector Camacho stopped Sugar Ray Leonard in five?

Read Part I of Ringside Report Looks Back at Marvelous Marvin Hagler

[si-contact-form form=’2′]