Marvin Nathaniel Hagler Was Simply Marvelous

Abstract

Marvin Nathaniel Hagler Was Simply Marvelous Judson L. Jeffries Arguably the greatest middleweight boxer of the modern era, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, just shy of 5’10” and weighing 160lbs, was a one-man wrecking crew. Among the greatest pugilists of all time, few fighters boast as impressive a won-lost record as Hagler. Over a 14-year career, Hagler had a total of 67 fights, winning 62 of them against only three losses. Fifty-two were by knockout. Two were draws— one in 1974 against Sugar Ray Seales and in 1979 against Vito Antufermo. Seales was the only American fighter to win Olympic gold in 1972, by the way. Hagler would avenge the loss to Seales in 1979, with a first round TKO. He did likewise to Antufermo in 1981, taking the tough as nails Italian American to school over the course of four rounds. Simply put, there was no fighter to whom Hagler lost or suffered a draw that did not incur Hagler’s wrath years later. Hagler fought any and everyone in a division that included such boxers as Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, John Mugabi, and Mustafa Hamsho. The first round in the Hagler-Hearns fight in 1985 was something to behold and remains arguably the most exhilarating first round in the history of professional boxing. Badly blooded by Hearns’s stiff left jab, and afraid that Richard Steele might stop the fight, Hagler exhibited a sense of urgency, mauling Hearns in the third round, resulting in his 15th consecutive win, thus retaining the WBA, WBC, IBF, and the Ring Magazine middleweight titles. Named fighter of the decade (1980s) by Boxing Illustrated Magazine and twice fighter of the year by Ring Magazine as well as the Boxing Writers Association of America, Hagler reigned as the undisputed middleweight champion of the world from 1980 to 1987. Unfortunately, what many causal boxing fans remember, or at least heard about, is Hagler’s split-decision loss to Sugar Ray Leonard. In the spring of 1987, Leonard had come out of retirement for the fight. Few experts believed Leonard would go the distance with Hagler. A college student at the time, I vividly remember the fight. I liked both fighters, immensely. I thought Leonard won the fight but found the scoring a bit curious. One judge had it 115–133 for Leonard while [End Page 154] another judge scored it 115–113 for Hagler, and the third judge, who obviously watched an entirely different fight than the rest of the boxing world, scored it 118–110 for Leonard. An East Coast kid, Hagler was born in Newark, NJ, but later moved to Brockton, MA, with his family after the 1967 Newark uprising destroyed his old neighborhood. Hagler, like many kids, sought boxing as a means of self-defense. While many people are quick to characterize Hagler’s fights as 12, three-minute rounds of unadulterated violence, that depiction is both superficial and unlearned. Hagler was both a technician as well as a boxer and a brawler. There were few athletes in any sport who were equally adept at using both hands. He excelled at being ambidextrous. Hagler often confused his opponents, switching from a conventional/orthodox stance to southpaw throughout a given round. One minute he was a slick, quick-fisted boxer/puncher and the next a flat-footed, stalking, brawler. His style was the epitome of the sweet science. Every respectable boxing magazine rates Hagler as one of the all-time greats, regardless of weight class. During a 14-year career, Hagler was knocked down only once and even that knockdown remains a topic of conversation today. Hagler is a Hall-of-Famer. Marvelous Marvin Hagler died on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at the age of 66. [End Page 155] Copyright © 2021 Trustees of Indiana University and The Ohio State University