Marvin Hagler was the ultimate blue-collar boxer and champion. He was a hard-working professional who disdained the glamour and the showbiz lifestyle which many of his peers embraced once they enjoyed the same level of success as he did. Not Hagler, his career was characterized by one thing: He was his own man. No one did him a favour from the day he turned professional right up to his final controversial contest with Sugar Ray Leonard. Anything Hagler achieved was done the hard way. He was paid only $40 for his pro debut against Terry Ryan in Brockton on 18 May 1973, compare that to the $11 million he earned against Sugar Ray Leonard on 6 April 1987! He was worth every penny of it always giving the fans full value for their money.

Born in Newark, New Jersey on 23 May 1954 Hagler was one of six children. Life was hard, especially when Hagler’s father left the family home when he was only a child. Newark had been plagued by race riots in the late 1960s and was an exceptionally tough place to grow up. Hagler’s mother decided to move her family 200 miles away to Brockton, Massachusetts hoping for a better life.

It was in Brockton (home to former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Marciano) that Hagler found his way to a boxing gym. The gym he walked into was run by two brothers, Pat and Goody Petronelli. The raw Hagler just stayed and watched for the first two days, on the third day Goody approached the shy youngster and asked if he wanted to be a boxer. ‘I want to be a fighter.’ Hagler replied. ‘First, you’ve got to be a boxer.’ Goody replied. Hagler began learning to box under the tutelage of the two brothers and he never looked back. That fateful day he walked into their gym not only set him on course to becoming a great boxer, but it also began a partnership that was to endure through his amateur and professional boxing career.

In 1973 Hagler had progressed to such a degree that he won the National AAU finals at middleweight. That evening he also won the Boxer of the Tournament trophy. This was particularly impressive when the other winners included the likes of future Olympic gold medallist Howard Davis and future world light welterweight champion Aaron Pryor. Hagler’s sights were now firmly on a career in the professional ranks. He felt he had gone as far as he could at amateur and commented ‘You can’t buy groceries with trophies.’ It was a remark that was to become typical of the tough, independent and pragmatic boxer.

Hagler’s rise up the pro ranks was swift; by May 1974 he had ten professional wins and no defeats and was one of the prestigious ‘Ring’ magazines ‘Prospects of the Month.’ The Hagler that the world would soon get to know had not yet emerged and during this period he still sported a full head of hair and appeared to be quiet, almost withdrawn. His blue collar credentials were authenticated by his working for the Petronelli construction company between contests.

Hagler’s first big test was a ten rounder against 1972 Olympic gold medallist Sugar Ray Seales. The young Brockton boxer passed with flying colours winning on points and entering the top ten rankings in the USA. Three months later a rematch in Seales’s hometown of Seattle ended in a draw. By 1975 Hagler was now sporting a shaven skull and a goatee beard. His body looked like it was carved out of marble and this menacing and intimidating look would stay with him for the rest of his career. He was also now known as ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler (his earlier nickname had been ‘The Stuff’) Hagler later adopted the ‘Marvelous’ nickname by deed poll in 1982. He certainly did not lack in confidence or self belief!

By the start of 1976 Hagler was unbeaten in 26 contests but on a visit to the famous fighting city of Philadelphia on a bitterly cold January evening, he lost for the first time on points to Bobby ‘Boogaloo’ Watts in a highly questionable decision. To anyone who wasn’t a Watts fan it looked like Hagler had been robbed.

Undeterred Hagler returned to Philadelphia in March of that year to face another local favourite: Willie ‘The Worm’ Monroe. Unlike the Seales’ rematch and the Watts contest which could both be dismissed as ‘hometown’ decisions, Hagler had been clearly outboxed this time. No one knew it that night but Monroe is the only boxer in Hagler’s 67 fight, fourteen year career who can lay claim to beating him decisively and beyond doubt. The other blemishes on his record were all highly questionable and heavily disputed.

It was another big setback but undaunted Team Hagler had two low key wins before returning to Philadelphia in September 1976 against the world class Eugene ‘Cyclone’ Hart. Hagler boxed masterfully that evening against a known puncher, using steady educated pressure, showing brains as well as brawn to eventually break up and dismantle his dangerous opponent who was forced to retire in his corner after the eighth round.

A rematch against former conqueror Willie Monroe took place in Boston in February 1977. Monroe was just as wily as he was the last time boxing into an early lead. After nine rounds Monroe was still ahead but he was beginning to flag courtesy of the steady pressure Hagler was pouring on. By the last round a battered and exhausted Monroe had nothing left, Hagler pounded him until the referee was forced to stop it and rescue Monroe. Revenge was sweet for Hagler who must have felt vindicated. A third and final meeting between the two to decide the series was held back at Monroe’s hometown of Philadelphia at the Spectrum arena. This time Hagler left no one in doubt who was the better fighter when he stopped Monroe in the second of an explosive contest. ‘The early bird gets the worm.’ Hagler remarked drily.

In November 1977 Hagler impressed once again by knocking out top contender Mike Colbert in the twelfth round. It later emerged that Colbert had to be treated in hospital for multiple fractures of his jaw, proving that whether it was round one or round fifteen Hagler carried knockout power in both hands. By 1978 it was clear that the talented Hagler was deserving of a world title shot, but thanks to politics and reluctance from the top fighters to meet him, he had to mark time and wait his turn. He busied himself by posting wins over Britain’s Kevin Finnegan, Doug Demmings, and Willie Warren and most impressively against the dangerous and vastly experienced veteran ‘Bad’ Bennie Briscoe.

It was obvious after the Briscoe fight where Hagler showed a lot of character and coolness under pressure (he was badly cut in the second round yet managed to box his way to a clear points win) that he should be challenging for the world title. Yet he had to wait through most of 1979 before he finally got his shot.

In November of that year in Las Vegas Hagler stepped in against the tough, rugged world champion, Italian-American Vito Antuofermo. After eleven rounds Hagler’s workrate, his switch hitting and pin-point accurate punches to body and head gave him what appeared to be a clear lead on points. Although the rock-chinned Antuofermo came back at him in the last few rounds at the end of the fifteenth it looked to all neutral observers that Hagler had boxed his way sensibly to a clear, lop-sided point’s decision. Sadly it was not to be and yet again his efforts were to be thwarted by boxing politics and a controversial decision. Somehow the three judges could not decide on a winner and Antuofermo kept his title on a highly controversial draw. Hagler was devastated. He commented ‘In my heart I believe I am the middleweight champion.’

In May 1980 Hagler avenged his only other loss to Bobby ‘Boogaloo’ Watts in two rounds in Portland, Maine. The ‘promised’ rematch against Antuofermo failed to materialize and it is understandable that Hagler felt bitter and let down by the boxing establishment. Antuofermo subsequently lost his title to Britain’s Alan Minter, who, like Hagler, was also a southpaw.

Minter gave the talented American a second shot at the world title and the two met in the charged atmosphere of Wembley Arena in London England on 27 September 1980. In the lead up to the contest Minter made some unfortunate comments along the lines that he would never lose his title to a black man. This ill-judged remark attracted many unsavoury characters from the extreme right of British society and these ignorant yobs would ruin what should have been a crowning moment for the visiting fighter to savour.

A fired-up Minter abandoned his usual style of boxing cautiously behind his southpaw jab instead choosing to go after Hagler and mix it up. Minter paid dearly for his recklessness (and his comments) as Hagler countered, slipped and punished the onrushing champion with pin-point accurate and hurtful hooks and uppercuts on the inside. By the third round with his head being lifted repeatedly courtesy of the accurate shots slamming home and his face a bloody mask from the many cuts on it the referee stepped in and stopped the contest.

‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler was at last undisputed middleweight champion of the world and he sank to his knees, arms aloft in jubilation. As his cornermen including the Petronelli’s joined him in celebration after years of waiting and hard perseverance the ring was suddenly pelted with bottles and beer cans. The new champion needed a police escort back to his dressing room in scenes that disgraced the sport and especially the unruly British fight fans.

The terrible incident aside, Hagler finally had what he wanted: the world title and for the next seven years he proved to be an exceptional champion, defeating all-comers.

Fulgencio Obelmejias was dismissed in eight rounds at Boston in January 1981. Old champion Vito Antuofermo was next in a contest again at Boston in June of 1981 where Hagler was eager to settle the score. This he did winning decisively after the challenger’s corner pulled their man out at the end of the fourth round. An unintentional head clash had opened a cut on Antuofermo’s forehead in the first round; he was floored in the third round and cut badly over the right eye for his troubles. Any doubts about Hagler’s superiority were erased that night.

Wins against Mustafa Hamsho TKO 11, William ‘Caveman’ Lee TKO 1, (a rematch against) Fulgencio Obelmejias TKO 5, Tony Sibson TKO 6 and Wilford Scypion KO 4 between 1981 to 1983 cemented Hagler’s domination over the middleweight division. No one seemed capable of standing up to his unrelenting pressure, his accurate, precise punching and his power. Since winning the title no one had been able to take the champion the distance.

In November 1983 at Las Vegas Hagler defended against the Panamanian legend and former world lightweight, welterweight and light-middleweight champion Roberto ‘Hands of Stone’ Duran. The challenger at 32 was clearly not in his prime anymore but he was nonetheless a rock-chinned, tough as nails, durable, wily, crafty, skilful and vastly experienced foe.

As things transpired Duran would ensure that Hagler had his hands full that night. It was widely expected that Duran would be yet another inside the distance win for Hagler, yet, attempting to win a title at a (then) unprecedented fourth weight Duran boxed out of his skin to put on a show of defiance to take the champion the whole fifteen round distance. Hagler emerged from the contest with a swelling under his left eye as well as a small cut over his right eye. Despite the injuries and the show of bravado from Duran it looked like a runaway points decision for the defending champion so when the scores were announced it was quite a shock that on two of the judges scorecards Hagler had only kept his title by one point.

Hoping to put the low-key performance behind him Hagler was back in action in March 1984 against the tough and rugged Argentinean boxer Juan Domingo Roldan. Officially a knockdown was scored in favour of the challenger, although it was clear that Hagler had slipped. Despite that Hagler fought his usually controlled fight, dominating from the centre of the ring from his southpaw stance, steadily busting his challenger up until the referee stopped it in the tenth. This was more vintage Hagler and the nature of the win must have been a relief against a dangerous challenger.

Mustafa Hamsho was granted a rematch in October 1984 in New York City and was swiftly blown away in three painful, one-sided rounds. Hagler was unquestionably the man once again.

In April 1985 perhaps the most eagerly awaited contest of all time took place. It has certainly gone down in boxing lore as the greatest fight of all time. Hagler faced the former world welterweight and current light-middleweight champion in Detroit’s Thomas ‘The Hit Man’ Hearns. Hearns was the favourite for many as he had done what Hagler had failed to do by destroying Roberto Duran in two rounds.

The two of them clearly had a great deal of animosity towards each other during the build-up to the contest, both claiming that they would win by knockout. The bad blood would make for an electrifying showdown in the open air arena of Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

From the opening bell it was mayhem with all the finer points of boxing forgotten as both men went on the attack. Both men stunned and hurt each other repeatedly in that supercharged first round. Hearns kept nailing Hagler with a fearsome looking right hand while Hagler roughed Hearns up on the inside with hooks to the head and body. As the round ended Hagler’s face was a mask of blood courtesy of a terrible cut right between his eyes high on his forehead.

The second round saw the frenetic pace telling more on the lanky challenger as his legs seemed to stiffen and on many occasions Hearns looked wobbly and unsteady as he tried to jab and move. Hagler just continued to go after his man, determined to destroy his opponent. By the third round Hagler’s cut was so bad that the referee took him over to be examined by the ringside doctor who could quite easily have stopped it then and there. Thankfully the doctor allowed the contest to continue, but Hagler now knew he was on borrowed time.

He ‘went’ for Hearns attacking with a controlled fury and ferocity rarely seen in a ring. He nailed Hearns with a perfectly timed right hook which sent Hearns staggering on unsteady legs across the ring. Hagler followed in hot pursuit and, with Hearns pinned against the ropes landed two final crushing right hooks. Hearns went down like he was pole axed then showed the tremendous courage that had made him such a great fighter as he somehow managed to beat the referees count. He fell into the referees arms and it was quite rightly waved off. Hagler had come back from the brink to defeat his most determined and most dangerous opponent yet. From his ringside seat the great Sugar Ray Robinson nodded his approval and both athletes walked away with a fully deserved $8 million each.

Nearly a year later Hagler defended his crown against Uganda’s hard hitting John ‘The Beast’ Mugabi. In yet another torrid contest Hagler had to soak up some punches from a known knockout artist before rallying back until he pounded his much younger opponent into submission in eleven thrilling rounds. As Hagler said earlier ‘I will have my feast on the beast.’

Hagler only wanted one more thing out of boxing, to beat the record set by Argentina’s Carlos Monzon of 14 successful world title defences. Many felt he would take two more minor defences and then retire but a tantalizing carrot in the form of a defence against former world welterweight and light-middleweight champion Sugar Ray Leonard came along.

The two men could not have been more different if they had tried. Hagler was the blue collar champion who did everything the hard way to gain recognition. He had struggled financially for years beating all-comers before finally getting his reward. By contrast Leonard was the media darling who had won the Olympic gold medal in 1976 and right from the off was winning huge purses as a professional. By the time he fought Hagler Leonard had earned a fortune that probably even his great grand children would struggle to get through.

The eagerly anticipated contest between the two modern greats took place on 6 April 1987 at Caesars Palace in front of 15,000 fans at ringside and millions watching on television around the world. Hagler began slowly and Leonard looked fantastic in the first half of the contest winning most of the rounds with his flashy flurries and crafty footwork. But in the second half of the contest Hagler began to really assert himself landing the more accurate and hurtful shots to body and head. In the ninth round although he rallied back bravely with more flurries, a desperate and increasingly tired looking Leonard was getting worked over by the champion. The final three rounds saw Hagler pursuing and punishing and Leonard dancing away, holding and surviving. At the bell to end the contest some favoured Hagler and some favoured Leonard. It had been compulsive viewing and a surprisingly tactical contest rather than the explosive encounter some had predicted.

Many felt Hagler had made a gross error in agreeing to Leonard’s preferred twelve round distance to the usual fifteen round distance. It did appear that Leonard was clearly wilting towards the end and would have been lucky to survive three more rounds of Hagler pressure. But the die was cast and when the decision was announced a highly controversial split points decision in favour of Leonard An outraged and furious Hagler complained ‘Leonard fought like a girl, I really thought they should have deducted points for all his holding and grabbing. His punches meant nothing. I fought my heart out, I kept my belt. I can’t believe they took it away from me.’

Hagler also claimed ‘Leonard came to me at the end and said ‘You’ve won man. You beat me.’ But I thought – Let’s wait. This is Las Vegas, the big betting town.’

It was a sad end to an exceptional career as Hagler rather than formally announcing his retirement, just drifted away from the sport never to return.

The distress and bitterness of the defeat proved to be deep and long lasting and for a while this proud man went off the rails. Fortunately he managed to turn things around, he emigrated to Italy, made some films there and now spends his time on the after dinner speaking circuit and has even appeared as a co-commentator for the BBC. He is not much over his old fighting limit and still runs and keeps in shape.

He was rightly inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992 and into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993.

Simply put Marvin Hagler was the greatest middleweight champion of all time, second only to Sugar Ray Robinson. He was the consummate professional and had to do everything the hard way. His skill, his composure and his self belief made him almost unbeatable. Out of his southpaw stance he could jab, hook and uppercut with unerring accuracy. He had impressive power in both fists as his 52 inside the distance wins out of 62 victories attests. You could argue strongly and justifiably that Hagler only really lost once to Willie Monroe (early in his career). That would leave his record at 66 wins with just one defeat, yet boxing politics and some controversial hometown decisions lead to a handful of questionable blemishes.

I will never forget watching Hagler’s fights as a youth on television. In particular I will never forget the stare-down he gave Thomas Hearns at the end of the first round of their epic encounter or the look he gave referee Mills Lane at the end of the tenth round against John Mugabi when Lane failed to punish Mugabi for hitting after the bell. Hagler stood for no nonsense and he should be remembered as a focussed and determined and utterly professional champion who dominated his sport like no other.

World Middleweight Champion: 1980 – 1987

World Title Contests: 15 Won: 13 Lost: 1 Drew: 1

Career Contests: 67 Won: 62 Lost: 3 Drew: 2