Marvin Hagler: Boxing’s Greatest Warrior

The list of accolades Marvin Hagler earned while boxing compares favorably to the accomplishments of any fighter who has laced up a pair of boxing gloves. Hagler fought professionally from 1973 to 1987. He became the undisputed middleweight champion of the world in 1980. Marvin Hagler held on to his titles for nearly half of his career.

The only man to hold the undisputed middleweight title longer than Marvin Hagler is Tony Zale. But it is worth noting that Zale’s reign includes a considerable period of inactivity while he fought for his country in World War II.

Hagler is an inductee into both the World Boxing Hall of Fame and the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The Ring Magazine twice named him their fighter of the year. Boxing Illustrated magazine awarded him with the fighter of the decade honors for the 1980s. Hagler dubbed himself ‘Marvelous’ and produced a resume that more than backed his claim. And when media members failed to refer to him as such, Hagler changed his legal name to Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

Early Life

Marvin Hagler is the first child born to his mother, Ida Mae Hagler. His father, Robert Sims, left the family, and Ida Mae used welfare and the other sources of income she could piece together to get her and her children by.

Marvin spent his early childhood in Newark, New Jersey, with his mother and four younger sisters. A social worker, known to Marvin only as “Mister Joe,” introduced him to boxing when Marvin was ten years old.

The financial situation faced by his family led Marvin to drop out of high school at 14. He found work in a toy factory. He made enough money to help his mother with his younger siblings. Hagler’s mother recalled hearing Marvin say he would purchase a home for her when he became a professional boxer. She admits to believing his words to be only fantasy at the time.

Amateur Career

Marvin moved to Brockton, Massachusetts, with his mother and sisters following the devastation the 1967 riots brought to their neighborhood in Newark. One day in Brockton, Marvin lost a fight to a local boxer after an altercation in the streets. The experience caused Marvin to find a gym the next day and begin his formal training as a boxer. The owners of the gym he found were Goody and Pat Petronelli, two men that would walk every step of Marvin’s boxing journey with him.

The year was 1969, and Marvin was 14 years old. The problem he faced was that the amateur tournaments that interested him required him to be 16. A quick-thinking Hagler found the perfect remedy for this problem. He reported his birth year as 1952 instead of 1954 on registration forms. Hagler’s secret would go undiscovered until his legal name change many years later.

Marvin Hagler won a national AAU title at the 165-pound division in 1973. He was also named the outstanding boxer of the tournament over Leon Spinks and Aaron Pryor. Hagler decided to turn professional a short time later. But not before winning 55 of 56 amateur fights.

Professional Career

Marvelous Marvin Hagler fought for the first time as a professional against Terry Ryan on May 18, 1973. The fight took place in a Brockton high school gymnasium. Hagler knocked Ryan out in the second round.

Hagler won his first 17 fights before a draw against Sugar Ray Seales in November of 1974 ended his win streak. He had already scored a unanimous decision victory against Seales in their first fight and would knock him out the third time they faced off in the ring.

Hagler struggled with finding good competition to fight him. He often found it necessary to travel to other fighters’ hometowns under disadvantaged circumstances to get a fight. One example is a fight he took on two weeks’ notice with Willie “The Worm” Monroe. The boxing match ended in a loss for Hagler but was close enough to warrant a rematch. Hagler scored a twelfth-round knockout in the second fight. The men fought a third time, and Hagler needed only two rounds to finish Monroe.

Marvin Hagler fought number one contender Mike Colbert in November of 1977. The boxing match ended in the twelfth after Colbert suffered a broken jaw. Hagler stopped Kevin Finnegan with a cut that took 40 stitches to close. He also bested “Bad” Bennie Briscoe with a ten-round decision.

Despite the impressive string of victories, the big opportunities continued to elude Marvelous Marvin Hagler. At one point, Joe Frazier explained to him that his black skin, southpaw style, and high level of ability were the three strikes conspiring to keep him from the big time. But Hagler caught the attention of promoter Bob Arum, and his fortunes would soon change.

Marvelous Marvin Hagler Vs. Vito Antuofermo

Hagler finally got the chance to fight for a world title in November of 1979. Hagler fought a great fight, and many onlookers felt he did enough to win. But nothing was ever easy or fair in the life of Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

One of the three judges entrusted with deciding the fight scored the contest for Hagler. The other two judges saw the boxing match as even, and Antuofermo kept his title on a majority decision draw.

Middleweight Champion Marvin Hagler

Vito Antuofermo went on to lose his title to Alan Minter of Britain. Minter agreed to give Hagler a second shot at becoming a world champion. But Hagler would need to travel to Wimbley Arena in London to participate in the fight.

The controversy started before the two men stepped into the ring. Minter reportedly commented, “no black man” would take his title. Minter later explained his comment was meant for Hagler specifically and did not refer to an entire race of people. In any event, Minter’s words added to the fury Hagler brought to the ring.

Both fighters came out of their corners for the first round with the intent to establish their offense. But it did not take long for it to become evident that Hagler’s punches were causing more damage to Minter than Minter could return.

Blood began to pour from Minter’s nose and a cut developed under his left eye midway through the second round. His instinct was to fight Hagler’s attacks off, but this strategy created more openings in his defense. Marvin Hagler was more than happy to exploit these openings with fierce two-fisted attacks.

Marvin Hagler opened a cut around the right eye of Minter in the third round. Minter continued to fight with a champion’s heart, but Hagler’s relentless attacks proved too much. The fight ended in a third-round stoppage, and Hagler finally possessed the long-coveted middleweight championship. It took him fifty fights and seven years of struggle to accomplish his goal.

The moments after the fight were not the time for him to celebrate, however. The pro-minter crowd went beserk over the fight stoppage. Rioters hurled beer and other debris at Hagler and his team. They also howled and booed as police officers escorted the new champ away from the violence.

Marvin Hagler vs. Roberto Duran

Marvelous Marvin Hagler defended his middleweight title seven times before facing challenger Roberto Duran. All seven title defenses ended in stoppages. The names among the list of seven included Vito Antuofermo, Mustafa Hamsho, and undefeated future champion Fulgencio Obelmejias.

Roberto Duran proved more than a worthy challenger for Hagler’s title despite moving up in weight to take the fight. The evidence of his worthiness became the cut and swelling around the champion’s left eye. After thirteen rounds, Duran was ahead on two of three scorecards. The third judge had the fight dead even heading into the fourteenth round.

Marvelous Marvin Hagler faced many adversities in his life without buckling under the pressure. The fight with Duran was no exception. The battered champion rallied in the final two rounds of the boxing match. So much so, he left the ring at Las Vegas’s Caesar’s Palace with a unanimous decision victory for his eighth successful title defense.

Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns

Promoters billed the scheduled boxing match between Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns as ‘The Fight.’ But the less than nine minutes of action that took place between the two men at Caesar’s Palace Outdoor Arena will forever be known as ‘The War.’

Round one included 180 seconds of violence. The action began with Hearns landing a solid right hand in the first few seconds of the fight. Hagler took a short step backward before moving forward with all the aggression he could muster.

The action between Hagler and Hearns slowed a bit in round two, but the intent of both men remained the same: Destroy the other. Hagler developed a cut on his forehead from an inadvertent Hearns elbow. Hearns fought through the broken hand he suffered in the first round. Hagler began taking charge of the fight, and his opponent began to slow by the time the second round came to a close.

The cut that opened on Marvin Hagler’s forehead in round two bled profusely in the early moments of round three. Referee Richard Steele halted the action so that the doctor can have a look at the injury. The entire crowd took to its feet in hushed anticipation while the ringside doctor decided the fight’s fate. A few seconds later, the doctor allowed the boxing match to continue.

Marvin Hagler was familiar with losing opportunities for which he earned. He decided that no judge, referee, or doctor would decide how his war with Thomas Hearns ended. Hagler stepped up the attack and scored a TKO victory in the most “brutal three rounds in boxing history.”

Marvin Hagler vs. Sugar Ray Leonard

Marvin Hagler pushed for a fight with Sugar Ray Leonard before the former announced his sudden retirement in 1984. He would finally get Leonard in the ring on April 6, 1987.

In hindsight, many boxing insiders believe Hagler’s desire to fight Leonard caused him to take a disadvantaged position in the fight. Hagler received more money to participate in the contest. But all other concessions went Leonard’s way.

Leonard wanted a 22-foot ring that would provide him with more room to evade Hagler’s attacks. He also wanted to fight in 10-ounce gloves instead of eight-ounce gloves. The thinking is that heavier gloves will siphon some of the power from the stronger fighter’s punches. Leonard wanted a 12-round fight instead of the 15 rounds that were customary for championship fights at the time.

Leonard won a split decision that caused a stir in the boxing world. One point of controversy was the 118-110 scorecard tallied by judge JoJo Guerra in favor of Sugar Ray Leonard. The other two judges agreed on the score at 115-113 but differed in their opinion regarding which fighter earned the victory.

Marvin Hagler was upset with the split decision loss and remained that way for many years after his fight with Leonard. The boxing match was his last as a professional boxer.

Life after Boxing

Marvin Hagler is one of the few great boxers to make a clean break from the ring. And once he announced his retirement, he did not look back. But this fact in no way suggests that he was finished accepting and conquering challenges in his life.

Marvin moved to Italy after he no longer possessed the desire to box. While there, he met his second wife, Kay, and began his second career as an actor. He appeared in four action movies.

Marvin Hagler passed away on March 13, 2021. He was 66 years old.

RIP Champ!