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Marvin Hagler Boxing
Autograph
Sports iluustrated magazine signed by Middleweight
great Marvelous Marvin Hagler on the fron cover which has
an action image from his fight with Roberto Duran
Marvin Hagler
£135.00
Marvin Hagler won 57 amateur bouts, including
the 1973 Amateur Athletic Union middleweight title. Later
that year he turned pro with a 2nd round TKO of Terry Ryan,
starting a 26-fight unbeaten streak. Hagler suffered his
first loss, a close 10-round decision, in January of '76
in Philadelphia, against hometown favorite Bobby "Boogaloo"
Watts. Two fights later, Hagler lost again, another close
10-rounder in Philadelphia, this time to Willie "The
Worm" Monroe. Marvin would later avenge both losses,
stopping Monroe twice in '77 and flattening Watts in 2 rounds
in 1980.
Hagler's most significant win before capturing
the title also came in Philadelphia, known at the time as
the home of some of the world's top middleweights. In August
of '78, Marvin hammered out a 10-round decision win over
Bad Bennie Briscoe, perhaps the best of the Philadelphia
160-pounders and one of the best middleweights who never
won a championship. That win and a successive string of
impressive knockout victories finally earned Hagler a shot
at undisputed middleweight champ Vito Antuofermo on November
30, 1979.
Going into his challenge of champ Antuofermo,
Hagler was already considered by some the best middleweight
in the world. His 45-2-1 record and 20-fight winning streak
brought some credence to that theory. Hagler battled the
tough, aggressive champ for 15 rounds, and in the eyes of
many appeared to have won. A draw decision, however, seemed
to put Hagler right back out in the cold. "They [the
organizations] don't want me to have the titles," Marvin
said afterward, "Because they know I'll keep them."
Three straight wins in 1980, though, and the
powers that were couldn't keep Hagler out of the picture.
Antuofermo had lost the belts to Englishman Alan Minter
since fighting Hagler, and on September 27, Marvin took
on the new champ in London. Minter's southpaw style and
classic boxing skills were no match for Hagler's fury and
determination: the challenger beat Minter mercilessly, forcing
the referee to rescue the bloody champion in the third round.
The English audience refused to allow Hagler to bask in
the moment, hurling bottles at the ring and forcing Hagler
and his handlers to make a quick exit from the arena.
After outclassing mandatory challenger Fulgencio
Obelmejias in 8 rounds, Hagler got his rematch with Antuofermo.
Remembering the shafting he had received from the judges
in the first fight, Hagler stayed on the awkward ex-champion,
forcing a stoppage in the fifth round and proving that he
had indeed deserved to win the first time. Later on, Hagler
and Antuofermo became good friends; Vito even helped Marvin
get started as an actor in Italy when he finished his boxing
career.
Marvin Hagler made 5 defenses over the next
two years, winning all 5 times by KO or TKO. Even then,
Hagler felt he wasn't getting the respect he deserved, or
the big fights and hefty paydays that would accompany it.
All that started to change in November of '83. Former lightweight
and welterweight champ Roberto Duran had resurrected his
career by knocking out junior middleweight champion Davey
Moore, and decided to step up and challenge Hagler for the
middleweight title. Duran was a superstar, exactly the kind
of opponent who would draw a crowd and the kind of payday
Hagler had earned over the past decade.
The fight itself was anticlimactic. Hagler
had prepared for the aggressive Duran that had bested Ray
Leonard and Davey Moore, so when Duran utilized a conservative
approach, Hagler and his trainers were caught off-guard.
After 12 rounds of slow, tactical boxing, Duran had a slim
lead on the scorecards. Feeling the championship he had
worked so hard to attain slipping away, Hagler went on the
attack in the final three rounds and won a close decision.
Duran was the first challenger to Hagler's crown to last
the fight's distance.
After a brief shock when challenger Juan Roldan
knocked Hagler down for the first (and only) time in his
career in Marvin's next fight (Hagler prevailed by KO in
the 10th round), Hagler had his name legally changed to
include his "Marvelous" nickname. Feeling he was
still underappreciated by the fans and media, he reasoned
that if he made it his legal name, writers and TV announcers
would be forced to at least call him Marvelous.
The name change wasn't the only tactic Hagler
used to force the world to recognize his greatness. For
10 years, he had been labeled a "front-runner",
satisfied with only doing enough to win the fight. Looking
to shed this unflattering label and prove he could be as
exciting to watch as popular stars like Thomas Hearns, Hagler
approached his rematch with former 11th-round TKO victim
Mustafa Hamsho with a different outlook: a philosophy he
dubbed "Destruct and Destroy."
Hamsho was a brawler, a tough, straight-ahead
fighter with a flair for bypassing the rules. In their first
fight, Hagler had been criticized for allowing the crude
challenger to make a fight of it. This time, infuriated
by Hamsho's flagrant fouls, Hagler pounded the Syrian, ending
the fight in the third round with a devastating knockout.
Hagler's beating of Hamsho in such spectacular
fashion finally brought attention from the source he craved:
top opponents and big-time promoters. With top draw Ray
Leonard retired, two-division champion Thomas "The
Hitman" Hearns stepped up to the plate to challenge
Marvelous Marvin. Hearns brought name recognition, big-fight
experience (against the likes of Pipino Cuevas, Ray Leonard,
Wilfred Benitez, and Roberto Duran), and an electrifying
right hand punch to the fight. A prevailing question was
whether or not Hagler's previously undented chin could withstand
the Hitman's punching power. On April 15, 1985, Marvelous
answered.
Prefight trash-talking by Hearns only fanned
the flame of Hagler's determination. As soon as the opening
bell sounded, Hagler rushed forward and attacked, abandoning
boxing for wide-open melee. Hearns, who had planned to use
his significant height and reach, was caught off-guard and
forced to trade at close range with the stronger Hagler.
After some first-round success by the Hitman, including
a right hand that seemed to shake the champ and a nasty
cut on Hagler's forehead, Marvelous took over. Hearns' punches
seemed to have no effect, and the challenger was rocked
in the second round. Midway through the third round, referee
Richard Steele called time to examine Hagler's cut. Knowing
that Steele was close to stopping the fight and awarding
the Hitman the TKO victory, Hagler sent Hearns reeling across
the ring with a right. Hearns hadn't even regained his balance
before Hagler ran across the ring and struck with a second
right. A roundhouse left flew harmlessly over the Hitman's
head as he rolled over onto the mat, his eyes rolling back
into his head. To his credit, Tommy managed to climb unsteadily
to his feet at the count of nine, but when referee Steele
had to hold him up, the fight was stopped, giving Hagler
the defining moment of his career.
After knocking out previously unbeaten junior
middleweight champion John Mugabi in his next fight, Marvelous
Marvin finally got the fight he'd called for since winning
the titles. Sugar Ray Leonard announced he was making a
comeback, and that he was going straight for Marvelous Marvin
Hagler. Hagler wanted the fight so bad that he made nearly
every concession in negtiations, from ring size to glove
styles to the number of rounds (12 as opposed to 15). For
the opening rounds, Hagler was strangely tentative; many
felt that he wanted to try and beat Leonard at his own game
of boxing and moving. Unable to keep up with Ray's incessant
circling, Marvin returned to his effective style in the
middle rounds, trapping Sugar Ray against the ropes and
in the corners and pounding the challenger. 66 fights in
14 years started to tell on Hagler in the late rounds, however,
as he slowed noticeably. Leonard took full advantage, moving
and keeping the pace slow early in the rounds, then opening
up with quick-fisted flurries in the final minute of each
round. It was enough, as two of the ringside judges deemed
Ray the winner, sparking a debate over who "really"
won that rages to this day.
Marvelous Marvin Hagler called for a rematch, but Sugar
Ray refused to answer. Frustrated and bitter, Marvelous
Marvin Hagler retired and moved to Italy. Once Marvin Hagler
retired Sugar Ray Leonard came out of retirement!
