Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who ruled boxing as the middleweight champion from 1980 until 1987, defending his title 12 times until he lost to Sugar Ray Leonard in a fiercely contested split decision, died on Saturday. He was 66 years old.
Hagler’s death was announced by his wife, Kay G. Hagler, on the Marvin Hagler Fan Club’s verified Facebook page. She said he died unexpectedly at his New Hampshire home.
Hagler was one of the most formidable fighters of his time, defeating a series of opponents that included Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns, which he knocked out in the third round of a 1985 fight that he considered the highlight of his career.
He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993.
“I always wanted to be somebody,” Hagler told Sports Illustrated in 1982. “Baseball, I played like Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays; basketball, it would be Walt Frazier or Kareem; boxing, I would pretend it was Floyd Patterson or Emile Griffith. “
Hagler was born Marvin Nathaniel Hagler on May 23, 1954. He said that he later had his name legally changed to Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
He grew up in Newark, but his mother moved with his family to Brockton, Massachusetts, after the 1967 riots, when fires and violent clashes between Newark police, National Guard troops and black residents consumed the city and 26 people were dead.
He learned boxing in Brockton, the hometown of another great boxer, Rocky Marciano, where he was trained by brothers Pat and Goody Petronelli, who ran a gym in the working-class city. During the day, he worked for the construction company Petronellis and was paid $ 3 an hour.
“He really needed money,” recalls Pat Petronelli in 1987. “So, he only ate what he needed. He borrowed 50 cents for a submarine sandwich, 25 cents for a soft drink – we deducted it on Fridays. He didn’t spend unless he thought it necessary. “
At the age of 18, Hagler crowned his amateur career by winning the national amateur athletic union tournament in the 165 pound class. He turned professional a week later. For years, he trained on the tip of Cape Cod, reveling in the isolation and running through the sand dunes in Provincetown, Massachusetts, to develop his strength and fitness.
“You should isolate yourself,” he told The New York Times in 1981 from his room at the Provincetown Inn, as a blizzard raged outside. “All the great champions did the same. Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali on his mountain at Deer Lake. They put themselves in prison. I put myself in prison. “
Mr. Hagler always considered himself a kind of outcast in boxing, perennially disrespected, and he struggled to rise gradually, facing Bobby Watts, Willie “The Worm” Monroe, Eugene “Cyclone” Hart and Bennie Briscoe before finally getting a chance o title in 1979, according to the Boxing Hall of Fame.
That year, however, the judges gave Hagler just a draw against Vito Antuofermo, who remained the champion.
He had to wait until 1980 to claim the title of Alan Minter in London. As English spectators threw bottles into the ring when the one-sided fight was stopped, Hagler’s hand did not rise in victory.
Many boxing enthusiasts consider Hagler’s fight against Hearns to be his best, and Hagler said it was in this fight that he finally managed to prove his greatness.
In an open-air arena next to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, in front of a crowd of over 16,000 crowded, Hearns and Hagler exchanged scary blows until the third round, when Hagler threw a solid right that hit Hearns in the chin.
Hearns staggered against the strings and fell on the screen. Slowly, he stood up, holding on to the ropes, and stood when he counted to eight. The referee looked into Hearns’ glassy eyes and waved that the fight was over.
“Tommy is a good fighter,” said Hagler later, “but he is arrogant. I had something for him. “
Hagler’s professional career ended after Leonard, who had fought only once in the previous five years, defeated him in a decision divided by 12 rounds in 1987 in the outdoor arena at Caesars Palace. Hagler, who had not lost a fight since 1976, was a big favorite and had a special dislike for Leonard, whom he called “Mr. Politician “and” Mr. Middle Class. “
“He is an imposter,” Hagler told The Times in 1987. “He has been protected for life. Furthermore, if he had not become a boxer, he could have done other things. I? I had nowhere else to go. “
But Leonard did an impressive display of boxing art – painting with jabs and uppercuts – to mark a turning point.
Hagler announced his retirement in 1988, saying he did not want to wait for a rematch with Leonard. Throughout his career, he has fought 67 fights, winning 62, losing three and fighting for two to a draw, said the Boxing Hall of Fame. He had 52 knockouts.
“I really feel like I’m still the champion,” said Hagler after losing the title. “I really hate the fact that they took it from me and gave it to, of all people, Sugar Ray Leonard.”