OT: Marvelous Marvin Hagler dead at 66
Sad news from the sweet science department...
https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/31059483/marvin-hagler-middleweight-boxing-great-dies-66
62-3-2 career record with 52 knockouts.
One tough hombre, as Hearns, Leonard, and Duran will attest.
Just saw about Hagler and was going to post a thread.
What a ferocious fighter Marvin Hagler was, in a period of boxing when middle- and welterweights ruled.
Hagler, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, and my favorite, Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns were the best of those fighter weight classes back then and fought many an epic battle with each other. But it wasn't just the four of them, as there was shit-tons of other talent around back then who fought those four.
RIP Marvelous Marvin
Just saw this video of the first round of a fight between Hearns and Hagler. What a round of boxing that was. Now I want to see the rest of the fight...
Wow.
I haven't seen that footage in years. "Awesome" doesn't even begin to describe that round in the video footage.
That was the best era ever for those weight classes, in the same way the 70s were ruled by the heavyweights.
The fight between Tommy and Marvin is out there and well worth watching. That whole middleweight division was the best in boxing I ever saw, and the excitement of this match, broadcast on a Saturday afternoon on free TV (Wide World of Sports?) was unbelievable. Simply put, the best, most physical 3 rounds of boxing I ever saw, better than all the great heavyweights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VI-M9Yw-28
P.S. I tried the Source and <oembed> pairs, but apparently, I suck.
March 14th, 2021 at 10:40 AM ^
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VI-M9Yw-28
Now it's clickable.
The method you tried doesn't work on this website; here's how to link:
At the top of the window, you see a row of icons. Select the chain ? symbol, when you click on the ? it opens another small window, place your cursor there and paste the link, hit save, then finish your post as usual.
Good job. I was going to post that.
That was probably the greatest three rounds of boxing ever
March 13th, 2021 at 11:00 PM ^
greatest three rounds in boxing history. just spectacular.
Didn't Hearns break his hand on Hagler's head sometime in that round? As the fight went on, his right became pretty useless. The fracture became an issue as his career went on.
Those mid weight classes (super featherweight through super middleweight) produce guys that are fast, strong, can fight at a high pace for long periods and are highly skilled. When are greats with overlapping careers in these weight classes you get the all-time greatest era of boxing. And there were even more greats in that era: Alexis Arguello, Carlos Palamino, Hector Camacho, Pepino Cuevas, Wilfred Benitez, and Vinnie Pazienza. There were so many fantastic, exciting fights it was incredible.
March 13th, 2021 at 10:22 PM ^
The Benitez fight has a good story. The pre-fight staredown was epic. The ref later said that he'd never seen a scarier man than Hearns and that he feared for Benitez' life. He had no doubt Tommy was going to win; he just wanted Wilfred to live.
Edit: Ah, I keep mixing up the Benitez with Cuevas. Cuevas went down in the third and never touched Tommy.
March 13th, 2021 at 10:37 PM ^
That's when I loved boxing! You could watch it on a Saturday afternoon ( wide world of sports) for free!!! Good ole days!!!! Those names took me back!! Don't forget boom-boom Mancini!
March 14th, 2021 at 11:13 AM ^
Oops! That was a big error! I don’t know how I forgot boom boom!! Thanks!
My dad ran a trade association that, coincidentally, had their international convention at Caesar's Palace the week of the fight and I was working the show while in college. I was at the pool when he fans were filing into the building where it was held which was detached from the main hotel. It was quite a show watching the fans filing past on their way to the fight.
I saw Tommy in the hotel once that week and he flat out looked like a killer.
I met Henry Kissinger that week, too -- he spoke at the convention.
When Tommy started boxing as a pro out of Kronk, he was the terror of SE Michigan. None of his first ten fights went more than 3 rounds, most were over in 1 or 2. He caught my attention in the newspaper (hey, it was the 70’s after all) when I read an interview with one of upcoming opponents from Saginaw. He had a secret weapon in his preparation for The Hit Man. He had his trainer hit him with a padded baseball bat.
The tomato can went down at something like 1:30 in the 1st round.
RIP Marvin, you were truly a great, broke my heart when he beat Hearns but Tommy had that glass jaw unfortunately.
watch a tape of that fight closely. hearns took a ton of hits on the button and didn't flinch. hagler had hit him literally dozens of times in the head and hearns was so resilient you don't even see him wobble. when he finally went down it was anything but that he had a glass jaw. hearns could hit like few others but it came at a dear cost of his windmilling. his defensive posture/work was absolutely atrocious and that is why it looked like he had a glass jaw - he had literally the worst defense of any fighter you have ever heard of.
Let the record show that Marvin could take a punch, too, but was a better boxer.
agree. marvin earned his 'marvelous' name. IIRC, didn't he legally change his name to add the 'marvelous'?
I think so. I think it was becasue some announcers wouldn't announce him using the "Marvelous".
Yep. Once, he was angry he wasn't announced as Marvelous Marvin Hagler that he officially changed his name.
Hearns should have fought Leonard in his first fight, but boxed him. He should have boxed Hagler, but fought him.
Granted, boxing Hagler would have been a challenge because Hagler knew how to cut down the ring, but the last thing Hearns should have done is mix it up inside with Hagler—he needed to keep Marvin at arm's length to use his own reach to advantage. Once Hagler got inside, Hearns's long arms were actually a disadvantage.
I don't think Tommy had a particularly strong chin, but if he got popped he didn't have the legs to get him out of trouble.
March 14th, 2021 at 11:57 AM ^
I believe Tommy broke his hand in the 1st round of that fight. That must have been very unsettling knowing who he was going toe-to-toe with.
Hearns broke his right hand and later said he was so exhausted from the first two rounds that it wasn't going to take very much to put him down.
RIP. I remember that epic fight with Hearns. Too bad the Hit Man couldn't take all the hits.
I thought Hagler got robbed by the judges in the Leonard fight. Hagler landed the bigger blows, IMO. Leonard had flurries, but they were just little pitty-pat punches. Should have to do more to take the title from the champ.
March 13th, 2021 at 11:18 PM ^
Was just going to write the same thing about that Leonard fight. Hagler, in my generation, was just ... amazing. Awe-inspiring, how tough, talented, and ferocious he was. And yes, those three rounds against Hearns were the best. When I see fighters tip-toe around each other for round after round after round ... I always want to know if they've even *seen* this fight. Both Hearns and Hagler threw everything they had at each other, right from the opening bell.
RIP, Marvelous.
March 14th, 2021 at 12:41 PM ^
I was a big Leonard fan but I too thought Hagler won the fight. I didn't like that Leonard ducked him for a couple years which took Hagler out of his prime. Then Sugar Ray simply boxed Hagler with what looked to be powerless punches. Yes, they scored points but didn't inflict damage. RIP, Marvin! You were Marvelous.
I just watched a Tonight Show rerun with Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Hagler came across very well. I had never seen him in an interview before. He was an impressive personality.
March 13th, 2021 at 10:04 PM ^
More collective punishment dealt in 8 minutes than any match in the history of boxing.
Despite the convincing win, if you watch each fighter's post-match presser with the volume muted you'd be convinced Hearns won easily. Hagler had to wear sunglasses and his face was puffy all over.
Weeks after the bout details of Hagler's suffering leaked into the press. For a few moments in the locker room afterwards his peeps thought Marvin's life was in danger.
March 13th, 2021 at 10:42 PM ^
I’m not going to do a new thread about it, and this is totally off-topic, but the northern lights are out tonight. If any of you are somewhere where there’s nice dark skies and/or up north, look to the north and enjoy the view.
March 13th, 2021 at 10:49 PM ^
Thanks for the tip, XM.
I'm about 10 miles away from a pretty good dark sky location, heading out immediately.
March 13th, 2021 at 11:18 PM ^
No Northern Lights here in north Kent County, I'm at Fisk Knob Park, highest point in the county only 1/2 mile from Newaygo County.
Clear sky, lots of stars, and maybe a very faint glow to the north
March 13th, 2021 at 11:26 PM ^
Later in his career, Hearns did a fight in Saginaw. At the time, fighters needed a pre-fight check by a doctor. My dad did his and got his autograph. Cool story, bro.
I thought that Hagler won that fight with Sugar Ray as well.
March 13th, 2021 at 11:56 PM ^
Sad.
Arguably the best Middleweight of all time. Imagine what that generation of fighter would have done vs. Canelo et al. today. Different time. So deep then.
RIP Champ.
March 14th, 2021 at 12:55 AM ^
Marvelous was, indeed, a joy too watch and his fight against Hearns was truly a classic. He was one of the most dominant middle weights of all time.
Some of the best times I recall as a child were those times my father and I watched Sugar Ray Robinson fight. Some still call him the greatest ever ...
RIP, Marvelous.
Oh no! Another of those passings you didn't see coming. Marvelous was a great fighter, a Hall of Famer. Durable chin, tough as nails. His opponents knew they were in for a hard night going up against Marvelous. Big loss for the boxing world
Per Tommy Hearns tweets it was from complications due to the Covid 19 vaccine
Correction on my earlier post. It was from Hearn''s Instagram page that he posted about his complications from the Covid 19 vaccine
That age of boxing was at the time in my life where I'll look back and recall it as the greatest ever. Those guys were just good. They created excitement in a blood sport without the fake drama needed by today's fighters. And it was so fun to watch...
RIP, Marvelous Marvin - and thanks for the memories.
One of the best. Could box and brawl, could take a hell of a punch and deliver a hell of a punch, incredible stamina, he was ferocious and never stopped coming.
Marvelous was his nickname, and eventually his actual legal (!) name, and it worked. But Machine could have been his nickname too
Only saw the fight between him and sugar ray that came on ESPN during quarantine. Man was he impressive his work rate was insane. And he won that fight by the way
One of the few celebrities I've run into in the wild, and I'm a little embarrassed to say I had no idea who he was. We were staying at a little cabin resort in New England. He would hang out at the pool for a lot of the day and chat a bit with us. Seemed like a nice guy. Rest in peace, Marvin.
From all accounts, he was a nice guy. Your anecdote is the norm, not the exception.
He transitioned well into his next chapter too, which is nice to see in an athlete. He lost to Sugar Ray, Sugar Ray wouldn't grant the immediate rematch, Hagler retired after a year of waiting and didn't come back even for $15MM when Sugar Ray finally did grant the rematch. Hagler had already moved to Italy and decided to try his hand in action movies. He did that for a bit under a decade, and then moved back to the States.
Uh, I thought Hagler had a pretty good post-film career as a boxing commentator in the UK and Europe?
From The Guardian obit:
Both men were landing huge punches, but when Hagler sustained a deep cut on his forehead in the third round it was clear the contest could not conceivably last the full 15 rounds. As blood gushed into Hagler’s eyes, the referee Richard Steele was forced to call the ringside doctor to examine the wound. When asked if he could see, Hagler replied: “I ain’t missing him, am I?” and this has become one of the great quotes of boxing folklore.
March 14th, 2021 at 10:13 PM ^
As with Hank Aaron, he died two weeks after vaccination (gene therapy inoculation). Not sure what to think. Mere coincidence? Maybe. Tommy Hearns apparently thinks there's a correlation per Twitter.