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**Kid Blast** · 03-13-2021, 08:32 PM

Shocked and gutted. He lives just up the road from me. He just doesn't seem to be the kind of guy who passes away.

**KO Digest** · 03-14-2021, 04:41 AM

One more sad Brocktonian here today.

In life, Marvin Hagler was unknockoutable.

But that never accounted for the Grim Reaper.

The Marvelous One has finally been stopped.

RIP MMH 🙏

**Matt Mosley** · 03-14-2021, 08:23 AM

RIP to the Marvelous One. Surprised to hear this sad news. Hello again Ted Sares. I thought I could remember you saying in the past that he lived near you.
Hope you are otherwise well and nice to see all over the internet the respect being shown to Marvin. My twitter timeline was full of tributes. Easily top 5, maybe top 3 all time at 160lbs, imo.
And they say he was a good guy too. Rest In Peace.

**ArneK.** · 03-14-2021, 08:31 AM

Thank you for chiming in Matt. Marvin left millions on the table when he walked away from boxing but he was always going to do it his way. His loyalty to the Petronellis was endearing.

**vinegarj** · 03-14-2021, 08:58 AM

One of the greatest in the ring and out of it - a complex man who was also a straight shooter. His stature was surely enhanced by the manner of his departure from boxing and the life he lived thereafter. His death truly hangs in the air today. Peace be with you, Marvelous Marvin Hagler. (btw, the photo attached to this article is great. Thanks for using it, Arne.)

**KO Digest** · 03-14-2021, 09:12 AM

When I was 10, my parents took me to my future alma matter, Brockton High School, where Hagler was sparring with Robbie Sims. It was 1980. I ran around the gymnasium collecting autographs from everyone involved in his life, including his publicist. By the time I got to the sweaty headed Hagler there was no room left on the front of his inked up headshot on which to sign so he made a joke about it, flipped it over and signed the back. I’ve since lost that photo unfortunately but my parents took pictures of him sparring and of him signing for me. I later took those photos to an event in Brockton where he was signing in 2000. Rather than charge me, Hagler signed them both for free and was happy to talk about his memories of that day. I think he enjoyed seeing those old photos of himself in the good old days.

**Matt Mosley** · 03-14-2021, 10:55 AM

Thanks Arne. Yeah he always seemed like a true blue collar, ethical and earnest type of guy to me, and although I was still a kid when he was in his prime, he has always been one of my favourite fighters. I have always known about the quality writing TSS produces and am familiar with the work of Ted, yourself, Bernard Fernandez, etc. I kept meaning to sign up to the comments section and now that I have I will call by now and again, especially now that we are hopefully past the worst of the virus and the boxing schedule is getting going again. Can't wait to see the capacity crowds back again!

**ArneK.** · 03-14-2021, 11:09 AM

Thanks Matt, thanks vinegarj

I'm guessing we will have capacity crowds back again by fall, and like you I can't wait. The governor of Nevada just announced that indoor venues can now have 50 percent capacity; up from 15 percent just a few weeks ago. It will be nice to see some of the grassroots promoters filter back into boxing; I'm thinking folks like Joe DeGuardia on Long Island, the "Raging Babe" in Philly and the Dropkick Murphys crew in Boston, all of whom were kicked to the curb by this damn virus.

**SuperLight** · 03-15-2021, 03:34 AM

Rest in peace, my main man for boxing inspiration.

Marvelous Marvin Hagler was placed #3 in Matt McGrain’s middleweight rankings, despite having defeated no-one else in the top 50. In McGrain’s words, “A colossus of a fighter, Hagler would have made a worthy number one.” In my eyes, he’s right on top.

#03 – MARVIN HAGLER (62-3-2)
Marvellous Marvin Hagler may be the most mis-understood great fighter in history.
Most famous of all his fights was the amazing 1985 showdown with Tommy Hearns in which he swarmed forwards and inside the deadly Hearns jab for an aggressive and brutal face-first assault, the result a third round knockout. Notorious, too, is his final fight, his controversial 1987 loss to Ray Leonard a fight in which, again, he adopted the role of aggressor as Leonard slipped and jived his way to a decision win. But that is not Hagler’s natural style. A stalker, yes, he was that, but more a pressure-stalker than an aggressive, pushy one as he appeared in those two contests. To put it simply, Hagler was a much better boxer than he was a brawler, and he was one of the better brawlers in the division’s history.
That said, his careful methodology probably cost him the decision against Leonard and let the genius Duran come perilously close to taking a decision from him in 1982; but for the most part, Hagler’s legacy is perhaps the definitive altar to the savagery of the deliberate. The best examples of his true style are likely his two dominations of the direct Mustafa Hamsho. Hamsho, who convinced both media and public that he, of all the ranked contenders, was the best equipped to test Hagler, was in fact the perfect foil for this pragmatic puncher’s style, and in the first fight Hagler slipped, blocked and rode Hamsho’s attack all the while counter-punching him to pieces, remaining always just beyond his opponent’s most tender attentions. The ending was brutal.
But it was less brutal than the rematch, conjured by Hamsho in the wake of some moderate difficulties Hagler had had against the not dissimilar Juan Domingo Roldan. These difficulties were not recreated by Hamsho who once again was dismantled, this time in just three. This fight, in conjunction with the Hearns war, demonstrates the absurd difficulty borne in matching Hagler. He had an iron jaw, a world class defence, really good punching power (of his twelve successful title defences he won eleven by stoppage), was a good mover and a wonderful counter-puncher; but when Hamsho and Hearns plant their feet they get destroyed, are out-thundered by a fighter armed to the teeth and in possession of the accuracy to find all but the most elusive targets with sickening regularity. The surgical precision of the massive variety of right hands he used to butcher Hamsho in the third also special; the uppercuts he used in part to soften him some of the best you will see. This is not a head-to-head list as I have been at pains to stress, but I will say this: any fight in which Hagler be allowed to find those uppercuts is a fight he would win.
They played a part in victories over ranked men such as Mike Colbert, Bennie Briscoe, Alan Minter (the ruthlessly deposed champion), Fulgencio Obelmejias, Vito Antuofermo, Don Lee, Tony Sibson, John Mugabi and others; he was a king who brooked no authority.
Having said that, Hagler had as difficult apprenticeship as any fighter in the Top Ten and although there is no room to explore it here I think it is fair to say that it bore a fighter with a chip on his shoulder and one, too, in need of tactical direction – he could be confused, perhaps, by a vacuum. So few are his weakness though that we are reduced to groping for such quasi-psychological chinks in some of boxing history’s greatest armaments. A colossus of a fighter, Hagler would have made a worthy number one.
Other Top Fifty Middleweights Beaten: None

**KO Digest** · 03-15-2021, 06:04 AM

In Coming 2 America the barber shop scene in Queens I’d have really like to see them argue the relative merits of Hagler versus Harry Greb. “Marvelous Marvin wasn’t shiit,” says the Jewish customer, then countered by the head barber who says, “well he did whip Tommy Hearns’ soul glow asss!” #KuntaKinte 😆

**StormCentre** · 03-19-2021, 08:09 PM

Hagler was one of my favorite all time fighters/middleweights.

I loved that T-shirt he used to wear that had “destruct and destroy” written on it.

So very apt for him.

His war with the Hit Man Hearns was as good a fight as you can pay money to see.

A brutal “take no prisoners” style of war like that reveals what lays inside the spirit of a man’s soul, and Marvin Hagler showed us all what he was made of that night.

With perhaps the exception of a prime James Toney (yes I think Toney is as good as some of the all time greats mentioned in this post), Sugar Ray Robinson, Archie Moore, and/or Ezzard Charles; Hagler would have hung in there and possibly enjoyed success with any of yesteryear’s old school middleweight and/or light heavyweight greats.

That said I am not sure he would have beaten Harry Greb

But then not many people could/would.

Greb was special and a cut above all the boxers I have above mentioned here.

What a sad loss it is that Hagler passed away.

RIP champ.

Cheers,

Storm.

**StormCentre** · 03-20-2021, 11:55 PM

Originally posted by KB

"That said I am not sure he would have beaten Harry Greb."

Unless and until I see a full video of Greb, I shall never agree with that. Greb is the favorite fighter of Boxing Historians because they know no one has ever seen him fight. So they use activity and level of opposition. Arghh. Enough.

When you compare, read, and seriously understand the records of Greb and Hagler, it’s clear that Greb fought/beat some guys that Hagler would have - at best - really struggled with.

Even Emmanuel Steward and Bert Sugar agreed to this fact.

Whether or not you accept it as a fact is up to you but I would urge you to study/compare the records of both men before going out on a limb and placing Hagler in the same league as Greb.

Nothing I have said here means I don't think Hagler is an all time great and a hero.

Cheers,

Storm.

**StormCentre** · 03-27-2021, 09:02 PM

Originally posted by KB

No, this doesn't have to do with Hagler as much as your continuing adoration of Greb whom you have never seen fight. You might be right, but I'll never really know. And by the way, I am a Monzon man. As for Bert Sugar, I'll let that pass------for now.

Yes my adoration for Greb is endless/perpetual - you have that right.

Yes I have seen and old black/white film of Greb fighting (years ago) - so, you have that wrong.

There’s no way a guy with Greb’s fortitude/record and one that (as Greb did) fights heavyweights (whilst he’s still a middleweight) and beats them; all whilst (at the same time) successfully defending his middleweight belts against serious competition, is inferior to Hagler

I don’t wish to tread on someone’s grave as Hagler was a tremendous middleweight and an inspiration to me all throughout my boxing career.

But there’s no way Hagler’s style of walking straight up, head high, walking his man down, and throwing a high rate of punches beats a guy like Greb. The fight would be spectacular though.

I think you would have a hard time finding any reputable boxing historian that thinks Hagler is/was better than Greb.

But then again that’s just me. What do I know?

Cheers,

Storm.

**KO Digest** · 03-28-2021, 03:26 AM

Nevermind Greb.

Could Hagler have ever beaten Ray Leonard??

Announcement

Marvin Hagler Passes Away at Age 66

Marvin Hagler Passes Away at Age 66

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