Four years ago today, “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler, the dominant middleweight boxer for many years, died. His incredible one-round fight against Thomas “Hitman” Hearns, in particular, is unforgettable.
He was one of the greatest legends of boxing. He inspired numerous stars who came after him – not least Wladimir Klitschko.
Emmanuel Steward, the Ukrainian’s former trainer, used videos of “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler’s fights as a visual aid and motivational tool before the former heavyweight world champion’s fights. “And let me tell you: it worked,” Klitschko reported after Hagler’s unexpected death four years ago today.
Legendary battle with “Hitman” Thomas Hearns
Hagler, who came from Newark, New Jersey, was one of the best middleweight boxers in history. He was world champion from 1980 to 1987 and exercised an almost unparalleled dominance over his weight class. He won 62 of his 67 professional fights, 52 by knockout, which also made him a historic figure in this regard.
Hagler won the WBC and WBA world titles at Wembley Stadium in London from Britain’s Alan Minter, and in 1983 he added the then-new IBF title by beating fellow Briton Wilford Scypion.
But Hagler’s most famous fight was probably the duel with Thomas Hearns in April 1985, which went down in history as “The War”. Hagler won the fight against the similarly legendary “Hitman” (who was also the namesake of wrestling star Bret “Hitman” Hart) in Las Vegas in the third round.
Before that, he fought Hearns – who was himself a protégé of Steward, who later became Klitschko’s coach – from the first round in such an action-packed and brutal battle that it was remembered as a classic despite its brevity.
Second career as an actor in Italy
Hagler then successfully defended his titles again against John Mugabi (Uganda), before losing another mega-fight by a disputed decision in April 1987 to “Sugar” Ray Leonard, who was trained by Muhammad Ali’s former coach Angelo Dundee.
Hagler ended his career in June 1988 after superstar Leonard refused a rematch and retired himself in the meantime. Hagler then moved to Italy and became a film actor there, appearing in various action flicks and in the science fiction comedy “Virtual Weapon” with Terence Hill.
Hagler was also a great role model for Felix Sturm
Boxing Illustrated named the father of five – who officially had the nickname Marvelous entered in his passport as his first name – Boxer of the Decade. Hagler was also the great idol of his German world champion heir Felix Sturm, about whom Hagler spoke words of praise in the media when he fought against Ronald Hearns, the son of his great rival, in 2011. Sturm also established personal contact with his role model.
“The talent he had, coupled with the passion and speed: someone like that will never come again,“ ‘In the ring, he was an absolute animal. He approached every fight like a war. He was unconditional.’
”A warrior and a good soul”
On March 13, 2021, Hagler died as a result of a medical emergency after experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath at his residence in New Hampshire.
The unexpected loss also shocked the scene humanly. Hagler also had personal connections to Lennox Lewis and the Klitschkos, among others.
“He was a warrior in the ring and a good soul outside of it,” said Wladimir Klitschko, describing his legendary colleague. Hagler was 66 years old.
