Why Marvin Hagler Is The Best Middleweight Of All Time.

[CutMeMick]

IMO Hagler clearly beats Monzon who great smaller guys as well, but not as great Duran or Leonard or Hearns.

IMO Bernard is the best middleweight ever that I've seen and I think he beats either Monzon or Hagler because he is too crafty while still having all of Hagler's mean streak.

Imagine how good Monzon would have been had he trained! He only trained 1 month before a fight and only did roadwork and went half pace in sparring, he drank heavily, chain smoked and f***ed anything with a skirt on. He fought with a bullet lodged in his shoulder for the last 5 years of his career courtesy of his enraged wife at the time. Benvenuti was no bum and Monzon destroyed him twice, he beat the legend Emile Griffith and long time Welterweight king Jose Napoles. 14 title defenses and unbeaten in his last 13 years as a pro, i don't see Hagler beating him clearly.
Someone has to make a movie on Monzon's life, the guy was incredible in the ring, but outside the ring he was out of control.

I agree here THIRD MAN.
To say Hopkins or Hagler would beat Monzon and use the word "clearly" is outrageous.
Monzon was a fucken beast and like you say he did it with minimal traning and a crazy life style. I also rate Monzons opposition better then Haglers & Hopkins opposition.

IMO Hagler clearly beats Monzon who great smaller guys as well, but not as great Duran or Leonard or Hearns.

IMO Bernard is the best middleweight ever that I've seen and I think he beats either Monzon or Hagler because he is too crafty while still having all of Hagler's mean streak.

Imagine how good Monzon would have been had he trained! He only trained 1 month before a fight and only did roadwork and went half pace in sparring, he drank heavily, chain smoked and f***ed anything with a skirt on. He fought with a bullet lodged in his shoulder for the last 5 years of his career courtesy of his enraged wife at the time. Benvenuti was no bum and Monzon destroyed him twice, he beat the legend Emile Griffith and long time Welterweight king Jose Napoles. 14 title defenses and unbeaten in his last 13 years as a pro, i don't see Hagler beating him clearly.
Someone has to make a movie on Monzon's life, the guy was incredible in the ring, but outside the ring he was out of control.

So he beat the great Griffith? He wasn't so great at MW. Rubin Carter KO'd him in round 1 and he wasn't as great as some people and Hollywood make out.

Though I rate Emile as a Welterweight to say he wasn't a great Middle is off. Because Emile was a great period.
Your saying he wasn't a great because Rubin sparked him out in 1?
That's selling his entire career short based on 1 fight.
He also lost to fighters whom on any other night he would have handled with ease. Fighters like Fullmer & Gonzalez but it's part of the sport.

You can rest assured that Monzons wins over Emile def. carry weight in his legacy.

[DMan37]

In my opinion, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, as his official full name goes, is the best (not greatest) fighter ever to grace the ring. On film, I see nobody who could rival his all-round ability, toughness and determination. Marvin Hagler was the greatest middleweight of all time. He made twelve successful defenses of his title, and reigned supreme for seven years.

Almost all of Hagler’s title defenses were against the number one contender. Not a single rightful challenger to the crown was avoided, and each one got their chance to prove themselves. When Hagler reigned, people really knew who was the middleweight champion of the world.

A breakdown of Hagler’s title opponents:

Vito Antuofermo – A tough, rough and grizzled veteran, Antuofermo possessed a granite chin and an impossible workrate.. He possessed a record of 45-6-2 in his first meeting with Hagler, in which he held the challenger to a controversial draw. Many observers, including himself, thought Hagler was robbed. In the rematch, Marvin made sure there was no room for argument, dominating Antuofermo two years later in one of his most impressive performances.

Alan Minter – Minter was a good champion in his own right, winning the title off the rugged Italian, Vito Antuofermo. Minter had an imposing record of 38-6 when he faced Hagler, and all of his losses had occurred because of his fragile face. Minter had never been thoroughly beaten by anyone. He had several notable and credible victories over name opponents such as Antuofermo, Finnegan, Tonna, Griffith and Seales. Some say that if Hagler hadn’t been Minter’s mandatory challenger, he would have reigned for a long time. Hagler slipped, ducked and countered many a jab from the southpaw Brit before dragging him down into a brawl, which ended with Minter turning away in pain when Hagler broke his nose with a big right hook. Moments later the fight was stopped, Minter left bleeding and disorientated from the onslaught.

Fulgencio Obelmejias – A tall, long, rangy fighter from Venezuela, Obelmejias was deceptively powerful. He had knocked out twenty seven of his thirty opponents before meeting Hagler for the first time, and was the undefeated number one contender. Hagler knocked him out in eight rounds. In the rematch Obelmejias earned himself the number one challenger spot again, defeating his last eight opponents all by knockout. Hagler put on another display of efficiency, working his way inside the taller challenger and chopping him down in five.

I agree!

[generalbulldog]

In my opinion, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, as his official full name goes, is the best (not greatest) fighter ever to grace the ring. On film, I see nobody who could rival his all-round ability, toughness and determination. Marvin Hagler was the greatest middleweight of all time. He made twelve successful defenses of his title, and reigned supreme for seven years.

Almost all of Hagler’s title defenses were against the number one contender. Not a single rightful challenger to the crown was avoided, and each one got their chance to prove themselves. When Hagler reigned, people really knew who was the middleweight champion of the world.

A breakdown of Hagler’s title opponents:

Vito Antuofermo – A tough, rough and grizzled veteran, Antuofermo possessed a granite chin and an impossible workrate.. He possessed a record of 45-6-2 in his first meeting with Hagler, in which he held the challenger to a controversial draw. Many observers, including himself, thought Hagler was robbed. In the rematch, Marvin made sure there was no room for argument, dominating Antuofermo two years later in one of his most impressive performances.

Alan Minter – Minter was a good champion in his own right, winning the title off the rugged Italian, Vito Antuofermo. Minter had an imposing record of 38-6 when he faced Hagler, and all of his losses had occurred because of his fragile face. Minter had never been thoroughly beaten by anyone. He had several notable and credible victories over name opponents such as Antuofermo, Finnegan, Tonna, Griffith and Seales. Some say that if Hagler hadn’t been Minter’s mandatory challenger, he would have reigned for a long time. Hagler slipped, ducked and countered many a jab from the southpaw Brit before dragging him down into a brawl, which ended with Minter turning away in pain when Hagler broke his nose with a big right hook. Moments later the fight was stopped, Minter left bleeding and disorientated from the onslaught.

Fulgencio Obelmejias – A tall, long, rangy fighter from Venezuela, Obelmejias was deceptively powerful. He had knocked out twenty seven of his thirty opponents before meeting Hagler for the first time, and was the undefeated number one contender. Hagler knocked him out in eight rounds. In the rematch Obelmejias earned himself the number one challenger spot again, defeating his last eight opponents all by knockout. Hagler put on another display of efficiency, working his way inside the taller challenger and chopping him down in five.

Sorry for bringing this topic up, but this has got to be one of the best and well written posts about Marvin Hagler I've read. Good job ICB for such a great and well written article. It must have taken you a while to gather up all these facts and written it out.

I'm a huge Hagler fan and agree that Marvin was the best ever at middleweight!

[OumaFan]

it wasn't Ice but I'm sure he'll be flattered anyway.

[generalbulldog]

Whoever the author is, this article is just so well written in Hagler's favor for him to be considered the best at middleweight!

IT was just an awesome read.

[ICB]

it wasn't Ice but I'm sure he'll be flattered anyway.

Actually got this from another boxing website but i couldn't remember the member that done it, i didn't know it was an article from where BIG H posted it. I couldn't say where it was from, because Saddo has blocked out the other boxing websites, and im not allowed to mention it.

I did do articles on Mayweather, Burley, but not this. I should of said it wasn't me, but i thought people would know it wasn't me, because i didn't say i wrote it like i did on my other articles.

But whatever but whoever done this article, it was a brilliant read.

[jamiebhoy]

For me even as a die hard Hagler fan it's nowhere near clear cut, I agree that Hagler edges it over some other big names like BH but to dismiss Monzon is just plain silly. Monzon made Hatton look like a dedicated workhorse with his lifestyle and still managed to chalk up a record for defences second to none.

My heart says Hagler would edge it over Monzon, but my head thinks too close to call, esp if Monzon put some dedication in. The one thing i always admired about Hagler was his willingness to take on anyone and how he stuck to his task in going about getting his shot. When you look around now and see people getting a title shot after 10 fights it puts his career into perspective.

Ideal scenario Hagler v Monzon ....a Draw

[Youngblood]

Aw Geebus. Yes, this was a great article. Fact is, soon as I saw it I did a bit of googling and tried to post the original authors name with a copywright symbol, so as to not get Saddos into any legals issues. All the while, people were commenting on what a great Article it was, written by ICB...as he was in the thread at the time viewing the accolades and given every opportunity to say..."Oh, I didn't write it. I just reprinted it. Without consent or credit to original author."

So yea, w/e.

[YIDDLE]

fantastic thread .....,hagler my favourite so i think he greatest middleweight ever

[MJay]

As one who grew up in Brockton, MA and followed Marvin (and even stood next to him a few times) It would be hard to not consider him as one of, if not the greatest middleweight of all times.

No one had a better chin than Marvin. You can talk punching power all you want but when you are Tommy Hearns and you're fighting Marvin and land your best punch and Mr Hagler doesn't even flinch you have problems. Also Marvin knocked out more opponents with short punches than any fighter I've witnessed. He did not need the big Michael Spinx punch that started from 3 feet behind his head to do damage. Marvin could take you out with something resembling a jab.

Marvin's worst fights were against Duran and Leonard. Don't know what as up with Duran as Marvin should have quickly wiped the floor with him but I guess in the end Roberto's rings savy and defensive abilities gave Hagler problems. Leonard I have less respect for. He ducked Marvin and waited for age and loss of speed to kick in. Even then Sugar Ray's victory, if you can call it that was not impressive at all. He ran and ran. Winners don't run. I do believe that Marvin made a tactical error when fighting Leonard. Simply put he tried to be cute like Sugar Ray and prove he could fight that style. Marvin needed to cut that ring off and get down and dirty inside where he was most effective and in the end Hagler failed to do that. When you fight the media darling (Leonard) you need to take their head off for a win.

[Kev]

Ah yes, the infamous Haglergate, which was soon to be followed by the even bigger chessgate, the resulting fallout of which led to Ice being made a pariah here on Saddo's and forced to flee the internet for a time and lay his head low in hiding until the resulting disqiuet and unrest had dissipated.

But he was not beaten, in fact he came back stronger than ever, a prodigy and junior chess grandmaster no less, a father, a (soon to be) husband, a promising amatuer boxer en route for London 2012 and an allround top human being.

[kingfrnk]

Bilbo you are just fukkin sad that you still bring that shit up. Nobody gives a damn that Ice beat your ass in chess get over it.

[Kev]

Bilbo you are just fukkin sad that you still bring that shit up. Nobody gives a damn that Ice beat your ass in chess get over it.

I've never played Ice at chess it wasn't me he cheated.

Anyway it's not the fact he cheated at chess, it's more that he lied about his entire childhood.

[kingfrnk]

Bilbo you are just fukkin sad that you still bring that shit up. Nobody gives a damn that Ice beat your ass in chess get over it.

I've never played Ice at chess it wasn't me he cheated.

Anyway it's not the fact he cheated at chess, it's more that he lied about his entire childhood.

How do you know he lied about his childhood? Did you watch him grow up? Do you know him personally?

[ryanman]

Bilbo you are just fukkin sad that you still bring that shit up. Nobody gives a damn that Ice beat your ass in chess get over it.

I've never played Ice at chess it wasn't me he cheated.

Anyway it's not the fact he cheated at chess, it's more that he lied about his entire childhood.

I'm interested. I give a damn about this chess game. I want to know!