Marvelous Marvin Hagler is widely considered to be one of the greatest fighters to have ever graced the sport.
Hagler reigned as the undisputed world middleweight champion between 1980 and 1987, where he would rack up victories against the likes of John Mugabi, Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns along the way.
He became a member of the iconic ‘Four Kings’ during the 1980s, alongside former rivals Duran, Hearns and the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard, who handed Hagler the third defeat of his career when they clashed in April of 1987.
The defeat that he suffered to Leonard would prove to be his final ever ring appearance. Hagler announced his retirement from the sport in the summer of 1988 after he failed to secure a rematch with his countryman.
Speaking in an interview, Hagler claimed that he was ‘robbed’ in his fight with Leonard.
“I was robbed. I feel that the judges saw what they wanted to see, not what was happening in the ring. I won at least seven or eight of the rounds. I was robbed. Sugar Ray Leonard didn’t beat me. I was the champion, and I fought like a champion. I know in my heart I won the fight. But they didn’t see it that way.”
In a separate interview, he shared further details on why he walked away from the sport when he did, blaming ‘politics and money’ on his decision to retire.
“I left the sport because it wasn’t about boxing anymore; it was about politics, about money. My last fight with Leonard, that was the moment I knew it was time to go. I wanted to be remembered for my fights, not for the business of boxing.”
Hagler had reportedly been considering a return to the ring over the years that followed his defeat to Leonard, but this never came to fruition. He tragically passed away from natural causes in March of 2021.
