Sugar Ray Leonard began training in the spring of 1986 for his then proposed fight with Marvin Hagler. By the time was set in the fall, he was already fit. He continued to train earnestly, and went to Hilton Head, South Carolina in February to open camp for his final 6 weeks of preparation. I […]

After watching Hagler struggle at times with John Mugabi in March of 1986, Sugar Ray Leonard started dropping hints to the media a few months later than he would be interested in a fight with Hagler. Marvin appeared on Johnny Carson not long after, and said he would probably take the fight. At the time

After his huge win over Hearns, Marvin was enjoying the limelight. He was doing a number of national commercials, and appearing on all the talk shows. He signed to fight WBA junior middleweight champ John ‘The Beast’ Mugabi in November of 1985, but the fight was cancelled when Marvin hurt his back. Mugabi was a

The latest super-fight was set for April 15th at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. After a whirlwind press tour in January, both boxers went to training camp. It was the biggest fight in boxing in years, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I went to the Spectrum in Philadelphia to see the

After the knockout of Roldan, and Thomas Hearns’s destruction of Duran in 2 rounds in June, Marvin and Hearns were on a collision course. It was pretty much decided that Hagler would fight the mandatory challenger Mustafo Hamsho in October, and would then sign to fight Hearns in early 1985. The fight at Madison Square

After his much criticized performance against the puffed up welterweight Duranin November of 83, Marvin looked to prove himself against the tough Argentinian Juan ‘Domingo’ Roldan. The bout was set for March 30th at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas on HBO television, since Hagler was now one of the network’s stars. I settled for a

Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran signed to meet at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas on November 10th, 1983. I wasn’t thrilled about the bout to be honest, but paid to see it on closed circuit tv at a nearby hotel ballroom. I did have the privilege of meeting the recently retired great Alexis Arguello

After the letdown of the Leonard fight, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, now his legal name,  made new plans. His first time in the ring would be in Boston, Massachusetts against Brit Tony Sibson. Hagler easily disposed of him with a 6th round TKO, and solidified his place as one of the top names in the sport.

After Sugar Ray Leonard had surgery to fix his detached retina in May, he announced his retirement from boxing at just age 26. It was a hard pill for the biggest draw in the sport to follow, but it seemed like he had no choice. After the failed attempts at a mega fight with Thomas

Marvin opened 1982 with a one round knockout of ‘Caveman’ Lee on March 7th. It was the first and last time he would ever fight in Atlantic City. Talks of a fight with Thomas Hearns culminated with an agreed date of May 24th. After his loss to Sugar Ray Leonard in September of 1981, he