After his controversial split decision draw with Vito Antuofermo in November of 1979, Marvin Hagler went back to work. He won 3 consecutive fights, 2 by knockout, and earned a shot at Alan Minter’s WBC middleweight championship, the one he took from Antuofermo on March 16, 1980. The defense was set for London at Wembley Arena on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, and I couldn’t wait to tune into the Saturday afternoon action.
I really wasn’t impressed much with Minter when he beat Antuofermo twice, once winning the crown, and then in a rematch 3 months later. I knew Hagler was a whole different story, and that he would run right over Minter.
Marvin was aggressive and charged right at an through Minter from the opening bell. His southpaw stance matched well with Minter’s lefty stance, and the fight was no contest. Bloodied and beat up, the referee stopped the one-sided affair in the third round, and Marvin finally had his championship belt.
Unfortunately the London crowd wasn’t too thrilled with the decision, and started pelting the ring with beer bottles and everything they could find. Marvin was forced to run from the ring under cover, but had his belt in hand, and nothing could spoil his joy.
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