Marvelous Marvin Hagler was born Marvin Nathaniel Hagler on May 23, 1954, and raised in the worst part of Newark, New Jersey. He dropped out of school at 14 to work in a factory to help his mother. After the riots of 1967 in Newark destroyed his tenement housing, his family moved to Brockton, Massachusetts for a better life.
Marvin began boxing in 1969 after getting beat up in a street fight. He originally went to Vinnie Vecchiones’s gym, but after being ignored for a week, left for good. Hagler strolled into Pat and Goody Petronellis’s gym, and found a permanent home. The brothers became his trainers and managers, and after lying about his age by saying he was born in 1952 to get into amateur tournaments, embarked on a remarkable career.
Marvin won the 1973 NAAU 165-pound title in May by defeating Terry Dobbs, and was voted the ‘Outstanding Boxer’ of the tournament ahead of both Aaron Pryor and Leon Spinks. In need of money, he turned professional immediately after the tournament, and made his professional debut on May 18, 1973. Hagler knocked out a boxer named Terry Ryan in two rounds at the Brockton High School Gymnasium, and took home a whopping $50 for his first payday.
He would fight five more times in 1973, defeating the likes of Sonny Williams, Dornell Wigfall and Manny Freitas. Marvin would finish the year with a record of 8 wins and 0 losses, 7 of his victories by knockout. A diligent and disciplined trainer in the gym, Hagler had no problem getting in shape, despite the fact he worked all day in his day job as a construction worker. He would do his roadwork in the early mornings, work all day, and train in the boxing gym at night.
Marvin won his first 6 bouts of 1974 by knockout, before facing the biggest challenge of his early career. On August 30, 1974, Hagler was held to a draw with 1972 Olympian Sugar Ray Seales at the Seattle Center Coliseum in Seattle, Washington. It was a learning experience for the young Hagler, and only fueled his desire to win the middleweight championship one day.
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