After his huge win over Thomas Hearns on April 15, 1985, Marvin Hagler agreed to face John ‘The Beast’ Mugabi. Mugabi was the junior-middleweight champ, and was a thunderous puncher who knocked most of his opponents out. I had seen a lot of his fights on NBC, which carried most of his bouts. He was a legitimate test, and moved up to the middleweight division to challenge “The Marvelous One.” The rematch with Hearns was set aside for this one, which to me figured to be far more competitive anyway.
The original fight date was November 14, 1985, but was postponed when Marvin was suffering from an injured back, and then a broken nose. After negotiations settled down, a March 10, 1986 date was set for Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, in what promised to be an action packed bout.
The Spectrum in Philadelphia was my choice to see it on closed-circuit TV. I had a great seat in the first row on the floor of the arena, and sat with a bunch of boxers, who knew the sport, giving me someone to talk to. The one kid I sat next to was my favorite, and he told me that Kevin Howard lived in his neighborhood, and basically was a bum on the corner now. I laughed out loud when he told me the news, and shared on of my Philly soft pretzels with the bum.
In the co-feature bout of the evening, Thomas Hearns starched James Shuler with a single right hand in the opening round. The quick knockout re-energized the ‘Hit Man’, and put his name on the top of the rankings again. I also remember it was rainy and damp in Vegas that night, with most of the fighters wearing plastic bags over their boxing shoes as they made their way to the ring.
When the main event began, I was rooting hard for Mugabi, but knew his odds of winning were slim. Marvin was on top of the sport, and wasn’t going to let anyone knock him off of his thrown. Mugabi landed hard shots consistently, and even though Hagler absorbed them, the champion knew he had his hands full. Both men traded blows back and forth for the first six rounds, before Hagler hurt John, and almost finished him. Mugabi showed grit and determination, but by the 11th round fatigue set in, and Marvin put him on the deck and out.
After the victory, Hagler praised Mugabi, and said “It was the toughest fight of my career. John’s a great fighter.” I took solace that Mugabi had done so well, and there was no shame in losing to the best fighter on the planet. In my eyes, I figured the best plan would be to return to junior-middleweight and try and recapture a belt or two.
As far as Marvin was concerned, the future was up to him. Unexpectedly, only a few months later, Sugar Ray Leonard hinted of a return to the ring, and an interest in a fight with Hagler. After bantering and negotiations for months, the two agreed in the fall to meet in April of 1987, in a fight I thought would never take place.
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