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Mark KriegelESPN
The great fighter retires with his fortune and faculties intact.
Then he remains retired – resisting the urges of promoters, the public and the ferocious power of his own ego, which made him great in the first place.
It’s the least likely boxing story.
And he is the happiest.
And it’s Marvin Hagler’s Wonderful, Forever.
“When I wonder what the hell I’ve been doing in boxing all these years, I think of Marvin Hagler,” Bob Arum said Saturday, shortly after he was informed of Hagler’s death. “He was the most loyal and dedicated fighter I have ever promoted.”
This is from a 55-year-old man in business, a guy who couldn’t persuade Hagler to come back. However, not for lack of trials and regardless of price.
Arum remembers being at Caesars Palace in the late 1980s. Muhammad Ali was there. Tommy Hearns was there. So did Roberto Duran and Ray Leonard, about a year after Leonard won the controversial decision over Hagler.
“Tell Marvin we should do it again, revenge,” Leonard told Arum. – We’ll make a fortune. Tell him.
Because Leonard’s logic was unassailable, Arum sent the message.
Hagler glared at the promoter. “Tell Ray to have a life,” he said.
No sprinkling on the great Leonard, but that’s the hard part. For fighters, fights are easy things. Not fighting is harder. Having a life, being happy, healthy and rich enough to have fun after fights, is the most difficult proposal of all. And when you evaluate Hagler’s place in boxing history – Leonard’s ever-disputed decision, Duran’s less ambiguous decision, Alan Minter’s stops, Vito Antuofermo, Hearns (watched on ESPN +) and John Mugabi – they should be considered his greatest victory.
The eldest himself could not do it. I remember the first time I saw Ali in person, signing a haberdashery at Macy’s. Someone had to wipe her grandmother’s mouth. It was a terrible thing to see, but even in the midst of this prolonged celebration of Ali-Frazier’s 50th birthday and the memory of Ali’s majesty, it is worth remembering.
Hagler did not return after Leonard’s fight.
Not due to the IRS.
I didn’t feel the need to sell it in an “exhibition”.
He didn’t need to feed his ego or soften his regret. Other people might argue about the significance of his career or about Leonard’s struggle itself. Hagler knew what he was doing. He uttered his song in the ring on top of it, as it should be. And when it was over, it was over.
In fact, he wanted to finish earlier. “He wanted to retreat to Hearns,” Arum said, referring to their three-round standard for contusive title battles. “But it was a huge casino business. It was the biggest weekend at Caesars Palace.”
Arum remembers that the casino raised its offer “by a few million” when a few million meant something. After all, Hagler would fight Mugabi, 25-0, all stops, when 25-0 meant something.
Hagler finally allowed himself to talk to Mugabi, whom he eliminated in the 11th round. Then, 13 months later – when he knew his skills were eroding – it was Leonard.
“I remember driving for five hours with Pat Petronelli, his manager, in the middle of the night,” Arum recalled. “When we finally get to his house in New Hampshire, Pat tells me to wait in the car. He goes to meet Marvin. I’m talking in this little picnic area on the side of the house. He goes on and on and on and on. Lastly, I see Marvin punching the table, thinking, “It’s not going so well.” Then Pat went back to the car. “
“What was that all about that? Arum asked
“You’re not going to believe that,” said Petronelli, who, along with his brother Goody, Hagler’s coach, had offered to cut his taxes by 50 percent for the fight to happen.
“What he said?” Arum asked.
“He said, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to fight this bastard, but if I do, you’d better take all the tax.’
Hagler and Leonard fought on April 6, 1987 (watched on ESPN +).
“He never hurt me,” Hagler said afterwards.
– Where is he going now? Leonard asked. “I feel sad for him. I really do.”
As it turned out, Hagler had a life, as delightfully reported in 1990 by Rick Telander in Sports Illustrated. He moved to Milan and became an actor, especially bad guys in action movies. He still had most of the money, the best part of $ 40 million, his health and memories intact.
“I saw Joe Louis at the door of Caesars Palace, just shaking his hand, and that left a bad taste in my mouth,” he told Telander. “That’s when I saw Jersey Joe Walcott doing the same thing in Atlantic City.”
Earlier that year, Hagler traveled back to the United States to see his daughter graduate from high school. He came across Petronelli.
“For the first time in my life, I’m happy with myself,” he told the manager. “I’m retired.”
Even if he still refused the unspeakable riches for a rematch with Leonard.
“I just got on the phone with Ray,” Arum said Saturday night. “He’s really separated.”