Carl Froch vs. George Groves Part 2: The Cobra Bites Back

By Peter Silkov

Carl Froch (33-2, 24koes) retained his WBA and IBF World super-middleweight titles against challenger George Groves (19-2, 15koes) for the second time last night, May 31.  Victory came with a spectacular and conclusive finish that left no room for doubt, or debate, unlike the controversial finish to their first match last year. 

Fighting in front of a post WW2 record-breaking crowd of 80,000, at London’s Wembley Stadium, Froch produced the kind of performance, which the great champions are able to pull out when the chips are down, and the odds seem to be stacked against them.  After being written off by many in the run up to this rematch, with everything from his age, technical deficiencies,  to his trainer, being analysed in a negative light, ’The Cobra’ struck back last night to prove all his doubters wrong, and underline once and for all what an outstanding fighter he truly is.

Britain may have produced cleverer, faster, and more athletically gifted boxers than Froch in the past, but there have been few fighters from this country who have been better warriors than ’The Cobra’, in the post WW2 years. Carl Froch has a toughness and warrior mentality that renders things, like superior speed and technique, obsolete.  

 Both fighters entered the ring to the kind of fanfare that seems to be almost obligatory at big occasions such as this.  While Froch’s entrance seemed well balanced, the challenger Groves journey to the ring, (which included an old-fashioned double decker London bus) seemed to be over long, and possibly draining. There had been some talk in the run up to Saturday’s match that Groves, acting as his own manager and promoter, was spreading himself too thin. Today, only Groves will know the answer as to whether all the meetings and public appearances had any bearing upon his performance last night, but one thing for certain is that Froch prepared for this fight with a monkish focus and dedication, and the result of this was clear in his performance on the night. Whereas, Froch fought the first fight against Groves with the harassed and frantic air of a desperate man, last night, he had a focus and a serenity, which never totally left him, even during the challenger’s best moments of the night.

The fight began accompanied by the roar of 80,000 fans; a sound that few modern day fighters will ever experience.  If the fans were anticipating a 1st round explosion, similar to that seen in the first clash between these two men, then they were in for a disappointment, as each boxer started out cautiously, circling each other, and working behind the jab. Groves had stated in the run up to this fight that he would win the rematch by a 3rd round knockout, but he started much more cautiously than he had last November, concentrating on landing his spearing left jab, and barely throwing the right hand, which had Froch down in the 1st round of their first fight. Meanwhile, Froch was cautious, yet, already noticeably sharper than he had been in the previous meeting, and crucially this time, instead of blindly going after the challenger from the start, ’The Cobra’ was working his own jab. Yet, Groves still edged the opening round as his own jabs landed quicker and cleaner than the champion’s did.

As the second round began to unfold, it became clear that this rematch was following the pattern of many such rematches of the past, where, despite all of the well-publicized dislike between the two fighters, both men were taking into the ring a healthy amount of respect for the others fighting prowess, and boxing a cautious, technical fight.  At one point, a clinch resulted in an exchange of rabbit punches, before Groves was forcibly pushed to the floor by the champion. Froch was warned by the referee, Charlie Fitch, but had shown his challenger that he is going to be the boss in the ring this time. It is an almost insignificant incident, but at the start of a contest of intense physicality, such incidences can prove important.

The action continued and Froch’s jab was already working far better than at anytime during the pairs first encounter.  Groves, still edging the round with his own left-hand, which was faster and more frequent, but Froch, his chin tucked into his chest, and his right hand up as a guard, rides and blocks a good many of Groves punches. Groves sealed the round by landing a good left hook near the round’s end, but this was developing into a technical joust for the purist, rather than the kind of barnburner that many were hoping to see.

The 3rd round unfolds in much the same way as the first two stanza’s, with both men fencing with their jabs, and daring the other to make the first move, which could be turned into a mistake. The crowd at this point began to boo, indicating that like many such crowds, it was made up more of people looking for a night’s entertainment, rather than a night of good boxing. As if in reply to the audience’s displeasure, Froch, always the crowd-pleaser, though too often unappreciated, launched forward, and landed a left-right combination upon Groves, who replied with punches of his own.  It is the first real explosion of the fight and the audience, in all their fickleness, responded with a roar.  Both men go back to their jabs, and Froch’s left is visibly upsetting the rhythm of his challenger, while Groves’ jab has reddened ‘The Cobra‘s generous nose.  There was no sign of Groves even attempting to fulfil his pre-fight prediction of a 3rd round knockout, and although he might have won his third round in a row, he is edging the opening rounds, rather than dominating them, and this is not the ideal strategy against a slow starter such as Froch. 

After all of the talk about Groves needing to pace himself for 12 rounds and box, rather than brawl this time round, the challenger had perhaps held back too much in these opening rounds and allowed Froch to fight at his own pace and work himself into the match.     

    

Froch was visibly more relaxed in the 4th round, as if conscious that the fight is following a different pattern to the one last November, a pattern that is favouring him.  Groves was not putting enough pressure onto the champion, and in this round begins to find himself under more pressure himself as ’The Cobra’ begins to dominate the centre of the ring, and is out-jabbing his challenger for much of the round. Groves skirts the outside of the ring pot-shotting, while there was a better flow about the champion’s work.  Groves returned to his corner at the end of the round with a look of frustration about him.

Groves started the 5th round with two stabbing lefts, which fail to land clearly. Froch landed a good right hand and a left hook, which drove Groves into a corner, where he landed some punches to Groves’s body, before the challenger fought his way out. Groves retaliated with punches of his own, but took a combination to the body and the action heats up.  Both men exchange right hands towards the end of the round, but it is Froch who has held his ground in the centre of the ring, while Groves was forced to maneuver around him. 

In the 6th round, Froch seemed to taking control of the match. Starting the round fast, he drove his challenger into the ropes with a left-right to the head, then switches to the body.  Moving back into the middle of the ring, the two exchanged jabs, with both falling a little short of the target. The last forty seconds of the round found Groves driven onto the ropes twice by Froch attacks, as the champion finished the round on the front foot.  

The challenger came out for the 7th round with more

purpose, landing a good jab and then, moments later, a straight left that drove Froch back onto his heels. The champion looked momentarily shaken as Groves threw the left hand now with more venom, catching Froch flush.  Another left, later in the round, provoked Froch to drive his challenger into the ropes, where he unleashed a two-fisted attack upon Groves’ body, but it is the challenger’s round, just at the point where it looked as if Froch was in command of the fight.

Groves tried to carry over his good work of the previous round in the 8th, as he was noticeably more aggressive and continued to fire his jabs with increased intent. Froch looked a little ragged, as Groves tagged him with jabs, and the occasional right hand.  However, the champion stood his ground, while at the same time, not retaliating recklessly. Groves looked more and more confident as the round progressed, as Froch continued to march forward, taking shots, but landing some good body shots of his own.  Most crucially perhaps, Froch was still keeping the centre of the ring. 

With thirty seconds left in the round, as Groves is maneuvered into the ropes, Froch threw a right hand over a Groves’ left hook, and connected to the side of the challenger’s jaw.  It was as potent a single punch as you will ever see, and Groves was out before he landed flat on his back upon the canvas, with his left leg twisted grotesquely underneath him.  Referee Charlie Fitch, who proved to be a good pick for the third man in the ring, waved the fight off without a count. Somehow, Groves, his fighting instincts impressively strong until the last, dragged himself upright, but only to fall onto the referee, then stagger into his own corner, where he collapsed into the arms of his trainer Paddy Fitzpatrick. It was all over for the challenger.

Meanwhile, Froch was being held aloft by his brother and acclaimed by the crowd, his destiny fulfilled, and his legacy as one of Britain’s greatest modern day boxers assured. It was the kind of explosive ending, that would satisfy any crowd of 80,000, and there were no controversies or doubts left this time.

After the fight, both boxers proved that despite their much-publicized acrimony, each retains the class of true sportsmanship. There were no excuses from George Groves, and Froch praised his challenger, while citing his victory as the greatest of his career.

With the challenge of George Groves behind him, Carl Froch can pick his own path from here.  Although another domestic challenge, in the shape of James Degale, seems to be looming, ’The Cobra’ may choose to travel to America and Las Vegas, to end his career in a multimillion dollar showdown with someone such as Andre Ward, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., or perhaps Gennady Golovkin.

For George Groves, last nights defeat will be a bitter pill to swallow, especially in light of the pre-fight talk and predictions, which seemed to be as much as a burden to him in the rematch, as they were a help in the first fight.  Defeats such as these usually prove to be either the making or the breaking of a young fighter. Groves certainly has the talent to move on from here, but may have to learn some hard lessons from this defeat if he is to fulfil his potential in the future.

The night belonged to ’The Cobra’ who showed a crowd of 80,000 (and millions more on TV) what it takes to be a true champion.    

Copyright © 2014 The Boxing Glove, Inc. Peter Silkov Art. All Rights Reserved. Peter Silkov contributes to www.theboxingglove.com and www.theboxingtribune.com

Ezzard Charles: The Cincinnati Cobra

By Peter Silkov


Ezzard Charles was one of the most talented boxers ever to win the World heavyweight crown, but also one of the most underrated.  Nicknamed ‘The Cincinnati Cobra’ Charles was a clever and fast boxer, with a deadly punch. Turning professional in 1940, after a sparkling amateur career, Charles started out as a middleweight, but steadily fought his way up to light heavyweight and then heavyweight. Ezzard started fighting top liners almost from the start, and his record reads like a whose-who of the most dangerous contenders of the 1940s; from middleweight to heavyweight, fighters such as Ken Overlin, Teddy Yarosz, Kid Tunero, Charley Burley, Jimmy Bivins, Lloyd Marshall, Archie Moore, Elmar Ray and Joey Maxim. In his prime, Charles only weighed about 7lbs over the 175-pound weight division, and in recent years, Charles has been recognised one of the greatest light-heavyweights of all time.

In early 1948, an incident happened that was to have a resounding impact upon Ezzard’s boxing career. On February 20, 1948, in Sam Baroudi was knocked out by Charles, and died of head injuries some time afterward. Although Charles continued to fight, he was never quite the same again, becoming a more cautious boxer, compared to the explosive boxer-puncher he had been previously.

On June 22, 1949, Charles out-pointed Jersey Joe Walcott to win the vacant World heavy weight championship, following Joe Louis retirement.  The revered Joe Louis was a hard act to follow, Ezzard Charles, despite his undoubted ability, was never really accepted as World heavyweight champion during his title reign, and his out- pointing of a come-backing Joe Louis in 1950, only served to make Charles even more unpopular amongst many boxing fans. Charles remained champion until 1951 and made eight successful defences, before losing the title to Jersey Joe Walcott, in his ninth defence, when he was surprisingly koed by Walcott in the 7th round. Ezzard tried to regain the World heavyweight title three times, losing to Walcott again on June 5, 1952 on points, and then losing two fights to Rocky Marciano on June 17 and September 17, 1954.  Ezzard became the only man to go 15 rounds with Marciano in their first fight and his courage against Rocky in this savage fight brought Charles more popularity than he had ever experienced previously during his career.
In his second fight with Marciano for the World heavyweight title, Charles cut Rocky’s nose so badly that the fight was on verge of being stopped in his favour, until Rocky rallied with one of his brutal assaults, and knocked Charles out in the 8th round.

After his epic fights with Marciano, Charles’ career hit a downturn as his form declined sharply almost overnight. Of the 23 fights Charles had from 1955, to his final retirement in 1959, he won just 10 and lost 13. 

Shortly after his retirement in 1959, Charles fell ill with Lou Gehrig’s disease and ailment that he would later say he started suffering from during the later years of his boxing career. Charles died in 1975.  His final record was 96(58koes)-25-1.  Although still largely overlooked today, Ezzard Charles is recognized by many boxing historians as an outstanding boxer and champion, who never got the respect due to him during his career.
  
 

Carl Froch vs. George Groves: The Cobra vs. The Saint Part 2

By Peter Silkov

When Carl Froch (32-2, 23koes) and George Groves (19-1, 15koes) face each other in the ring again this Saturday, May 31, at Wembley Stadium, London, to compete for Froch’s WBA and IBF world super-middleweight titles, it will be the most anticipated clash between two British boxers, since the rivalries of Nigel Benn, Michael Watson, and Chris Eubank in the 1990s. The controversy of the first clash last November between the pair, has served only to heighten the intrigue and anticipation that surrounds this match. In addition, it underlines the genuine animosity and dislike which seems to visibly seep from both fighters when they are together. After all of the drama and excitement of the first fight, the rematch does not really need the extra publicity provided by both men not liking each other, (although promoter Eddie Hearn would probably disagree).  But the dislike is there, and it is real. Sometimes uncomfortably so.  In a sport where serious injury is always a dark possibility, there is something unsettling about seeing such intense ill feeling between both men in the run-up to their rematch. 

These are two men who seem to genuinely want to harm each other in a fight in which the stakes couldn’t be higher for either man. For Froch, victory will wipe out the controversy of their first bout last November, and be another step to cementing his legacy as one of Britain’s most outstanding fighters of recent years. However, defeat at the hands of Groves, would be a disastrous result for ‘The Cobra’, underlining the controversy of their first fight, and signalling the end of Froch’s time as, not only one of the elite 168-pounders in the world, but most damagingly, his status as the best super-middleweight in Britain. While Froch's defeat to Andre Ward, rated one of the best fighters pound-for-pound in the world, was not overly damaging to his legacy, defeat to Groves, until now a largely unknown domestic fighter, and would be far more detrimental. The stakes for Groves, on the other hand, are equally high. Victory on Saturday will be seen as vindication of his claims that he was robbed of a probable triumph in November, and will catapult Groves onto the world stage as one of the elite fighters at 168. A loss for Groves would also be a severe setback, although he has youth on his side to come again at world level, a second loss to Froch will place Groves back into the queue of contenders waiting to receive their title shots.
Whoever loses on Saturday will take a blow to their prestige, even more as the fight has become such a personal matter between the two men.  Defeat for Froch, depending upon the manner it comes, could mean the end of ’The Cobra’s’ career.  Would Froch at almost 37-years-old want to put himself through it all again even if there was a proposed third fight? 

The conclusion of their first fight is still highly talked about and controversial. After flooring Froch heavily in the 1st round, Groves went on to largely dominate the next 5 rounds, before allowing himself to being dragged into a brawl in the 7th and 8th rounds, as if to show that he could out tough Froch as well as outbox him. This was a bad mistake on Groves’ part, one that led directly to him being prematurely stopped by the referee in the 9th round, when Froch seemed to have finally got him into some trouble.

The ending of their first match, at such a crucial point in the contest, left many questions unanswered.  Had the fight been allowed to go on, would Groves have recovered his composure and gone on to score the upset win, or was Froch on his way to grinding his challenger down, like he has so many other opponents in the past?

Six months later, how will champion and challenger approach the rematch and what adjustments will they make?  Out of both men, Froch is the one who seemingly needs to change most when the two clash again this Saturday. Froch is in the rather peculiar position of having had the worst of their previous fight, despite emerging the winner.  Froch was quite clearly both out-boxed, out-punched, and the change of the course of the fight in the 7th and 8th rounds seemed to come as much from an overconfidence on Groves part, as it did from anything that Froch was doing.

On one hand this could bode well for the champion, as he simply cannot have a worse start to the rematch than he did the first fight, then again, there remains a chance that ‘The Cobra’ has simply met his match in ‘The Saint.’ Have all of the wars of the past half dozen years, fighting at world level, finally taken a toll upon ‘The Cobra’.  Father time catches up with everyone in the end, and Froch, despite his dedicated fitness, will be a few days away from his 37th birthday when he meets Groves for the second time on Saturday. 

Against Groves, he is facing someone who is younger, faster, rangier, and a technically better boxer. For much of his career, Froch has overcome his technical deficiencies through his sheer toughness and fitness. In November, Froch looked sluggish and wild, with his footwork flat and uncoordinated and his reactions slow.  Froch’s defence, which has never been his strongest asset, seemed to be at times almost nonexistent. The crucial question hanging over the champion is whether he still has more to give than he showed in November, or is the well finally running dry? There is a chance that Froch will get into the ring on Saturday and find that it is just not there anymore. 

It would seem that Groves only needs to repeat what he was doing in November up until the 7th round, until he allowed himself to be pulled down into a brawl by Froch.  The major question for Groves is was his descent into a brawl with the champion due to overconfidence and inexperience, or, a lack of stamina and durability.  Groves seems to have the upper hand over Froch in most areas, including technique, age, speed, and size. The one crucial area in which he may be weaker than Froch, aside from experience, is stamina and durability. Saturday’s rematch will tell us much about whether Groves has the durability to succeed at the top level, or whether he is a little lacking in this area.

There seems little possibility of Saturday’s fight being anything other than dramatic and violent. The controversy stemming from the first fight, plus the animosity felt by both men for each other; seem certain to produce a showdown full of emotion. This may well suit the champion, far more than the challenger. The key to victory for Froch is to drag Groves into a slug-fest, just as he did in the later rounds of their first fight.  Groves, despite his first round knockdown of the champion in November, needs to stick to using his superior boxing skills and speed, rather than trying to prove that he can out-slug and out-tough ‘The Cobra’. Froch, even if he is in decline, still looks to have too much experience and durability for the challenger if the fight becomes one of trench warfare again. The challenger’s recent claim that he will finish the champion in 3rd round this time, could be a clue that ’the saint’ is perhaps over confident.

There seems to be two most likely possible outcomes to Saturday’s showdown. The first is that Groves utilizes his superior boxing skills and boxes his way to a point’s victory and the second is that Groves ends up going to war with Froch, either from his own choosing, or from Froch’s constant pressure.  In this instance, a win for Froch via a late round stoppage or a close, perhaps controversial point’s decision is a strong possibility. One hopes that whatever the final outcome of this rematch, there is no room for controversy this time.  

 

Les Darcy Documentary "Les Darcy The Maitland Warrior"

Les Darcy: The Maitland Wonder

 

 Les Darcy ‘The Maitland Wonder’ is one of the greatest ‘what ifs’ in boxing history.  He was Australia’s golden boy and by the age of 20 years old, he had built up a 46(29koes) -4 ring record and gained recognition as the Australian world middleweight champion, as well as winning the Australian heavyweight championship. There is little doubt that Darcy was one of the greatest boxers ever to come out of Australia and perhaps one of the greatest middleweights of all time; yet, so many questions remain about him because he was dead at the age of 21 and before he was able to show just how great he could be.

James Leslie Darcy was born in Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia, and started boxing after leaving school and becoming a blacksmith’s apprentice.  By the time he was fifteen Darcy had won numerous amateur competitions and decided to turn professional.  As a professional Darcy developed quickly, growing from a welterweight into a muscularly built middleweight, who was equally adapt at either boxing or slugging it out.  Darcy soon began to gain a huge following as he reversed early point’s defeats to Bob Whitelaw and Fritz Holland, and beat everyone else put in front of him with impressive ease.  Darcy was that most valuable of things, a boxing prodigy.  He was very soon becoming the star attraction at the Sydney Stadium and fighting 20-rounders.

At this time, the World middleweight championship was disputed between a number of fighters who claimed to be the world middleweight champion. On May 22, 1915, Darcy beat the renowned Jeff Smith on a 2nd round foul, to claim the Australian version of the World middleweight title.  Over the next 16 months, Darcy defended this title against top opponents such as Eddie McGooty, Jimmy Clabby, and George Chip, and strengthen his claim to being the best middleweight in the world, while at the same time, adding the middleweight and heavyweight championships of Australia to his growing title collection. Darcy seemed to have the boxing world at his feet, with his only problem being that he had fought his way through all likely opposition in Australia.  In order to further his career and prove he was the genuine world middleweight champion, Darcy needed to go to America and prove himself against the best opposition there, but there was a major stumbling block in the shape of WW1. Australians were being conscripted to join in the fight against the Germans and Darcy, when he asked permission from the Australian government to leave for America, was denied permission.  Darcy even offered a guarantee of $5000 dollars that he would return to Australia within 6 months and sign up with the Australian army, but he was again turned down. Darcy was to argue later that his main concern was to fight a few times in America in order to provide his family with enough financial security should something happen to him while he was conscripted.  It was an argument that would be largely rebuffed until after his death.

On October 27, 1916, just a month after what would prove to be his last fight, a 9th round knockout of the highly rated American George Chip, Les Darcy took what would prove to be a fateful decision.  Darcy and his manager E.T O’Sullivan stowed away on the cargo steamer ‘Hattie Luckenbach’ that was bound for Chile, at which point they would change to another ship bound for New York. The reaction to Darcy’s actions in Australia was immediate and unforgiving. He was branded a slacker and a traitor and the people who had worshiped him as a fighting hero rose in unison against him.  Darcy was vilified in the Australian press, and there were calls for the government to confiscate his property.

When Darcy finally arrived in New York, after a voyage of almost two months, he was received with open arms at first, as the top American promoters sought to gain his services.  Things went bad quickly, as the anger in Australia at Darcy’s actions, soon made its way to America and certain people who Darcy had left behind, such as his Australian promoter Snowy Baker, started writing to contacts in the United States, calling for Darcy to be blacklisted.  Within a short while, Darcy found himself pilloried in the American press as a coward and a traitor, who had placed money and fame before serving his country in a war.

For a while, Darcy was banned from boxing in America, but then even when the ban was lifted after a short while, he found that the bad publicity about his flight from Australia made promoters cold to having him on their bills. This was compounded in April 1917, when the US joined the war.  Darcy signed up to the American Flying Corps and took the oath of allegiance, intending to become an American citizen.  But still he was a pariah.

Darcy was still trying to gain a boxing fight, while training for the Corps, when he fell ill with septicemia and peritonitis, caused by infected teeth and tonsils.  Darcy then developed pneumonia, and died on May 24, 1917, barely six months past his twenty sixth birthday.

After his death Darcy was given a huge send off in America, by many of the people who had so recently rejected him while he was alive, and when his embalmed body arrived back in Australia some months later, he was hailed as a national folk hero, by the very same press whom just a little while before had vilified him as a traitor and a coward.  
Les Darcy’s final ring record was 46(29koes)-4.  He was never knocked down during his career.

Marvin Hagler: The Marvelous One

By Peter Silkov

Marvin Hagler was one of the outstanding world champions of the 1980s, engaging in some of the era’s most famous and exciting contests. Yet, Hagler always felt that he didn’t receive the necessary respect due to him after he won the world title. His career ended amid controversy and bitterness, after he lost his world middleweight title to Sugar Ray Leonard, and never fought again.

At his best, Hagler was a brilliant box-fighter, who could adjust his style according to his opponent. He had speed, cleverness, a good punch, and one of the best chins ever seen in the division. He was also a southpaw who was adapt at switch hitting, and able to box as either a southpaw or orthodox fighter. Hagler was a boxer who made his southpaw jab a weapon and during his career, his razor-like jab would batter and cut up many.

Marvin Hagler turned professional in 1973, at the age of 19 years old, managed and trained by Goody and Pat Petronelli, and almost from the start, took an old school route to the top, fighting tough opposition, often in their own back yards. Hagler made a number of trips to the renowned fighting city of Philadelphia in the early years of his career, facing fighters such as Bobby Watts, Willie Monroe, Eugene Hart and Bennie Briscoe.  Hagler’s first professional career defeat came in Philadelphia, on January 13, 1976, when he was out-pointed over 10 rounds by the tricky Bobby ’Boogaloo’ Watts.  This was widely viewed as a bad decision against Hagler and would prove to be the first of several controversial decisions that Hagler would receive in his boxing career. Two months later, Hagler was defeated again in Philadelphia, this time via a fair decision, to the slick Willie Monroe.  

These setbacks proved to be the making of Hagler as a fighter; filling him with an even greater desire and urgency to succeed in the ring. He gained revenge over Monroe twice in 1977, knocking him out in the 12th round on February 15th and then stopping him in 2 rounds on August 23rd.  Hagler would avenge his controversial loss to Bobby Watts with a 2nd round stoppage on April 19, 1980. 

Hagler finally got a shot at the World middleweight title on November 30, 1979, but was held to a controversial draw by champion Vito Antuofermo, despite most people feeling he had done enough to win the title. Hagler had to wait ten months until he got another shot at the world title, eventually facing Alan Minter (who had won the title from Antuofermo) in London on September 27, 1980.  Minter was destroyed in 3 rounds, in what was one of the most clinical and brutal dethronements of a world champion in recent memory. Hagler’s victory celebrations were marred by the crowd who threw bottles and cups at the end of the fight, after Minter had been stopped in the 3rd round, a dazed and bloody wreck. 

Hagler’s reign was lengthy and dominating, he continued to develop and improve while world champion.  In his first defence of his middleweight crown, Hagler stopped the strong and awkward (and previously unbeaten) Fulgencio Obelmejias in 8 rounds on January 17, 1981, in his second world title defence Hagler gained his revenge over Vito Antuofermo with a bloody 4th round stoppage.  Hagler ended 1981 with his 3rd defence, stopping the rock-tough Mustapha Hamsho on cuts, after 11 brutal rounds. 

Hagler really entered into his athletic peak in 1982, with his performances reaching a clinical efficiency that fully lived up to his by now almost familiar motto of ‘Destruct and destroy’.  On March 7, 1982, Hagler wiped out heavy punching William ‘Caveman’ Lee in the first round of their fight and then a few weeks later had his name legally changed in court to Marvelous Marvin Hagler, after ABC-TV refused to introduce him as Marvelous Marvin Hagler before the Lee fight. Seven months later, Hagler granted Obelmejias a second shot at his title, and dispatched him this time in the 5th round. 1983 saw Hagler gaining recognition as one of the finest world champions, pound-for-pound in boxing.  ‘Marvelous’ started the year by dominating and stopping England’s bull-like Tony Sibson in 6 rounds on February 11th, then impressively knocking out Wilfred Scypion in 4 rounds in June. 

After beating Scypion, Hagler declared that he was still not getting the recognition due to him. What Marvelous Marvin really needed was a ‘super fight’ against a fighter with a similarly high profile and boxing ability, and on November 10, 1983, Hagler got his wish when he faced the already ‘legendary’ Roberto Duran in what was the first true ‘Superfight’ of Hagler’s career. Duran entered the match with Hagler after reigniting his career by winning the WBA world light-middleweight title from Davey Moore five months earlier. However, despite his win over Moore, few gave Duran a chance against Hagler, reasoning that he was a 32-year-old blown up lightweight, taking on one of the best fighters pound-for-pound in the world. Hagler was expected by most to stop Duran at sometime in their contest, but instead Duran gave Hagler one of the toughest fights of his career, and became the first of Hagler’s world title challengers to take him the distance. Although Hagler emerged victorious from his fight with Duran, it was only via a close points win, and caused some to question his ability and place amongst the elite champions.  With hindsight, Hagler’s win over Duran is more impressive than it seemed to be at the time, as Duran went on to be a force in boxing for almost two more decades and would win the World middleweight title from Iran Barkley in 1989, at the age of 37 years-old.

Despite the mixed reactions to his performance against Duran, the end of 1983 saw Hagler voted as ’Fighter of the year’ by the Ring magazine.  In his next defence of his world title, on March 30, 1984, against Argentine tough guy Juan Domingo Roldan, Hagler was put on the canvas for the first and only time of his career in the opening round, for a flash knockdown. Hagler came back from this annoyance to stop the strong Roldan in the 10th round. Seven months later, Hagler gave Mustafa Hamsho a second shot at his crown, and knocked him out in the 3rd round.

On April 15, 1985 Hagler got the second super-fight of his career, when he took on Thomas ‘The Hitman’ Hearns, in what turned out to be one of the most exciting and explosive fights of modern times; a three round war that is still talked about fondly today. After his knockout of ‘The Hitman,’  Hagler seemed to have finally earned his ‘Marvelous’ name, and this was illustrated by him being voted ‘Fighter of the year‘ once more by Ring magazine, even though he did not fight again in 1985 after the Hearns fight.  Hagler did not enter the ring again for eleven months, and then when he did, it was against ’The Beast’ John Mugubi, who came closest of all Hagler’s world title challengers, so far, to dethroning him.  Although Hagler’s durability and experience finally saw him outlast and overcome Mugubi in 11 savage rounds, there were signs in this fight that ’Marvelous’ Marvin was slowing down.
It was just this vulnerability against Mugubi, which acted as the catalyst to tempt Sugar Ray Leonard out of retirement, to challenge Hagler in one of the biggest and most controversial fights of the 1980s.  Leonard had only fought once in five years, due to his eye problems, and had not fought at all since an aborted comeback (which was supposed to lead to a showdown with Hagler) ended after one fight, when Leonard was floored in his comeback win by Kevin Howard in 1984. Despite getting a larger purse for the fight than Leonard, Hagler made a number of concessions for the fight, including wearing 10 oz gloves, fighting 12 rounds rather than 15, and fighting in a 20-foot ring.  In the match, Leonard shocked everyone, including Hagler, by showing hardly any ring rust and out-boxing and frustrating a sluggish looking Hagler for much of the match.  When the decision was announced in favour of Leonard there was controversy amongst some who believed that Hagler’s more aggressive work should have gained him the decision, but Leonard’s out-boxing of Hagler in many of the rounds, especially early on, has sometimes seemingly been forgotten or overlooked.   

Marvin Hagler never fought again and still believes today that he was unjustly robbed of his World middleweight championship against Sugar Ray Leonard. Yet, his reputation has not been harmed by the loss to Leonard, with many recognising that the Hagler who fought Leonard was no longer the Hagler of the early to mid 1980s, when he was at his peak.  Marvelous Marvin Hagler is often named today as one of the all time great middleweight champions.  His final record was 62(52koes)-3-2.

Rocky Graziano in New York City: 1954