Marvin Hagler Not Retiring?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again here... The Hagler/Mugabi fight destroyed both fighters. Mugabi obviously was never the same afterward as is provable in his record against elite fighters. And I believe the same to be the case with Hagler. We can see it in his reluctance against the feather-fisted middleweight Leonard, and ultimately in his decision to hang it up. If you haven't watched the Hagler-Mugabi bout recently, give it a replay. It is absolutely brutal.

 

Hagler was sluggish, slow, his timing wasn't quite there, and he had nowhere to go but down - and it may have been rapid. If he challenged himself against the very best over the next five years, he probably picks up losses to McCallum, Kalambay, Nunn, and Toney, In 1992-1993, I'm sure even somebody like Reggie Johnson beats him soundly.

 

Hagler could have beaten the Barkleys and Benns of the division (and probably Hearns II+definately Duran II) but would be outboxed by Nunn who quickly became the number 1 middleweight after Leonard vacated the titles.

Hell, I think Frank Tate would be a struggle and unless he scores a stoppage I think he´d be lucky to win on points.

Tate wouldn´t have seen the 8th round against a peak Marvin.

Hagler did the right thing in retiring. He knew he had lost hand and foot speed, nothing to prove and was in turmoil in his home life and well as cocaine/alcohol problems.

 

Hi Fred.
Correct, neatly put, thinking Marvin must have bitterly regretted taking the Leonard fight, he had nothing to gain and everything to lose, even if you think he won, it was Ray that came out covered in glory, big mistake, must have kept him awake at night for some time.
stay safe buddy, chat soon.
Mike.

 

I agree with you 100%
Hagler was on the decline physically when he fought Mugabi.
Whatever he had left I believe seemed to be gone after the Mugabi fought, he seemed to be a step or two slower against Ray Leonard.
Conversely, Mugabi was mentally ruined, after the Hagler fight, any real adversity he faced he would fold.
The determination he showed against James Green and Hagler was never showed again.
Both men were were seriously affected by there 11rd battle.

 

He lost (a close decision) to a very inactive, unranked, past-prime, previously sub-middleweight and probably cocaine-addled boxer, so there's no question of him 'carrying on at a high level' against a good middleweight division for any time. His time had already passed.
Yes, Leonard was no ordinary boxer, but still not a ranked middleweight, and looked shaky in his previous fight (3 years earlier) and in all his subsequent fights. The fact that Hagler lost to him (or even allowed it to go the distance) proves Hagler was not top level.

Hagler was done.

 

Hell to the no. It's hard enough to name a great fighter who didn't retire too late. Ali, Roy, Hearns, JCC, we had to watch too many men fight as shells of themselves. I'm glad our last memory of Hagler was when he was still himself.

 

I agree, as others have so accurately pointed out Hagler's fight with Mugabi took a lot out of him. He looked slow and sluggish, and when he tried to turn up the pressure on Leonard late it was obvious to even a casual observer he had lost a gear..,.I think that was the main reason Sugar Ray wanted the fight. He saw what Marvin had become as well. Hagler's team should have told Ray to fight a contender to earn his title shot and rub some of the shine off his ego.

 

According to Leonard it was during the Mugabi fight that he decided to finally fight Hagler because he saw a weakness he could exploit. The weakness being Hagler was shot to s**t.

 

I think Hagler was legitimately past it by the Leonard fight. But exactly how effective he would remain had he continued we’ll never know. By 1988 you had solid rising middleweights in Michael Nunn, Frank Tate, Sumbu Kalambay, Iran Barkley and Mike McCallum. Could Hagler still have beaten SOME of them ? Possibly. But his days of dominating were most likely over.

 

Possibly.. the late 80s Was actually a pretty stacked middleweight division.