Hagler v Finnegan

TED 822 · Dec 13, 2012

Remember a bill at the Albert Hall,John Conteh vs Les Stevens.They were introducing celebs from the crowd.They called for Chris Finnegan.He made out he wasnt there,didnt get up straight away.When did,eventually,brought the house down.Kevin and Alan Minter introduced together,met like long lost brothers,obviously knew each other.Fhgatlhm,did they box as amateurs,as this was before their pro fights?

FastHands(beeb) · Dec 13, 2012

TED 822 said: ↑

Remember a bill at the Albert Hall,John Conteh vs Les Stevens.They were introducing celebs from the crowd.They called for Chris Finnegan.He made out he wasnt there,didnt get up straight away.When did,eventually,brought the house down.Kevin and Alan Minter introduced together,met like long lost brothers,obviously knew each other.Fhgatlhm,did they box as amateurs,as this was before their pro fights?
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I believe Minter did box Kevin in the amateurs...Minter won by decision I believe...

Saintpat · Dec 13, 2012

Thanks to the OP for a great untold inside story.

TED 822 · Dec 13, 2012

Thanks Fasthands.Our men at the weight are decent now,but dont think anyone would argue were better then,in my opinion like a few of the lighter weights.

mcvey · Dec 14, 2012

Fhgatlhm said: ↑

these are the facts regarding the Hagler vFinnegan fights. I was in Finnegans corner for both these fights . Hagler won the 1st 4 rounds they drew the 5 th and finnegan won the 6th 7 th & 8 rounds . Finnegan would certainly have won the last two rounds as finnegan was coming on strong while hagler was fading badly. Kevin's cheeck bone was badly cut in the 7th from a clash of heads. Micky duff wanted the fight stopped at the end of the 8th and asked the ref to stop it, the ref refused because he said finnegan could go on to win. duff then asked the ringside doctor and he also refused agreeing with what the ref had said. So duff took it on himself to stop the fight. Freddie hill the chief corner man didn't want the fight stopped and Finnegan certainly didn't. duff didn't have the authority to stop the fight but did it anyway. Duff says he was concerned about the cut. I dought that duff has ever been concerned about a fighters cuts , only if it suits him. You can come to your own conclusion on this. Secondly, the reason why Kevin had the upper hand in the first fight is because Kevin trained 8 weeks for this fight and was probably the fittest he had ever been. He was also the best middleweight in the world at handling southpaws and had untold reserves of courage which was needed to stand and trade with Hagler and back him up. hagler was not as good going backwards as he was coming forward. The bad weather in Boston allowed Kevin to train another three weeks for the fight as the fight had to be prosponed for a few weeks, even then the snow was so bad the TV company could not get anywhere near the Boston Garden thats why there was no footage. Kevin went back for the return far to quickly and the cuts reopened in the 1st round. Would Kevin have won the return without the cuts reopening? I dought it. The first fight was so brutal Kevin was never quite the same fighter. He received a dis lodged retina in his left eye due to the impact of the clash of heads which caused the damage to his left cheek, so probably only had 50 per cent vision in that eye. But have no dought on that night at the garden finnegan was simply superb. I asked Kevin if he thought the clash of heads was deliberate on haglers part and He said who knows it was mayhem in there. It was like the 1st round of the Hagler v Hearns fight but for 8 rounds. Even today all these years later I still say that was the greatest fight I ever saw. I dought we will ever see fights like that again.
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Both the Finnegan brothers had hearts as big as buildings. I thought Kevin had more talent. If they had serious power to go with their courage and skills the sky may have been the limit. Both came up against ATG champs.
I don't know what Duff would gain from getting the fight stopped?

Mr Butt · Dec 14, 2012

Fhgatlhm said: ↑

these are the facts regarding the Hagler vFinnegan fights. I was in Finnegans corner for both these fights . Hagler won the 1st 4 rounds they drew the 5 th and finnegan won the 6th 7 th & 8 rounds . Finnegan would certainly have won the last two rounds as finnegan was coming on strong while hagler was fading badly. Kevin's cheeck bone was badly cut in the 7th from a clash of heads. Micky duff wanted the fight stopped at the end of the 8th and asked the ref to stop it, the ref refused because he said finnegan could go on to win. duff then asked the ringside doctor and he also refused agreeing with what the ref had said. So duff took it on himself to stop the fight. Freddie hill the chief corner man didn't want the fight stopped and Finnegan certainly didn't. duff didn't have the authority to stop the fight but did it anyway. Duff says he was concerned about the cut. I dought that duff has ever been concerned about a fighters cuts , only if it suits him. You can come to your own conclusion on this. Secondly, the reason why Kevin had the upper hand in the first fight is because Kevin trained 8 weeks for this fight and was probably the fittest he had ever been. He was also the best middleweight in the world at handling southpaws and had untold reserves of courage which was needed to stand and trade with Hagler and back him up. hagler was not as good going backwards as he was coming forward. The bad weather in Boston allowed Kevin to train another three weeks for the fight as the fight had to be prosponed for a few weeks, even then the snow was so bad the TV company could not get anywhere near the Boston Garden thats why there was no footage. Kevin went back for the return far to quickly and the cuts reopened in the 1st round. Would Kevin have won the return without the cuts reopening? I dought it. The first fight was so brutal Kevin was never quite the same fighter. He received a dis lodged retina in his left eye due to the impact of the clash of heads which caused the damage to his left cheek, so probably only had 50 per cent vision in that eye. But have no dought on that night at the garden finnegan was simply superb. I asked Kevin if he thought the clash of heads was deliberate on haglers part and He said who knows it was mayhem in there. It was like the 1st round of the Hagler v Hearns fight but for 8 rounds. Even today all these years later I still say that was the greatest fight I ever saw. I dought we will ever see fights like that again.
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thanks for posting and welcome to the forum

Stevie G · Dec 14, 2012

duranimal said: ↑

I remember that fight:yep Kevin stomping around the roaring like a gorrila with his arms aloft
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I recall that too ! I also remember when Tony fought Frankie Lucas,and Lucas started doing 'Incredible Hulk' noises in order to intimidate Sibson. Did n't quite work ! I knew Frankie's sisters,by the way.

Fhgatlhm · Dec 14, 2012

LORA Just read your views on the Finnegan v Weir fight. You know your stuff.

Fhgatlhm · Dec 14, 2012

Micky Duff was a betting man. After the 3rd Finnegan v minter fight Sam Burns the manager of Kevin was approached by Rip Valanti the Boston boxing promoter. It was put to him he was finding it almost impossible to get Hagler fights. He was at that time terrorising the middleweight division. Rip said that Hagler is without dought the uncrowned champion, If Kevin took the fight in Boston and won he would get the next shot at Hugo corro , as Hagler was undisputed number one contender. At that time Duff, Jarvis Astaire and co would have seen much more mileage in Pushing Minter than Finnegan. I do believe that Duff could have taken the odds on Hagler.One also has to question why Duff allowed Kevin too go back to Boston after just 8 weeks for the return . Kevin had over 40 stitches in cuts over both eyes on the forehead under the left eye and the 3 inch split to the left cheekbone. at the weigh in Kevin was 2 pounds over weight due to the scales that were faulty in the hotel that Kevin was using to check his weight. Goody petronelli said that Kevin would have to lose the 2 pound Kevins reaction was this I'm not taking the 2 pound of and and if you disagree I swear I will get the next jet out of here, I'm already being shafted . Kevin new the cuts would open immediately, they were still red raw. These were the dark days of british boxing and if Duff and co said you go back 8 weeks later you go. I remember when Kevin took the Kalule fight promoted by palle, Micky duff went ballistic when he found out, by this time Kevin didn't care anymore, his answer was if duff can get me 10 grand for my next fight instead of York hall I wouldn't be here.

mcvey · Dec 14, 2012

Fhgatlhm said: ↑

Micky Duff was a betting man. After the 3rd Finnegan v minter fight Sam Burns the manager of Kevin was approached by Rip Valanti the Boston boxing promoter. It was put to him he was finding it almost impossible to get Hagler fights. He was at that time terrorising the middleweight division. Rip said that Hagler is without dought the uncrowned champion, If Kevin took the fight in Boston and won he would get the next shot at Hugo corro , as Hagler was undisputed number one contender. At that time Duff, Jarvis Astaire and co would have seen much more mileage in Pushing Minter than Finnegan. I do believe that Duff could have taken the odds on Hagler.One also has to question why Duff allowed Kevin too go back to Boston after just 8 weeks for the return . Kevin had over 40 stitches in cuts over both eyes on the forehead under the left eye and the 3 inch split to the left cheekbone. at the weigh in Kevin was 2 pounds over weight due to the scales that were faulty in the hotel that Kevin was using to check his weight. Goody petronelli said that Kevin would have to lose the 2 pound Kevins reaction was this I'm not taking the 2 pound of and and if you disagree I swear I will get the next jet out of here, I'm already being shafted . Kevin new the cuts would open immediately, they were still red raw. These were the dark days of british boxing and if Duff and co said you go back 8 weeks later you go. I remember when Kevin took the Kalule fight promoted by palle, Micky duff went ballistic when he found out, by this time Kevin didn't care anymore, his answer was if duff can get me 10 grand for my next fight instead of York hall I wouldn't be here.
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I'm not an insider but I went to most of the London bills during those years of " Dark Days Of British Boxing,"used to get my tickets from Davy Jones, Duff's "secretary".

More Brits won titles then than at any other time.
Duff had a good relationship with Sam Burns did he not?
He sure didn't have one with Doug Bidwell.
Duff was not promoting the return fight with Hagler , neither was he Kevin's manager, so I can't see how he can be blamed for the fight taking place so soon after the first one?:huh

That aside, welcome to the forum, nice to hear so first hand stuff:good

AlFrancis · Dec 14, 2012

Here's Mickey's take on it
The first fight was a war from start to finish and at one pòint I thought Hagler might be ready to go but eventually Kevin picked up a horrible gash on his face. I called in the doctor, which was the rule at the time and waited for him to stop the fight. There was no other sensible choice but the doctor had other ideas. "Get out there son and give this son of a ***** a whipping!" he said.
It was crazy! I pulled Kevin out myself, his cheek was nearly falling off.

mcvey · Dec 14, 2012

AlFrancis said: ↑

Here's Mickey's take on it
The first fight was a war from start to finish and at one pòint I thought Hagler might be ready to go but eventually Kevin picked up a horrible gash on his face. I called in the doctor, which was the rule at the time and waited for him to stop the fight. There was no other sensible choice but the doctor had other ideas. "Get out there son and give this son of a ***** a whipping!" he said.
It was crazy! I pulled Kevin out myself, his cheek was nearly falling off.
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Yes its an interesting auto biography " Twenty & Out".:good

AlFrancis · Dec 14, 2012

mcvey said: ↑

Yes its an interesting auto biography " Twenty & Out".:good
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Only recently bought it, haven't got round to reading it yet apart from flicking through.

mcvey · Dec 14, 2012

AlFrancis said: ↑

Only recently bought it, haven't got round to reading it yet apart from flicking through.
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I think you'll like it.

AlFrancis · Dec 14, 2012

mcvey said: ↑

I think you'll like it.
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Yes, I'll have to sit down and read it. I've got Dave Boy Green's, The Fen Tiger to read as well, made a start on that, enjoying it!

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Hagler v Finnegan

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