Marvin Hagler

Marvin Hagler is a former middleweight boxing champion. Perhaps his most famous fight came against Thomas Hearns in 1985, which Hagler won by third-round knockout. The fight is commonly referred to as "Three Rounds of Fury", because of its heated pace. Hagler retired from boxing following a controversial loss by decision to Sugar Ray Leonard in 1987. Hagler, who was later nicknamed Marvelous, debuted in 1973 and won his middleweight title in 1980, which he held for almost seven years before the Leonard defeat. Over the course of his reign, Hagler defended the belt on 12 occasions, an impressive reign.http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=008684&cat=boxer

Hagler is widely considered among the best middleweight champions in the history of boxing, a short list that also includes Ray Robinson, Carlos Monzon, and Bernard Hopkins, among others. In 2002, he was judged to be the 17th best fighter of the past 80 years by Ring Magazine, a list that was topped by Robinson.http://boxing.about.com/od/history/a/ring_80_best.htm Hagler is also considered one fourth of the medium-division Golden Age of the late 1970s and the 1980s, along with Hearns, Leonard, and Roberto Duran.

Marvin Hagler's most memorable fights came in against Thomas Hearns in 1985. In the Hearns bout, Hagler came in as a favorite, as he was in the midst of a long run as the middleweight champion, and Hearns was moving up in weight from 154 pounds. Hagler, who typically began his fights at a measured pace, and Hearns, who did not, immediately began throwing bombs from the opening bell. Hearns, a murderous puncher, landed a right hand that staggered the iron-jawed Hagler. Instead of retreating into a more cautious strategy, Hagler recovered his senses and bludgeoned Hearns about the head and body for the duration of the fight, often abandoning any pretense of boxing form and swinging for the fences. Hearns, who had broken his hand early on, was able to answer only in spots, and Hagler's will was quickly imposed. The fight ended in the latter stage of the third round, with Hagler scoring knockout, caused more by the accumulation of punches than any particular blow.

The fight, which had been promoted as The War, would also come to be known as Three Rounds of Fury.

Hearns would fight for another twenty years, but Hagler would climb into the ring only twice more, a knockout of John Mugabi in 1986 and a controversial decision loss to Sugar Ray Leonard in his final fight in 1987.