Marvelous Marvin Hagler vs. Roberto Duran Nov. 1983 part 3

[MJKDTJ]

Somebody said Marvin Hagler did not want to ko Duran. He respect him so much

[Danazawa]

I don't think Marvin wanted to knock Duran out! he might not have done so even if he had tried to, but I don't think he really tried. I think he had too much respect for Roberto, also he wanted to outbox him - Marvin wanted to be respected for his boxing skills.

[marklitherland]

My two favorite fighters in an era that sadly will never be repeted

[MrMansonCharles]

Your new fights ain't finish, what up?

[37terraplane]

Duran is the BEST ever!

[neilsdunn]

i agree, no motivation to destroy i guess

[easyscore]

If Hagler had the same anger going into this fight as he had with Hearns, Duran would have been out of there sooner.

[trailstar1]

i dont know how these guys fit into a middleweight frame. im pretty skinny and weight 15 lbs more!

[buyneee]

@trailstar1 i dont think there was super or light middleweight back then

[HarryTheTalkingDude]

@buyneee I'm not sure about super-middle in 1983, but there was indeed a light-middleweight division (of which Duran was a champion at the time of the fight)

[BruceinFalkirk]

@HarryTheTalkingDude

The new IBF had a supermiddleweight division but the other governing bodies didn't have that division until 1988.

[drepop803]

duran being called a slugger is waaay overrated. duran had much skill. he was a good boxer i dont know why ppl always called him a slugger. im not saying he couldnt slug. we all know he could. but his fighting style was of a much more skilled fighter and not a take 3 to land 1 type.

[ballisticbliss]

If Hagler showed the same intensity like he did against Hearns, Duran would have been out of there sooner

[boicrazyjen]

If, if, if......what if....

What happened is that Duran was the only guy to take Marvin the distance back when MMH was KOing everybody. And Duran was a few round from winning even though I personally did not see it as close as the judges.

But give Duran credit; he was past his prime and giving MMH the fight of his life.

[frisbyrb5]

i think hagler showed him to much respect, i reckon if he turned the pressure on from say round 6 he could of stopped duran.

[mcentepede]

@frisbyrb5 What you guyz seem to 4get is that Hagler always wanted to be a boxer/puncher. That is what he does best. You have to beat the champ to take his title...and as much as I like Duran, he didn't do this. I had Hagler winning like 10 rounds. The judges are casino owners from Vegas. They know doodley squat. Hagler could have knocked him out, but his pride wanted to outbox him like vs. leonard.

[boicrazyjen]

Both Leonard and Barkley tried to pressure Duran and it just doesn't work. That's just what he wants.

Halgler fought a smart fight against a more experienced and pound for pound tougher opponent. Duran was there 100%, and Hagler deserves all the credit for puling off the win.

He deserved the decision; I had him ahead by 4 points. Duran went on to win the title 5 years later against Barkley who beat Hearns who KO'd Duran who was KO'd by Hagler...

What a great era - eh?

[ballisticbliss]

Good points and Duran is one of the all time greats ,but Hagler is one of the all time greats as well and a bigger man with an iron chin. Duran would never have hurt him. So I am not sure why he did not apply more pressure on him which he could have. He chose to drive it in 3rd gear instead of 5th which is ok as he did prevail in the end.

[mic1mad]

Shit fight!!

[frisbyrb5]

-- when srl got a split d agaist him it went to the challenger, i personally dont agree, with the decision, but hagler should of made it more convincing so no questions would be asked, i mean why box othodox for the first 3 rounds, and give up ur southpaw advantage, like i said he got sucked in, anyway there both legends of the ring, dont think we wil ever see the same again the way boxing going. hope u had a merry xmas, have a happy new year. ;)

[boicrazyjen]

Hagler blew it big time and he blamed everybody but the one responsible: himself.

[rastabob123]

Hagler is a machine !

He was actually the best at that time out of hearns,duran,leonard.

[Do8o]

while everyone is argueing over stats and personal opinions, im over here remebering all these great champs and fights when i saw them live as a kid.man those were the days and every division and class had at least 3-4 hall of famers battleing it out on a regular basis

[Wildfox01]

I understand what you're saying and you have an interesting point. I use to be a junior boxer many years ago, before I injured myself. What a lot of fans don't realise, Boxers don't pick their fights. Managers negotiate the money and Promoters organise the fights. The Boxers are told who to fight, when to fight and where to fight. All they do is prepare, train and fight as simple as that. I do think Hagler against Spinks would have been a great fight.

[frisbyrb5]

i think spinks is to big to be honest, hagler stopped at middle , because he was going for monzons record, no need to move up to light heavy, hagler quite small for a middle 5.8"-9 whats spinks 6-3" or something he made tyson look small.

[Wildfox01]

I'm not too sure Spinks would have stopped Hagler, but maybe win the fight by points, which is debatable. The good thing about Hagler, he makes up for height in reach. Someone on this site once criticised Hagler for staying in one division. Well, if all the big fights are happening at middleweight, it would be foolish to move up a weight. A fighter should be judged by who he fought and when he fought them, not by how many weight divisions. I do agree with the rest of your post.

[bobzani]

Duran became an excellent defensive fighter as he moved to higher weight classes- he had to; he couldn't knock guys out anymore.

[robbyled]

I still can't believe Duran went 15 rounds with the Marvelous one.

[karlos81]

Most stupid thing i have read today.

Congrats.

[cvrats13]

al bernstein has an animus against duran...

[poisheee]

fact is:

1.duran was never close.

2.hagler took the fight from when that bell rung.

3.hagler got to business while duran was playing stupid and uneffective intimidation games.

4.hagler is the marvelous one!!!

[sweetassugar69]

fact ot the matter hagler is a natural middleweight duran a lightweight !! same comparison holyfield- hagler !! cruiserweight vs middleweight i think we know what would have happened

[halleck3]

Not the same comparison. Hagler never weighed enough to fight Holyfield, whereas Duran weighed enough to fight Hagler. And you forget that Duran was the middleweight champion for a while - clearly he wasn't innefective at that weight!

[sweetassugar69]

hold on a minute get your facts straight !! holyfield was a cruiserweight never a light heavyweight as a pro !! michael spinks was 175 hagler 160 ! duran was a lightweight at 135 do your maths !! duran was never middleweight champion in 1983 and he never won it till 1988 when he beat iran barclay ! so thats your theory blown out the water

[halleck3]

Dude. When Hagler and Duran fought, Hagler weighed 157.5 and Duran weighed 156.5. That's a difference of ONE POUND.

[sweetassugar69]

we are talking about natural mate here !! alaways the fighter had to move up and fight hagler never the other way round !! hagler stayed safe all his career at middleweight thats why he will never reach the heights of a leonard or duran !! to be an alltime great you have to put it all on the line

[HarryTheTalkingDude]

Actually, Holyfield did fight as a light-heavyweight when he started his pro career. Furthermore, there is no shame in Hagler having stayed at middleweight. There's no shame in concentrating upon one division, and retiring as arguably the best 160-pounder ever.

[sweetassugar69]

yes is a lot of shame in staying in one division !! ray robinson, archie moore, roberto duran,thomas hearns,ray leonard, julio chavez, the list is endless harry the bastard to be the best you have to test yourself to the limit !! hagler stayed safe simple as that !!

[HarryTheTalkingDude]

Hagler fought tooth and nail for years to become middleweight champion, he wanted to be remembered as a great middleweight, and boxing fans do remember him as that.

You don't have to call me 'harry the bastard' to hide your lack of knowledge, you obviously don't know squat. Hagler achieved more than 99.9% of boxers.

[sweetassugar69]

harry the bastard is a nickname for a comedian here so don't cry !! as for knowlegde of boxing harry anytime you want a challenge i am here ! caveman lee. fulgencio obelmejias, sypion, antuerfermo wow what a record ! lol

[HarryTheTalkingDude]

The no. 1 mandatories that Hagler faced were far better than the mandatories that so-called middleweight 'champions' face today, i.e. Morode Hakkar.

John 'the beast' Mugabe beat whatever prime was left in Hagler, and vice-versa.

Hagler is also a two-time ring magazine fighter of the year, a member of both recognised boxing halls of fame, and knocked out 11 of 13 challengers to his unisputed championship.

Hagler's as great as they come. Boxers who achieve half of what he did are called great.

[sweetassugar69]

look harry i do not dispute that hagler was a great champ and deserves very high praise !! which i will gladly give to him !! but what i am saying is to be in the pantheon of the true greats is to test your self to the very limits of yourself as a fighter !! which is waht you do when you are out of your comfort zone and weight class as the likes of robinson, duran, leonard, and the one thing that hagler never was was an underdog in any of his fights, fighting michael spinks he would have been !!

[HarryTheTalkingDude]

I don't doubt that either, I'm just refuting your claim that there's shame involved in staying at one weight. Hagler wasn't an underdog because he was simply better than anyone else at 160lbs. I don't begrudge him his effort to go down in history as the best middleweight ever. Whether he achieved that or not, we'll never know. But I don't mind him for trying.

[sweetassugar69]

he wasn't better than leonard ! and sugar ray proved it harry !!

[HarryTheTalkingDude]

I meant better than anyone else at 160lbs during his prime, but my basic point remains (I do agree that Leonard proved it, though it was a close fight).

[sweetassugar69]

you have your veiw harry so thats it ! leonard and duran fought naturally bigger fighters and beat them and thats my view !! but respect for your opinion

[frisbyrb5]

he was going for monzons record of defences, no need to move up spinks is way to big.

[sweetassugar69]

lightheavyweight limit 175 pounds 160 hagler 160 middleweight 160 welterweight 147 same weight difference here secondly hagler was going for monzons record but guess what he never made it because he lost to sugar ray lol 147 fighter lol

[frisbyrb5]

yeh i know he lost to srl, but im stating why would he move up a weight and fight spinks, when he was set on the record, that wasnt his focus, after he lost he didnt have a focus so retired. simple. why risk fighting a much bigger man, ok the weights would be the same, but spinks has that much natural gains over hagler, height, power, chin his way to big, he fought tyson that says it all, u think hagler could fight tyson.

[frisbyrb5]

what footy team u support?

[sweetassugar69]

i have always been a boxer frisby ! boxed for 10 years so thats my sport ! football if you had to to twist my arm its arsenal !

[frisbyrb5]

just wandered, done abit myself , where you box out of?

in the 90s or 80s

[sweetassugar69]

late 80's started amatuers through to mid nineties could have gone pro but found women and partying to my liking and lost my dedication ! seriously now i know we argue who is better leonard or hagler ! but does it really matter ! both great champs and will never see there likes again !!

[frisbyrb5]

true, i respect both for reaching the level they did, but u know something i reckon this fight was orchestrated by the boxing board and srl to get the belt off hagler, neither wanted him to break monzons record, i bet they told srl just stay the distance and make it look convincing, we`ll do the rest, its like srl new he would get the nod, even before the bell went , no challeger would be that confident. did you know monzons family actually contacted hagler, and gave him monzons belt.

[sweetassugar69]

whether leonard won or not it was a victory for him !! a fighter who had fought one fight in 5 years coming up against hagler who was bigger naturally and was tottally active as a fighter ! leonard just simple outboxed him and hagler knew it ! look t haglers expression after the fight ! listen to pat petronelli in the last round also he knew hagler was losing also !!!

[frisbyrb5]

to be fair, i think hagler did know he blew it, he new he didnt make it convincing enough and that it could go either way, he wowed after the autfermo fight, to let his two fists be the judges, but he got pulled in to srl mind games, in a way wot made him hagler became his weakness in this fight, i still think his the better fighter tho, i admire his work ethic and honour, the way he never gives up. i can under stand his bitterness when he got a split d against atufermo it went to the champ--

[sweetassugar69]

yeah friend he was awsome n o doubt about it ! but with the antuerfermo fight there was so much class difference between them and he should have just finished him and not left it to the judges to decide so in a way thats lies with him also ! he knew vegas he knew the way the judges were and he should not let it have gone the distance ! i think all through there careers sugar just had his mental number and like it or not hagler always had this resentment for ray leonard !

[sweetassugar69]

you know fris you boxed its not only about physical abilty its about mental just as much ! hagler jsut was not use to someone like leonard ! hagler all through his career never had someone who could outthink and use mind games ! they were both all time greats so its a draw ! happy new year fella to you also :-)

[Wildfox01]

So Hagler played it safe by fighting Durran, Hearns, Mugabi, Hamsho, Roldan, Obelmejias, Leonard etc... So you would rather see Hagler fight a no body in another division. The fighters I've mentioned are the most dangerous fighters of this sport...

[sweetassugar69]

you need to read the comment properly foxyloxy !! it has nothing to do with the fighter at his weight !! i said he never moved up a weight and fought michael spinks who called him out for years !!! yes as far as i am concerned he stayed at his natural weight and fought in his comfort zone !! let him do what a leoanrd hearns and duran did ! period

[efravi25]

Duran has more glory than Hagler, pound by pound!!!

[blite13]

Fact is : 1. Duran WAY past his prime 2. Duran lightweight fighting at middleweight 3. Hagler couldn't finish Duran if he was given bricks. 4. Hagler was good, Duran was GREAT.

[SDSen]

Hagler was brilliant but boy Duran is what best describes the oxford dictionary and thesaurus of the word 'TOUGH'!

[ojsucksit]

Hagler at his "prime "looked awful.Duran was a shot lightweight!

[bulldog359]

Was this on free tv when first aired?

[Piglatinsuperstar]

No it was pay per view-I think Selec TV. Hagler at this stage of his career normally fought on HBO.

[traningday]

to me duran is the best Latin boxer ever

[Symmetry44]

Hagler was the best but fuck me Duran was tough as hell!!!

[thenewend2012]

duran one word fear

stroke fear into all opp.

duran=tyson

[jego38]

hehehe...tyson was good, but he defeated no big names at all....only unknowns..duran fought the best welters...sugar ray, tommy hearns, hagler...ur comparison sucks, and its offensive...

[TermiteAssassin1]

Didn't strike any fear in Hearns. That was the only time I've seen Duran look timid.

[xinoxion]

duran was a little drunk at that fight

[spinika7]

ring magazine has duran @ no.5 for list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years

[olddirtypelican]

its funny how people are picking out duran on here, im sure i could find a million things wrong with alot of other fighters, but whats the point? gotta respect them for what theyve done, im surprized that leonard knocked out benitez but hearns couldnt though :)

[bandamardu]

they are all jealous

BUT

could they even do half of what he did?

[olddirtypelican]

are you seriously telling me ray leonard was an inexperienced fighter when he lost to duran? the guy had 150 amature fights and 27 professional ones, not to mention he had alot of natural talent. stop kidding yourself, you can say hes overrated, but him being inexperienced is nonsense, not to mention he had all the advantages (reach, age, height). duran may have lost to the greats, but not only was he the naturally smaller man, he didnt have the reach or power and still gave them a go :)

[disyaboij123]

duran iz da dirtiest fighter ive ever ssen lol

buh i luc itt

[NathanHotDogs]

That is the point. He really did not smoke Leonard. He beat an inexperienced guy on points, and the guy comes back and beats him easy. Makes him quit. Benitez was originally a champ at 140 in 1977.. And Duran in 1977 was prime 135. So matching them up made sense and Benitez beat him easy. Duran is overrated. Great fighter but overrated. His record vs. the guys in the 80s is 1-5 (0) That is his record vs. Hearns, Benitez, Hagler, Leonard.

[nicplaya1]

YES!!!!!! Thank You! Everyone ranks Duran like in the top 10 and some even in the top 5! He is def one of the greatest of all time but he is no doubt overrated

[mwrr25]

The fact is that duran was a natural lightweight, hearns and sugar ray leonard were welters, Hagler was a middleweight. Duran was moving up to fight bigger men. When people rate Duran in terms of history, it is as a lightweight...The G Manifesto........the bible for international playboys.....thegmanifesto. Com

[NathanHotDogs]

Bert Sugar is a fool. The guy doesn't know boxing. He has a persona with his fake cigar. Duran fooled people. Fact is all those guys beat him.

[quiros17]

Bert Sugar and Ring Magazine both have Duran rated ahead of leonard, hagler and hearns on their all time best off all time. I doubt anybody here knows more about boxing than Bert Sugar...

[los005]

Duran couldn't smoke DeJesus or Buchanan? He almost killed DeJesus in the 3rd fight, did you see the knockout? He beat Buchanan up for 13rds, yes the low blow was a cheap hot but it would not have made a difference. Besides, it was retalliation to Buchanan hitting after the bell. Both DeJesus and Buchanan were EXCELLENT boxers and could have competeted w/Benitez the others were too big.

[shortright80]

leanord lost to a lighwegiht on his best day, palimino is the same as benitez and duran shitted on him so bad, while benitez got a hometown split decison

[cero2611]

The commentating has painted more of a one sided picture than it should have. Duran was more effective with his right and was avoiding Hagler's punches more than the commentators imply with their commentary.

[shortright80]

yes he was ahead after 12, even hagler said he needed to pull out the last 2 to win, and this is prime hagler

[Whatj]

Duran was never ahead on all score cards are you crazy..

[jamesk12345]

fuk u duran was the hardnut who had a chance n nearly did it u cok

[frank3488]

panamanian mother anda mexican father!

[mart3442]

If you ever meet Duran, tell him you think he's a Mexican fighter and see what happens.

[keioffice]

i know what will happen, he will say "im from panama" bam elbow right in your face

[akins1966]

great boxing skills exhibited by hagler

[benjaminBarr]

This fight was about as close as the Hagler-Leonard fight was, but Hagler got the 15 round decision here. It was a purely defenseve contest thruought, both men demonstrating defensive boxing at its highest level. You had to admire Duran though, a lightweight fighting one of the best-ever Middleweights on equal terms. The bigger man was as respectfull of him as he was for the big guy

[cero2611]

well said.

[shortright80]

two legends, thanx for posting

[ducbukowski]

Duan was winning on all judges cards after 12 rounds...

[Shootboxer34]

the marvelous one.

[fuzzfact123]

who won?

[rudedog4]

Good bout. Thanks for the memories.