FIGHTLINE BY DOUG FISCHER
Fights only last a matter of minutes, but fighters are connected to each other by chains that extend for decades – even centuries – into the past. Their bond is a lineage built face-to-face: A young prospect struggles with the skills of an aging veteran whose nose was once broken by a fighter now enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In that way, muscle memory carries knowledge and boxers face a piece of everyone their opponent has fought, everyone those people fought, and so on. This month we’re linking two stouthearted and marvelously talented switch-hitters who dominated their weight classes but knew when to walk away from the sport – former undisputed middleweight champ Marvelous Marvin Hagler and former pound-for-pound king Terence Crawford . A native of Newark, New Jersey, Hagler found boxing after his family moved to Brockton, Massachusetts. Under the tutelage and guidance of Pat and Goody Petronelli, Hagler had a successful amateur career culminating with the 1973 national AAU 165-pound title. He turned pro the same year and had climbed to the No. 1 spot in The Ring’s middleweight rankings by 1977. However, Hagler was denied a world title shot until his 50th pro bout in November
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1979, when the punishing technician faced Vito Antuofermo. Unfortunately, Hagler was denied by two of the judges, resulting in a controversial 15-round split draw. Four bouts and 10 months later, Hagler traveled to London to face Antuofermo’s conqueror, Alan Minter, and bludgeoned his fellow southpaw to a third-round stoppage that sparked a disgraceful riot inside Wembley Arena. Hagler was a dominant champion, making 12 title defenses over the next seven years – including a bloody rematch stoppage of Antuofermo, a 15-round decision over a resurgent Roberto Duran, a legendary shoot-out with Thomas Hearns, and a brutal battle of attrition against John “The Beast” Mugabi – until dropping a 12-round split decision to Sugar Ray Leonard that is disputed to this day. Although Hagler, who passed away in 2021, had lucrative rematches with Leonard and Hearns on tap, he hung up his gloves and never gave in to the temptation of returning. He retired with a 62-3-2 (52 KOs) record and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993. Like Hagler, Crawford is a skilled southpaw who can fight effectively as a right-hander. The Omaha, Nebraska, native also shares the fierce tenacity that defined the middleweight king of the 1980s. However, paralleling Hagler’s early career struggles, Crawford turned pro to little fanfare in 2008 and boxed under the radar until he was able to sign with Top Rank a few years later. His opportunity to impress the venerable promotional company and an HBO audience came unexpectedly in March 2013 when, on three days’ notice, he served as a late sub against veteran puncher Breidis Prescott in the co-feature to the Brandon Rios-Mike Alvarado rematch. In his first 10-round bout, Crawford outclassed the experienced Colombian.
LEONARD SD 12 HAGLER APRIL 6, 1987
CAMACHO TKO 5 LEONARD MARCH 1, 1997
DE LA HOYA UD 12 CAMACHO SEPTEMBER 13, 1997
PACQUIAO TKO 8 DE LA HOYA DECEMBER 6, 2008
One year and three bouts later, Crawford clearly outpointed Ricky Burns for the WBO lightweight belt in the titleholder’s native Scotland, and he was off to the races. Victories over then-undefeated Yuriorkis Gamboa (TKO 9) and Raymundo Beltran (UD 12) – for the vacant Ring championship – followed in 2014, earning “Bud” the Boxing Writers Association of America’s Fighter of the Year award. From 2015 to 2017, Crawford collected the four major 140-pound titles, plus the Ring belt, to become the first undisputed junior welterweight champion of the four-belt era. In June 2018, Crawford halted Jeff Horn (TKO 9) for the WBO welterweight belt, but promotional/network politics prevented him from unifying 147-pound titles for five years. Fortunately, in July 2023, unified titleholder Errol Spence Jr. granted Crawford, then a free agent, an opportunity to earn undisputed champ status at 147 pounds. Bud brutally dominated Spence (TKO 9), instantly ascending to the top of the sport. A WBA junior middleweight title win over Israil Madrimov in 2024 preceded the biggest event of 2025, a showdown with undisputed super middleweight champ Canelo Alvarez, which Crawford commanded from start to finish. The unanimous decision victory stamped the veteran, who turned 38 two weeks later, as one of the best of his generation. With nothing left to prove and no more hills to climb, Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) announced his retirement in December. Will he resist the itch to come back, as Hagler did? Time will tell. There are multiple paths linking the all-time greats, whose primes are separated by 40 years, but we found this five-boxer Fightline. Can you find a faster route? If so, or if you have another Fightline you’d like to submit, send it to comeoutwriting@gmail.com. And remember, some fighters can be linked on paper by jumping forward and backward in time, but to be a true lineage, the fights must come in chronological order.
HORN UD 12 PACQUIAO JULY 2, 2017
CRAWFORD TKO 9 HORN JUNE 9, 2018
96 RINGMAGAZINE.COM
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