A MARVELOUS LEGACY
here. Greb should be there for the extreme depth and breadth of his record beyond his reign, and Robinson merits inclusion because many consider him the pound-for-pound GOAT. While Robinson’s overall record in widely recognized 160-pound title fights is a spotty 8-6-1 (which explains his less-than-stellar stats), he avenged his title-fight losses to Randy Turpin and Gene Fullmer by KO and to Carmen Basilio by split decision. Hagler deserves his spot in the lineup for the reasons detailed in this article, as does Monzon (who ended his career with a prodigious 80-fight unbeaten streak, according to BoxRec.com) and Hopkins (for his extreme longevity and record- setting numbers). Following his one-round knockout of William “Caveman” Lee, Marvin Nathaniel Hagler legally became Marvelous Marvin Hagler. All great nicknames boast an element of truth, and, in Hagler’s case, his moniker perfectly characterizes who he was and how he
HAGLER'S STATISTICAL RANKING AMONG ALL- TIME GREAT MIDDLEWEIGHTS COMPUBOX CATEGORIES
FIGHTER (#FIGHTS)
+/-
TOTAL LND/RD
TOTAL THR/RD
TOTAL CONN %
JABS LND/RD
POWER LND/RD
POWER CONN %
OTC% OPC% OPP LND/RD
BERNARD HOPKINS(24)
+14.8 +12.1 +10.2
18.7 28.4 24.5 19.3 13.4 15.6
50.4 65.7 65.5 84.7 47.9 54.3
37.1% 2.7 43.2% 8.8 37.4% 10.3 22.8% 5.7 28% 4.2 28.7% 4.2
16
45.5% 22.3% 30.2% 8.9 47% 31.1% 39.7% 17.3 44.1% 27.2% 35.6% 13.1 36.8% 25.7% 30.4% 11 40.5% 29.1% 33.7% 12.9 36% 28.7% 36% 15.6
MARVIN HAGLER(15)
19.5 14.3 13.6
GENNADY GOLOVKIN(20)
CARLOS MONZON(15)
-2.9 -1.1
RAY ROBINSON(12)
9.2
CompuBox Avg.
11.4
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
However, Hagler’s numbers improve markedly, especially on defense, if one narrows the sample to just his title fight wins against Alan Minter through his final 1983 triumph against Duran. In these nine fights, Hagler was even more effective on offense (64.6 punches per round, 10.4 landed jabs per round and landing 47.2% of his total punches, 41.4% of his jabs and 50.9% of his power shots) while producing better numbers on defense (he yielded 23.2% overall, 12% jabs and 33.1% power. He averaged 30.5 landed punches per round and 20.1 power connects per round, all well above the 160-pound averages. This is the Hagler most envision when comparing him to his peers, and, as the accompanying table shows, his numbers stack up very well with those long-tenured champions for whom CompuBox has comprehensive data. Quality of Opposition: Because of the era in which he fought, Hagler couldn’t approach the huge numbers assembled by Greb, Flowers, Walker, Steele, Robinson and LaMotta, but, for his time, Hagler’s overall ledger and his title-fight lineup was solid. Hagler fought seven men who won widely recognized titles during their careers (Minter, Antuofermo, Fulgencio Obelmejias, Duran, Hearns, Mugabi and Leonard) and though he didn’t emerge unscathed, he was willing to fight what Hagler called “The Iron”
was only rated by The Ring in 1925 and 1926 but determined that he fought 109 times against top names and went 86- 14-9 against them. Joe Frazier once told Hagler he had three strikes against him (“You’re black, you’re a southpaw, and you’re good.”), and thus he had to travel a long, hard road (six and a half years, 49 pro fights) that included countless call-outs of the champions before he received his first title shot. In the end, however, Hagler benefited from it, as his title reign would prove. Title Reign: Hagler recorded 12 successful defenses, fourth all-time behind Hopkins’ 20, Golovkin’s 18 over two reigns and Monzon’s 14. Unlike the others, all but three of Hagler’s defenses (including the Leonard loss) involved all of the available alphabet hardware, compared to Monzon’s 10 of 14, Hopkins’ three of 20 and Golovkin’s zero for 18. Hopkins holds the divisional record for longest continuous reign at 10 years and 82 days, while Monzon held a version of the title for six years and 297 days, Hagler for six years and 192 days and Golovkin for five years and 219 days in his first reign (excluding his 24-plus months as a secondary WBA titlist). Bob Fitzsimmons owned the middleweight title for four years and 291 days but only defended it once, but on the other end of the scale, Greb was champion for
An all-time great middleweight, Hagler was comfortable around fistic royalty like Archie Moore (left) and Jake LaMotta.
HAGLER, AN OFFENSIVE MACHINE, RANKS #1 IN 4 OF 6 CATEGORIES LISTED ABOVE & #2 IN JABS LANDED PER RND & #2 in PLUS/MINUS: PUNCHES LANDED PER ROUND: Hagler landed 28.4 punches per round, 13 more than middle. avg. Only Hagler & GGG landed 20-plus per round. TOTAL CONN. PCT.: Hagler landed 43.2% of his punches, 14% higher than middle avg. Only Mayweather, at 46%, landed a higher career pct. JABS LANDED PER ROUND: Hagler, known more as a brawler, surprisingly #2 with 8.8 jabs landed per round POWER LANDED PER ROUND: Hagler landed 19.5 power punches per round, nearly 2x the middle. avg. POWER CONN. PCT.: Hagler landed 47% of his power punches, 18% higher than middle. avg.
(Willie Monroe, Bennie Briscoe, Bobby Watts and Eugene “Cyclone” Hart) in their backyard of Philadelphia. He avenged his losses to Monroe and Watts by scoring two KOs over the former (the second in Philadelphia) and one against the latter (in Portland, Maine). The initial loss to Monroe in March 1976 would be his last until his disputed defeat to Leonard 11 years later, and during that stretch, he stopped a pair of Sugar Rays in Seales (their third meeting) and Phillips (who lasted seven rounds in 1977), halted the then-undefeated Mike Colbert as well as Philly veteran Willie Warren, and stopped Kevin Finnegan twice. According to respected historian Henry Hascup, Hagler fought 31 times against men rated in The Ring’s top 10 at one time or another, assembling a record of 26-3-2, and 19 times against those who were top-10 rated when he fought them, going 16-2-1. Compare these to the stats Hascup assembled for Walker (41-14-5 versus those rated at any time, 20-9-4 against top-10ers at the moment), Robinson (85-17-3; 42- 13-2), Monzon (22-0-1; 15-0), Hopkins (27-7-2; 20-6-1) and Golovkin (13-2-1; 11-2-1). As for Greb, Hascup said he
two years and 180 days but notched six defenses before controversially losing it to Flowers. For those who solely recognize lineal status, Hagler and Monzon were recognized as such for the entirety of their reigns, and, according to the website Titlehistories.com, Walker vacated his claim after four years, 199 days upon moving up to heavyweight, while Zale’s first of two stints was artificially lengthened to five years, 231 days by World War II. Robinson’s five tenures totaled four years and 90 days, and Hopkins’ status lasted three years and 291 days (from his win over Felix Trinidad to his first loss to Jermain Taylor). Golovkin, whose widely recognized title tenures totaled more than nine years, was never considered the lineal champion, according to the website. Hagler was willing to fight anyone to
keep his belts until he finally drew the big names. In all, according to Hascup, Hagler fought four times against Ring No. 1 challengers (Mustafa Hamsho twice, Wilford Scypion and Mugabi), two No. 2s (Sibson and Duran), two No. 4s (Obelmejias I and Antuofermo II), one No. 5 (Roldan) and one No. 6 (Obelmejias II). Leonard was unrated, while Hearns, Antuofermo (first fight) and Minter were reigning titleholders. Summary: The preponderance of the evidence suggests Hagler is worthy of top-shelf status. He produced long- term dominance over his era, passed the “eye test” with flying colors and compared favorably with other legends in multiple categories. As for the “Middleweight Mount Rushmore,” there has long been talk of adding a fifth head to the genuine article, and such should be the case
performed in the ring.
Lee Groves is a boxing writer and historian based in Friendly, West Virginia. He is a full member of the BWAA, from which he has won 22 writing awards, including two first- place awards, since 2006. He has been an elector for the International Boxing Hall of Fame since 2001 and is also a writer, researcher and punch- counter for CompuBox, Inc. as well as a panelist on In This Corner: The Podcast on YouTube. He is the author of Tales from the Vault: A Celebration of 100 Boxing Closet Classics and the co-author of Muhammad Ali: By the Numbers as well as the 2022 winner of the BWAA’s Marvin Kohn “Good Guy Award.” To contact Groves, use the email l.groves@frontier.com or send him a message via Facebook and Twitter @leegrovesboxing.
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