If not for Leonard, Hagler Could've Remained Champ Another Three Years

Published

9 years ago

April 6, 2016

By Frank Lotierzo

It's hard to believe that it's been 29 years (April 6th 1987) since the showdown between undisputed middleweight champion Marvin Hagler 62-2-2 (52) and former undisputed welterweight champion Sugar Ray Leonard 33-1 (24). As most boxing aficionados know, Hagler and Leonard had been on a collision course since November 30th 1979. That was the night Hagler fought middleweight champ Vito Antuofermo to a draw in the semi windup to the WBC welterweight title clash between title holder Wilfred Benitez and challenger Sugar Ray Leonard.

The Antuofermo-Hagler bout served as the warmup to the main event between Benitez and Leonard. Hagler fought Antuofermo to a disputed draw, a fight most observers thought he won, but he left the ring as the number one contender instead of the champ. An hour later in the same ring Leonard stopped Benitez with 6 seconds left in the 15th round to capture his first world title. To add insult to injury, Leonard was paid a million dollars for his 26th bout opposed to a paltry 40 thousand for Hagler in what was his 50th bout. Since that night Hagler longed to get Leonard in the ring since he felt he was always one-upped and overshadowed by him going back to their amateur days.

Finally, after nearly eight years of speculation and two retirements and comebacks by Leonard, they finally met at the Caesars Palace outdoor arena in Las Vegas for Hagler's WBC title. Prior to the bout Leonard agreed to letting Hagler make the larger purse as long as Hagler consented to fighting Leonard in a bigger than normal ring, 20 by 20, 10 ounce gloves instead of eight, and 12 rounds instead of 15. And even after granting those concessions, Hagler opened a 4-1 betting favorite. Leonard, who had only fought once in five years prior to facing Hagler, went on to win one of the signature bouts of his stellar career via a 12-round split decision.

In a bout which basically amounted to Hagler fighting as the aggressor and Leonard the boxer/counter-puncher, it turned out Leonard was just a little too quick of hand and foot and had his biggest moments at the close of most of the rounds that he won. For some unknown reason, Hagler tried to out-box Leonard, a tactic that resulted in him clearly losing the first three rounds. Being down 0-3 in rounds, Hagler reverted to fighting more and boxing less and probably won five of the remaining nine rounds – resulting in Leonard winning the bout by a consensus 7-5 in rounds or 115-113 on points. Officially, Judge Lou Filippo scored it 115-113 Hagler, Judge Dave Moretti saw it the other way, 115-113 Leonard, with the deciding vote being cast by Judge Jose Juan Guerra 118-110 in favor of Leonard.

Since the fight many fans have argued over the decision. The decisions rendered in close bouts are always subjective and if the bout isn't conclusive, the fans of both fighters think their guy won and that holds true regarding Hagler vs. Leonard. Some also believe Ray waited for Hagler to show signs of him being on the decline, due to the tough bout he had with John “The Beast” Mugabi in his previous fight 13 months earlier. However, the bigger issue that was missed by many and still is, was that Leonard always had the fighting style to give Hagler an ulcer. Hagler was at his best when his opponents carried the action to him, thus setting him up to fight as the great counter-puncher he was. The problem for Marvin on this night was, Leonard, like Roberto Duran, the only other fighter to go the distance with Hagler in a title bout, dictated that Hagler assume the role of “Smokin” Joe Frazier and fight as the predator. And that wasn't Marvin's forte, whereas fighting on the move and using his feet to get in and out was Leonard's.

It is my belief that had Hagler not lost to or never fought Sugar Ray Leonard in April of 1987, he would've remained middleweight champion until 1990. Instead of retiring with a final career record of 62-3-2 (52) going 12-1 (11) in title defenses, he most likely would've made one title defense a year for the next three years and retired as champ with a final record of 65-2-2 (55) and 15-0 (14) in title defenses. What gets lost in the aftermath of the bout is, stylistically, Leonard was all wrong for Hagler. Ray had the height and reach, the chin and just enough punch and strength to live with Marvin every day of the week. It was also Hagler's misfortune that Leonard had been observing him as a ringside commentator on HBO during his retirement in addition to Marvin conceding to Leonard's demands during the negotiations for the bout which began in late August of 1986.

After reviewing the following, I'm convinced Hagler could've held the title into 1990…..Think about this, in 1988 Ring Magazine's top five middleweight contenders/title holders excluding Sugar Ray Leonard were Sumbu Kalambay, Michael Nunn, Roberto Duran, Iran Barkley and Thomas Hearns. In 1989 the list reads Michael Nunn, Sumbu Kalambay, Mike McCallum, Roberto Duran and Iran Barkley. As for 1990, the order is Michael Nunn, Julian Jackson, Sumbu Kalambay, Mike McCallum and Steve Collins.

Let’s assume instead of fighting Leonard, Hagler fights three times circa 1987-1990 and meets Kalambay, Nunn and either Hearns or Barkley in title defenses. Does anyone believe the Hagler who was edged out by Leonard would've lost to any of them during this time frame? Hagler was the toughest and had the best chin among the group. He was a very underrated boxer/counter-puncher and unless you are an all-time great the likes of Roberto Duran or Sugar Ray Leonard, not one of the fighters listed above could've defeated him fighting in retreat. And we certainly know that none of them were in better condition, nor could they better him by going toe-to-toe and fighting it out.

Hagler of the late eighties, although not in his vintage form, would've been too physically hard and strong for either Kalambay or Nunn. There's no chance they could've held him off and out-boxed him. Sure, they may have survived into the last third of the bout but they'd both be looking more to survive than fighting to win. Neither could've hurt Hagler and it's doubtful they would've made it to the final bell. In a rematch with Hearns, Thomas would have tried to box Hagler instead of rumbling with him like he did in April of 1985. His problem would've been, as in their first fight, he couldn't hold Marvin off when he had his feet planted and tried to put him in one of the ringside seats. How long could Hearns realistically have held him off in a rematch fighting on his toes like Leonard did while looking to pick his spots? In a rematch with Duran, I doubt Roberto could've fought to the level he did the first time they met. And Hagler would've entered that bout with a severe grudge and something to prove. If we insert Barkley instead of Duran, Hagler could've out-boxed Iran with his eyes closed and probably stopped him due to cuts over his eyes somewhere during the second half of the bout.

The biggest conjecture regarding Hagler post-1987 is, how hungry would he have remained? Based on what we know of him and his history, he probably would've continued to chase and eventually break former middleweight champion Carlos Monzon's record of 14 consecutive title defenses. And Hagler surely would have been an overwhelming favorite to defeat every potential challenger mentioned. Monzon retired in 1977 at age 35. Had Sugar Ray Leonard remained retired, Hagler more than likely would have retired in 1990 at age 36 after breaking Monzon’s record with his 15th consecutive middleweight title defense.

In the nearly 30 years that have passed since Hagler and Leonard touched gloves, no one has highlighted who the top middleweights of that era were chasing Marvin for his title. The consensus after losing to Leonard was Hagler in 1987 was basically a shell of the fighter he was two years earlier. Something that wouldn't have even been an afterthought had he been awarded the decision over Leonard that many observers believe he deserved.

In closing, let’s set the record straight….Sugar Ray Leonard legitimately out-boxed a live body in Marvin Hagler who very well may have underestimated him going into the fight. Leonard owned the style matchup and the concessions that Hagler made all but sealed his fate. More importantly, had Leonard not been around, Hagler would've remained the undisputed middleweight champ for another three years simply because there wasn't another middleweight walking the planet who could've beat an even less than vintage version of him.

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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Frank Lotierzo

“Breadman” Edwards: An Unlikely Boxing Coach with a Panoramic View of the Sport

Published

13 hours ago

May 8, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Stephen “Breadman” Edwards’ first fighter won a world title. That may be some sort of record.

It’s true. Edwards had never trained a fighter, amateur or pro, before taking on professional novice Julian “J Rock” Williams. On May 11, 2019, Williams wrested the IBF 154-pound world title from Jarrett Hurd. The bout, a lusty skirmish, was in Fairfax, Virginia, near Hurd’s hometown in Maryland, and the previously undefeated Hurd had the crowd in his corner.

In boxing, Stephen Edwards wears two hats. He has a growing reputation as a boxing coach, a hat he will wear on Saturday, May 31, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas when the two fighters that he currently trains, super middleweight Caleb Plant and middleweight Kyrone Davis, display their wares on a show that will air on Amazon Prime Video. Plant, who needs no introduction, figures to have little trouble with his foe in a match conceived as an appetizer to a showdown with Jermall Charlo. Davis, coming off his career-best win, an upset of previously undefeated Elijah Garcia, is in tough against fast-rising Cuban prospect Yoenli Hernandez, a former world amateur champion.

Edwards’ other hat is that of a journalist. His byline appears at “Boxing Scene” in a column where he answers questions from readers.

It’s an eclectic bag of questions that Breadman addresses, ranging from his thoughts on an upcoming fight to his thoughts on one of the legendary prizefighters of olden days. Boxing fans, more so than fans of any other sport, enjoy hashing over fantasy fights between great fighters of different eras. Breadman is very good at this, which isn’t to suggest that his opinions are gospel, merely that he always has something provocative to add to the discourse. Like all good historians, he recognizes that the best history is revisionist history.

“Fighters are constantly mislabled,” he says. “Everyone talks about Joe Louis’s right hand. But if you study him you see that his left hook is every bit as good as his right hand and it’s more sneaky in terms of shock value when it lands.”

Stephen “Breadman” Edwards was born and raised in Philadelphia. His father died when he was three. His maternal grandfather, a Korean War veteran, filled the void. The man was a big boxing fan and the two would watch the fights together on the family television.

Edwards’ nickname dates to his early teen years when he was one of the best basketball players in his neighborhood. The derivation is the 1975 movie “Cornbread, Earl and Me,” starring Laurence Fishburne in his big screen debut. Future NBA All-Star Jamaal Wilkes, fresh out of UCLA, plays Cornbread, a standout high school basketball player who is mistakenly murdered by the police.

Coming out of high school, Breadman had to choose between an academic scholarship at Temple or an athletic scholarship at nearby Lincoln University. He chose the former, intending to major in criminal justice, but didn’t stay in college long. What followed were a succession of jobs including a stint as a city bus driver. To stay fit, he took to working out at the James Shuler Memorial Gym where he sparred with some of the regulars, but he never boxed competitively.

Over the years, Philadelphia has harbored some great boxing coaches. Among those of recent vintage, the names George Benton, Bouie Fisher, Nazeem Richardson, and Bozy Ennis come quickly to mind. Breadman names Richardson and West Coast trainer Virgil Hunter as the men that have influenced him the most.

We are all a product of our times, so it’s no surprise that the best decade of boxing, in Breadman’s estimation, was the 1980s. This was the era of the “Four Kings” with Sugar Ray Leonard arguably standing tallest.

Breadman was a big fan of Leonard and of Leonard’s three-time rival Roberto Duran. “I once purchased a DVD that had all of Roberto Duran’s title defenses on it,” says Edwards. “This was a back before the days of YouTube.”

But Edwards’ interest in the sport goes back much deeper than the 1980s. He recently weighed in on the “Pittsburgh Windmill” Harry Greb whose legend has grown in recent years to the point that some have come to place him above Sugar Ray Robinson on the list of the greatest of all time.

“Greb was a great fighter with a terrific resume, of that there is no doubt,” says Breadman, “but there is no video of him and no one alive ever saw him fight, so where does this train of thought come from?”

Edwards notes that in Harry Greb’s heyday, he wasn’t talked about in the papers as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. The boxing writers were partial to Benny Leonard who drew comparisons to the venerated Joe Gans.

Among active fighters, Breadman reserves his highest praise for Terence Crawford. “Body punching is a lost art,” he once wrote. “[Crawford] is a great body puncher who starts his knockouts with body punches, but those punches are so subtle they are not fully appreciated.”

If the opening line holds up, Crawford will enter the ring as the underdog when he opposes Canelo Alvarez in September. Crawford, who will enter the ring a few weeks shy of his 38^th birthday, is actually the older fighter, older than Canelo by almost three full years (it doesn’t seem that way since the Mexican redhead has been in the public eye so much longer), and will theoretically be rusty as 13 months will have elapsed since his most recent fight.

Breadman discounts those variables. “Terence is older,” he says, “but has less wear and tear and never looks rusty after a long layoff.” That Crawford will win he has no doubt, an opinion he tweaked after Canelo’s performance against William Scull: “Canelo’s legs are not the same. Bud may even stop him now.”

Edwards has been with Caleb Plant for Plant’s last three fights. Their first collaboration produced a Knockout of the Year candidate. With one ferocious left hook, Plant sent Anthony Dirrell to dreamland. What followed were a 12-round setback to David Benavidez and a ninth-round stoppage of Trevor McCumby.

Breadman keeps a hectic schedule. From Monday through Friday, he’s at the DLX Gym in Las Vegas coaching Caleb Plant and Kyrone Davis. On weekends, he’s back in Philadelphia, checking in on his investment properties and, of greater importance, watching his kids play sports. His 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son are standout all-around athletes.

On those long flights, he has plenty of time to turn on his laptop and stream old fights or perhaps work on his next article. That’s assuming he can stay awake.

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Arne’s Almanac: The Good, the Bad, and the (Mostly) Ugly; a Weekend Boxing Recap and More

Published

3 days ago

May 6, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Arne's-Almanac-The-Good-the-Bad-and-the-(mostly)-Ugly-A-Weeend-Boxing-Recap-and-More

Arne’s Almanac: The Good, the Bad, and the (Mostly) Ugly; a Weekend Boxing Recap and More

It’s old news now, but on back-to-back nights on the first weekend of May, there were three fights that finished in the top six snoozefests ever as measured by punch activity. That’s according to CompuBox which has been around for 40 years.

In Times Square, the boxing match between Devin Haney and Jose Carlos Ramirez had the fifth-fewest number of punches thrown, but the main event, Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero, was even more of a snoozefest, landing in third place on this ignoble list.

Those standings would be revised the next night – knocked down a peg when Canelo Alvarez and William Scull combined to throw a historically low 445 punches in their match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 152 by the victorious Canelo who at least pressed the action, unlike Scull (pictured) whose effort reminded this reporter of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” – no, not the movie starring Paul Newman, just the title.

CompuBox numbers, it says here, are best understood as approximations, but no amount of rejiggering can alter the fact that these three fights were stinkers. Making matters worse, these were pay-per-views. If one had bundled the two events, rather than buying each separately, one would have been out $90 bucks.

****

Thankfully, the Sunday card on ESPN from Las Vegas was redemptive. It was just what the sport needed at this moment – entertaining fights to expunge some of the bad odor. In the main go, Naoya Inoue showed why he trails only Shohei Ohtani as the most revered athlete in Japan.

Throughout history, the baby-faced assassin has been a boxing promoter’s dream. It’s no coincidence that down through the ages the most common nickname for a fighter – and by an overwhelming margin — is “Kid.”

And that partly explains Naoya Inoue’s charisma. The guy is 32 years old, but here in America he could pass for 17.

Joey Archer

Joey Archer, who passed away last week at age 87 in Rensselaer, New York, was one of the last links to an era of boxing identified with the nationally televised Friday Night Fights at Madison Square Garden.

Joey Archer

Archer made his debut as an MSG headliner on Feb. 4, 1961, and had 12 more fights at the iconic mid-Manhattan sock palace over the next six years. The final two were world title fights with defending middleweight champion Emile Griffith.

Archer etched his name in the history books in November of 1965 in Pittsburgh where he won a comfortable 10-round decision over Sugar Ray Robinson, sending the greatest fighter of all time into retirement. (At age 45, Robinson was then far past his peak.)

Born and raised in the Bronx, Joey Archer was a cutie; a clever counter-puncher recognized for his defense and ultimately for his granite chin. His style was embedded in his DNA and reinforced by his mentors.

Early in his career, Archer was domiciled in Houston where he was handled by veteran trainer Bill Gore who was then working with world lightweight champion Joe Brown. Gore would ride into the Hall of Fame on the coattails of his most famous fighter, “Will-o’-the Wisp” Willie Pep. If Joey Archer had any thoughts of becoming a banger, Bill Gore would have disabused him of that notion.

In all honesty, Archer’s style would have been box office poison if he had been black. It helped immensely that he was a native New Yorker of Irish stock, albeit the Irish angle didn’t have as much pull as it had several decades earlier. But that observation may not be fair to Archer who was bypassed twice for world title fights after upsetting Hurricane Carter and Dick Tiger.

When he finally caught up with Emile Griffith, the former hat maker wasn’t quite the fighter he had been a few years earlier but Griffith, a two-time Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the BWAA and a future first ballot Hall of Famer, was still a hard nut to crack.

Archer went 30 rounds with Griffith, losing two relatively tight decisions and then, although not quite 30 years old, called it quits. He finished 45-4 with 8 KOs and was reportedly never knocked down, yet alone stopped, while answering the bell for 365 rounds. In retirement, he ran two popular taverns with his older brother Jimmy Archer, a former boxer who was Joey’s trainer and manager late in Joey’s career.

May he rest in peace.

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Bombs Away in Las Vegas where Inoue and Espinoza Scored Smashing Triumphs

Published

4 days ago

May 4, 2025

David A. Avila

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Japan’s Naoya “Monster” Inoue banged it out with Mexico’s Ramon Cardenas, survived an early knockdown and pounded out a stoppage win to retain the undisputed super bantamweight world championship on Sunday.

Japan and Mexico delivered for boxing fans again after American stars failed in back-to-back days.

“By watching tonight’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” Inoue said.

Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), and Cardenas (26-2, 14 KOs) and his wicked left hook, showed the world and 8,474 fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that prizefighting is about punching, not running.

After massive exposure for three days of fights that began in New York City, then moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and then to Nevada, it was the casino capital of the world that delivered what most boxing fans appreciate- pure unadulterated action fights.

Monster Inoue immediately went to work as soon as the opening bell rang with a consistent attack on Cardenas, who very few people knew anything about.

One thing promised by Cardenas’ trainer Joel Diaz was that his fighter “can crack.”

Cardenas proved his trainer’s words truthful when he caught Inoue after a short violent exchange with a short left hook and down went the Japanese champion on his back. The crowd was shocked to its toes.

“I was very surprised,” said Inoue about getting dropped. ““In the first round, I felt I had good distance. It got loose in the second round. From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again.”

Inoue had no trouble getting up, but he did have trouble avoiding some of Cardenas massive blows delivered with evil intentions. Though Inoue did not go down again, a look of total astonishment blanketed his face.

A real fight was happening.

Cardenas, who resembles actor Andy Garcia, was never overly aggressive but kept that left hook of his cocked and ready to launch whenever he saw the moment. There were many moments against the hyper-aggressive Inoue.

Both fighters pack power and both looked to find the right moment. But after Inoue was knocked down by the left hook counter, he discovered a way to eliminate that weapon from Cardenas. Still, the Texas-based fighter had a strong right too.

In the sixth round Inoue opened up with one of his lightning combinations responsible for 10 consecutive knockout wins. Cardenas backed against the ropes and Inoue blasted away with blow after blow. Then suddenly, Cardenas turned Inoue around and had him on the ropes as the Mexican fighter unloaded nasty combinations to the body and head. Fans roared their approval.

“I dreamed about fighting in front of thousands of people in Las Vegas,” said Cardenas. “So, I came to give everything.”

Inoue looked a little surprised and had a slight Mona Lisa grin across his face. In the seventh round, the Japanese four-division world champion seemed ready to attack again full force and launched into the round guns blazing. Cardenas tried to catch Inoue again with counter left hooks but Inoue’s combos rained like deadly hail. Four consecutive rights by Inoue blasted Cardenas almost through the ropes. The referee Tom Taylor ruled it a knockdown. Cardenas beat the count and survived the round.

In the eighth round Inoue looked eager to attack and at the bell launched across the ring and unloaded more blows on Cardenas. A barrage of 14 unanswered blows forced the referee to stop the fight at 45 seconds of round eight for a technical knockout win.

“I knew he was tough,” said Inoue. “Boxing is not that easy.”

Espinoza Wins

WBO featherweight titlist Rafael Espinosa (27-0, 23 KOs) uppercut his way to a knockout win over Edward Vazquez (17-3, 4 KOs) in the seventh round.

“I wanted to fight a game fighter to show what I am capable,” said Espinoza.

Espinosa used the leverage of his six-foot, one-inch height to slice uppercuts under the guard of Vazquez. And when the tall Mexican from Guadalajara targeted the body, it was then that the Texas fighter began to wilt. But he never surrendered.

Though he connected against Espinoza in every round, he was not able to slow down the taller fighter and that allowed the Mexican fighter to unleash a 10-punch barrage including four consecutive uppercuts. The referee stopped the fight at 1:47 of the seventh round.

It was Espinoza’s third title defense.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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