Featured Articles
Saying Goodbye To Our Guy, Marvelous Marvin Hagler Gone At 66

On Saturday night March 13, 2021, the sporting world at large was shocked to learn of the sudden death of former undisputed world middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
The internet reacted immediately to a social media posting on Facebook originating from a Marvin Hagler Fan Page administered by Hagler’s second wife, Kay Hagler, who broke the terrible news: “I am sorry to make a very sad announcement. Today unfortunately, my beloved husband Marvelous Marvin passed away unexpectedly at his home here in New Hampshire.”
The Newark, New Jersey born pugilist was just 66 when he died at or near his summer home in Bartlett, NH. Hagler was not known to be ill or in poor health. A scroll through his recent social media reveals a man engaged in sporting activities such as 50 mile bike rides. It’s been reported he enjoyed a meal at the Lobster Trap in North Conway, NH just four days before his death. Staff at the nearby Red Parka Pub also spotted Hagler at their establishment on that Tuesday.
Considered by many to have possessed the sturdiest chin in boxing history, Hagler was never legitimately knocked off his feet nor was he ever knocked out in the ring. What John “The Beast” Mugabi and other big punchers could not do (stop Hagler) the Grim Reaper has finally done.
Though his official cause of death remains unknown at this time, there has been some speculation that Hagler could be another casualty of the coronavirus. After his retirement from boxing in 1987, Hagler relocated to Italy and quietly lived there for many years with his family. It is well known that Italy was the first country to be significantly affected by the Chinese pathogen.
Hagler always claimed that if they opened up his bald head, they’d find a boxing glove in there, that he lived and breathed boxing, that it defined him in a way that nothing else in life ever could.
Always physically fit and ready to rumble, he successfully defended his world title a dozen times, twice by knockout in 1981 at the Boston Garden. A true New England sports legend, Hagler lived and trained in Brockton, Massachusetts before moving to Hanover after taking the middleweight crown off Alan Minter in 1980 at London’s Wembley Stadium. Infamously, Hagler was forced to take cover and flee as angry British fans pelted the ring with bottles and debris.
It was not the first time Hagler was forced to flee from violent rioters. In the wake of the destructive race riots that rocked Newark, NJ in 1967, Hagler’s mother Ida Mae evacuated the fatherless teen up north to Brockton in search of a better life. After suffering a bad beating on the streets at the hands of a boxer named Dornell Wigfall, Hagler found his future in the boxing gym.
In 1973, Hagler got revenge, knocking out Wigfall at Brockton High School in just his 4th pro bout. They met again two years later at Brockton High and Hagler again knocked him out.
Trained for his entire professional career by Goody and Pat Petronelli, Hagler and the two Brockton brothers formed an unbreakable triangle built on unwavering loyalty, consistency and respect. Hagler was equally loyal to the late Angie Carlino, his longtime personal photographer.
Hagler made headlines in 1982 when he legally changed his name from Marvin Nathaniel Hagler to Marvelous Marvin Hagler. He did this so that ring announcers and defiant color
commentators would be forced to call him by the name he’d so marvelously earned and identified with.
With a record of 62-3-2 with 52 knockouts, Hagler was best known for his Superfights with Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard. He is lesser well known for his role in the Italian produced Indio films. Hagler fought 22 times in Boston, winning all 22 including a pair of wins against Sugar Ray Seales. In 1993, he was enshrined at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, NY.
“Marvelous Marvin Hagler’s name is synonymous with greatness,” said Hall of Fame Executive Director Edward Brophy. “One of the best to ever step into the ring, he combined skill and determination to dominate the middleweight division during his championship career.”
Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan issued a proclamation on behalf of Hagler’s adoptive hometown. “The City of Brockton and the boxing world has suffered a devastating loss today with the passing of Marvelous Marvin Hagler, former Undisputed Middleweight Champion of the world. Marvelous Marvin will always be a champion from our ‘City of Champions’ and he inspired civic pride in generations of Brocktonians. He will be remembered as the dominant Middleweight fighter of his era. His championship boxing matches captivated Brockton and the world and became instant classics. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Hagler family.”
Hagler’s Top Rank promoter Bob Arum had the following to say about a fighter who “embodied everything noble” about boxing. “Marvin Hagler was among the greatest athletes that Top Rank ever promoted. He was a man of honor and a man of his word, and he performed in the ring with unparalleled determination. He was a true athlete and a true man. I will miss him greatly.”
Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns was the first of Hagler’s boxing rivals to comment publicly on his passing, inexplicably doing so before he’d actually passed. What Hearns wrote on Instagram Saturday created a firestorm reminiscent of their ‘Fight of the Year’ war in Las Vegas. For reasons as yet unknown, Hearns wrote that Hagler was “in ICU fighting the after effects of the vaccine.” On Marvin Hagler’s official webpage, “natural causes” are vaguely cited in his death.
The “Destruction and Destroy” website MarvelousMarvin.com contradicts the statement of Kay Hagler that her husband died “at” their Bartlett home and states that Hagler died “near his home” in New Hampshire on March 13 as widely reported. Perhaps we’ll never know the full story.
According to TMZ, Hagler’s son James told the online tabloid that his father was taken to a New Hampshire hospital earlier on the day he died; after complaining of shortness of breath and chest pains. It’s not known if any of this is true or if Hagler was discharged and released.
Or if he went to a hospital at all.
A reasonable person might conclude Hagler ate some bad seafood somewhere and perhaps succumbed to food poisoning. What’s more likely is that Hagler was enjoying the unseasonably mild weather in the New England area and was outside doing something physical when struck down by a heart attack or a stroke. In the ring he was “unknockoutable” but life hits harder.
On the Monday after his death, Kay Hagler issued another heartfelt statement on the Marvin Hagler Facebook page. The Italian widow apologized for her poor English before stating that she is “the only person that know how things went, not even his family know all the details. I was the only person close to him until the last minute.”
Mrs. Hagler is adamant that the coronavirus vaccine had nothing to do with Marvin’s death and that he died in peace with a smile on his face. Surprisingly, she also wrote that Marvin “hated funerals” and thus there would not be one for him or any “church celebrations” planned.
Sugar Ray Leonard spoke to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix on the night Hagler died, telling the reporter that his middleweight title fight with Hagler was the “closest I’ve been” to death.
After losing his middleweight championship by controversial split decision to Leonard in 1987, Hagler resisted the urge to come back and seek a rematch. Instead, he retired with his faculties and his fortune intact. Hagler never accepted or acknowledged the legitimacy of his defeat to Leonard, forever claiming it was the dirty politics of boxing that was his true undoing.
“I still feel as though I’m the champion,” claimed Hagler after the loss to Sugar Ray. “I fought my heart out to keep my belt. I think I’ve done a lot for boxing. I’ve been a true champion to the sport. It puts a bitter taste in my mouth the way they went and did this. It’s just not right.”
Rest in Peace Marvelous One.
—
I’ll never forget meeting you for the first time at Brockton High School in 1980. I was 10. You were in the gymnasium conducting a very sweaty public sparring session with your half-brother Robbie Sims. I ran around getting every autograph I could on a black-and-white headshot of you handed out to everyone in attendance. I wish I still had it. Every Hagler friend or family member signed it, your trainers, and even your publicist. When it came time for you to sign my picture, there was no room left on the front so you humorously flipped it over and signed the back.
Thanks for always being our guy.
Boxing Writer Jeffrey Freeman grew up in the City of Champions, Brockton, Massachusetts from 1973 to 1987, during the Marvelous career of Marvin Hagler. JFree then lived in Lowell, Mass during the best years of Irish Micky Ward’s illustrious career. A former member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a Bernie Award Winner in the Category of Feature Under 1500 Words, Freeman covers boxing for The Sweet Science in New England.
Check out more boxing news on video at the Boxing Channel
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
Featured Articles
Ebanie Bridges Poised to Defend Her Title and Boost Her Brand in SanFran This Weekend

Ebanie Bridges opposes late sub Miyo Yoshida on the undercard of Saturday’s Matchroom card in San Francisco featuring the WBC lightweight title fight between Regis Prograis and Devin Haney. It’s doubtful that Bridges vs. Yoshida will steal the show (Prograis vs Haney is a compelling match-up), but it’s a stone-cold lock that Bridges vs. Yoshida will steal the weigh-in. It goes at 1 pm Friday at the Chase Center and is open to the public.
This is all Bridges’ doing. She can fight more than a little, as Damon Runyon would have phrased it, but is best known for turning up at weigh-ins in lingerie so sexy that Matchroom honcho Eddie Hearn averts his eyes to keep from blushing. Others can’t keep their eyes off the 37-year-old, well-endowed Australian and on Friday the paparazzi will crash the scene to capture images that will be all over the internet within hours.
This doesn’t sit well with a lot of people. Former opponent Shannon Courtenay, who saddled Bridges (9-1, 4 KOs) with her only defeat, chastised her for selling their fight for the wrong reasons and disrespecting the sport. Her most recent opponent, Shannon O’Connell, called her a skank and other terms of derision unfit for a family newspaper.
Bridges stopped her in the eighth round in what is her most gratifying win to date. “She made it personal,” says Ebanie. “It felt good to make her eat her words.”
Bridges, who set a withering pace, was making the first defense of the IBF bantamweight title she won with a comprehensive 10-round decision over Argentina’s long-reigning Maria Cecilia Roman. Shannon O’Connell, a fellow Aussie, entered that bout on an 8-fight winning streak that included hard-earned decisions over Australian standouts Taylah Robertson and Cherneka Johnson.
So, although Bridges vs O’Connell was contested in Leeds, England, it was something of the culmination of an Australian round-robin tournament, and it would be Ebanie Bridges that emerged as the Queen Bee.
Bridges has a platform on Only Fans. Known for its “adult” content, the web site is also a place where B-list celebrities go to monetize their fan base by promising a closer look into their personal lives. For attractive female celebs, that usually means displaying more skin that can be found in generic publicity photos, but well short of hard-core. Current Only Fans performers include recording artist Cardi B, actress Denise Richards, the former spouse of Charlie Sheen, actress Drea de Matteo, best known for portraying Adriana on “The Sopranos,” former “Baywatch” sex symbol Carmen Electra, boxer Mikaela Mayer, and former Miss USA Shanna Moakler who shares a daughter with Oscar de la Hoya.
Women that profit from cheesecake, to use an old word for racy photos, aren’t known for having the brightest bulbs between their ears but Bridges, despite embracing her nickname, the Blonde Bomber, doesn’t fit the stereotype. She’s no bimbo.
Ms. Bridges has two college degrees, an undergraduate degree in math and a master’s in secondary education. In her spare time, she finds solace in playing the piano and in drawing, a skill that she inherited from her father, a painter and commercial artist.
In her drawings, she is partial to British soccer coaches and athletes, in particular boxers. Some of her photos are embedded in her smart phone. These, I can attest, are very good. There was no mistaking her drawing of Sugar Ray Robinson. It ranked right up there with Stanley Weston whose illustrations adorned the covers of 57 issues of The Ring magazine.
Bridges is her own best publicist. It’s an attribute she shares with UFC superstar Conor McGregor.
It comes as no surprise to learn that they are well-acquainted. Bridges and McGregor sat together at the first fight between Katie Taylor and Chantelle Cameron. She is a spokesperson for the latest product that McGregor is pushing, Forged Irish Stout, a brand of beer that debuted at the Black Forge Inn, the Dublin pub that McGregor owns.
“I love Conor,” she says, “he’s lovely,” a rather odd adjective to apply to a man who once attacked a bus with a metal barricade at a UFC media event in Brooklyn, injuring three people.
“He’s great for my brand,” says Bridges of McGregor, “and I’m great for his brand.”
Like it or not, this is the new world order. This reporter is old enough to remember when colleges and universities had football teams. Now they have football franchises, which isn’t quite the same. A franchise requires a well-oiled marketing department to enhance the value of the brand.
Bridges got her first crack at a world title (the WBA version held by Shannon Courtenay) after only five pro fights against opponents who were collectively 12-25-5. Her opponent on Saturday, Miyo Yoshida, sports a 16-4 record and is coming off a loss.
This is fodder for critics of female boxing but, make no mistake, Bridges would be a tough out for any female bantamweight in the world and she has paid her dues. She had 30 amateur fights after previously training in karate, kickboxing, and Muay Thai. (In fairness to Matchroom’s matchmaker, he salvaged Saturday’s date for her, securing Yoshida after three previous opponents fell out.)
Looking ahead to 2024, Bridges envisions fighting England’s Nina Hughes, the WBA belt-holder, and then Denmark’s Dina Thorslund who owns the other two meaningful pieces of the bantamweight title. A match with Thorslund (currently 20-0, 8 KOs) with all four belts on the line would be a blockbuster and, by then, should it transpire, the Blonde Bombshell would undoubtedly be one of the most well-known boxers in the world.
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
Featured Articles
A Paean to the Great Sportswriter Jimmy Cannon Who Passed Away 50 Years Ago This Week

“Of all his assignments,” said the renowned sportswriter Dave Anderson, “[Jimmy] Cannon appeared to enjoy boxing the most.”
Cannon would have sheepishly concurred. He dated his infatuation with boxing to 1919 when he stood outside a saloon listening to a man with a megaphone relay bulletins from the Dempsey-Willard fight in faraway Toledo. His father followed boxing as did all the Irishmen in his neighborhood. For him, an interest in the sport of boxing, he once wrote, was like a family heirloom. But it became a love-hate relationship. It was Jimmy Cannon, after all, who coined the phrase “boxing is the red light district of sports.”
This week marks the 50th anniversary of Jimmy Cannon’s death. He passed away at age 63 on Dec. 5, 1973, in his room at the residential hotel in mid-Manhattan where he made his home. In the realm of American sportswriters, there has never been a voice quite like him. He was “the hardest-boiled of the hard-drinking, hard-boiled school of sports writing,” wrote Darrell Simmons of the Atlanta Journal. One finds a glint of this in his summary of Sonny Liston’s first-round demolition of Albert Westphal in 1961: “Sonny Liston hit Albert Westphal like he was a cop.”
In his best columns, Jimmy Cannon was less a sportswriter than an urban poet. Here’s what he wrote about Archie Moore in 1955 after Moore trounced Bobo Olson to set up a match with Rocky Marciano: “Someone should write a song about Archie Moore who in the Polo Grounds knocked out Bobo Olson in three rounds…It should be a song that comes out of the backrooms of sloughed saloons on night-drowned streets in morning-worried parts of bad towns. The guy who writes this one must be a piano player who can be dignified when he picks a quarter out of the marsh of a sawdust floor.”
Prior to fighting in Madison Square Garden the previous year – his first appearance in that iconic boxing arena – Moore had roamed the globe in search of fights in a career that began in the Great Depression. Cannon was partial to boxers like Archie Moore, great ring artisans who toiled in obscurity, fighting for small purses –“moving-around money” in Cannon’s words — until the establishment could no longer ignore them.
Jimmy Cannon was born in Lower Manhattan. He left high school after one year to become a copy boy for the New York Daily News. In 1936, at age 26, the News sent him to cover the biggest news story of the day, the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping trial. While there he met Damon Runyon who would become a lifelong friend. At Runyon’s suggestion, he applied for a job as a sportswriter at the New York American, a Hearst paper, and was hired.
During World War II, he was a war correspondent in Europe embedded in Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army. When he returned from the war, he joined the New York Post and then, in 1959, the Journal-American which made him America’s highest-paid sportswriter at a purported salary of $1000 a week. His articles were syndicated and appeared in dozens of papers.
Cannon was very close to Joe Louis. He was the only reporter that Louis allowed in his hotel room on the morning of the Brown Bomber’s rematch with Max Schmeling. Louis, he wrote, “was a credit to his race, the human race.” It was his most-frequently-quoted line.
In an early story, Cannon named Sam Langford the best pound-for-pound fighter of all time. Later he joined with his colleagues on Press Row in naming Sugar Ray Robinson the greatest of the greats. As for the fellow who anointed himself “The Greatest,” Muhammad Ali, Cannon profoundly disliked him. He persisted in calling him Cassius Clay long after Ali had adopted his Muslim name.
It troubled Cannon that Ali was afforded an opportunity to fight for the title after only 19 pro fights. Ali’s poetry, he thought, was infantile. He abhorred Ali’s political views. And, truth be told, he didn’t like Ali because certain segments of society adored him. Cannon didn’t like non-conformists – hippies and anti-war protesters and such. When queried about his boyhood in Greenwich Village, he was quick to note that he lived there “when it was a decent neighborhood, before it became freaky.”
Cannon’s animus toward Ali spilled over into his opinion of Ali’s foil, the bombastic sportscaster Howard Cosell. “If Howard Cosell were a sport,” he wrote,” it would be roller derby.”
Cannon frequently filled his column with a series of one-liners published under the heading “Nobody Asked Me, But…” His wonderfully acerbic put-down of Cosell appeared in one of these columns. But one can’t read these columns today without cringing at some of his ruminations. He once wrote, “Any man is in trouble if he falls in love with a woman he can’t knock down with one punch.” If a newspaperman wrote those words today, he would be out of a job so fast it would make his head spin.
Similarly, his famous line about Joe Louis being a credit to the human race no longer resonates in the way that it once did. There is in its benevolence an air of racial prejudice.
Jimmy Cannon was a lifelong bachelor but in his younger days before he quit drinking cold turkey in 1948, he was quite the ladies man, often seen promenading showgirls around town. Like his pal Damon Runyon, he was a night owl. As the years passed, however, he became somewhat reclusive. The world passed him by when rock n’ roll came in, pushing aside the Tin Pan Alley crooners and torch singers that had kept him company at his favorite late-night haunts.
Cannon’s end days were tough. He suffered a stroke in 1971 as he was packing to go to the Kentucky Derby and spent most of his waking hours in his last two-plus years in a wheelchair. Fortunately, he could afford to hire a full-time attendant. In 2002, he was posthumously elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the Observer category.
Jimmy Cannon once said that he resented it when someone told him that his stuff was too good to be in a newspaper. It was demeaning to newspapers and he never wanted to be anything but a newspaperman. He didn’t always bring his “A” game and some of his stuff wouldn’t hold up well, but the man could write like blazes and the sportswriting profession lost a giant when he drew his last breath.
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
—
Arne K. Lang is a recognized authority on the history of prizefighting and the history of American sports gambling. His latest book, titled Clash of the Little Giants: George Dixon, Terry McGovern, and the Culture of Boxing in America, 1890-1910, was released by McFarland in September, 2022.
Featured Articles
Ryan “KingRy” Garcia Returns With a Bang; KOs Oscar Duarte

It was a different Ryan “KingRy” Garcia the world saw in defeating Mexico’s rugged Oscar Duarte, but it was that same deadly left hook counter that got the job done by knockout on Saturday.
Only the quick survive.
Garcia (24-1, 20 KOs) used a variety of stances before luring knockout artist Duarte (26-1-1, 21 KOs) into his favorite punch before a sold-out crowd at Toyota Arena in Houston, Texas. That punch should be patented in gold.
It was somewhat advertised as knockout artist versus matinee idol, but those who know the sport knew that Garcia was a real puncher. But could he rebound from his loss earlier this year?
The answer was yes.
Garcia used a variety of styles beginning with a jab at a prescribed distance via his new trainer Derrick James. It allowed both Garcia and Duarte to gain footing and knock the cobwebs out of their reflexes. Garcia’s jab scored most of the early points during the first three rounds. He also snapped off some left hooks and rights.
“He was a strong fighter, took a strong punch,” said Garcia. “I hit him with some hard punches and he kept coming.”
Duarte, an ultra-pale Mexican from Durango, was cautious, knowing full well how many Garcia foes had underestimated the power behind his blows.
Slowly the muscular Mexican fighter began closing in with body shots and soon both fighters were locked in an inside battle. Garcia used a tucked-in shoulder style while Duarte pounded the body, back of the head and in the back causing the referee to warn for the illegal punches twice.
Still, Duarte had finally managed to punch Garcia with multiple shots for several rounds.
Around the sixth round Garcia was advised by his new trainer to begin jabbing and moving. It forced Duarte out of his rhythm as he was unable to punch without planting his feet. Suddenly, the momentum had reversed again and Duarte looked less dangerous.
“I had to slow his momentum down. That softened him up,” said Garcia about using that change in style to change Duarte’s pressure attack. “Shout out to Derrick James.”
Boos began cascading from the crowd but Garcia was on a roll and had definitely regained the advantage. A quick five-punch combination rocked Duarte though not all landed. The danger made the Mexican pause.
In the eighth round Duarte knew he had to take back the momentum and charged even harder. In one lickety-split second a near invisible counter left hook connected on Duarte’s temple and he stumbled like a drunken soldier on liberty in Honolulu. Garcia quickly followed up with rights and uppercuts as Duarte had a look of terror as his legs failed to maintain stability. Down he went for the count.
Duarte was counted out by referee James Green at 2:51 of the eighth round as Garcia watched from the other side of the ring.
“I started opening up my legs a little bit to open up the shot,” explained Garcia. “When I hurt somebody that hard, I just keep cracking them. I hurt him with a counter left hook.”
The weapon of champions.
Garcia’s victory returns him back to the forefront as one of boxing’s biggest gate attractions. A list of potential foes is his to dissect and choose.
“I’m just ready to continue to my ascent to be a champion at 140,” Garcia said.
It was a tranquil end after such a tumultuous last three days.
Other Bouts
Floyd Schofield (16-0, 12 KOs) blitzed Mexico’s Ricardo “Not Finito” Lopez (17-8-3) with a four knockdown blowout that left fans mesmerized and pleased with the fighter from Austin, Texas.
Schofield immediately shot out quick jabs and then a lightning four-punch combination that delivered Lopez to the canvas wondering what had happened. He got up. Then Scholfield moved in with a jab and crisp left hook and down went Lopez like a dunked basketball bouncing.
At this point it seemed the fight might stop. But it proceeded and Schofield unleashed another quick combo that sent Lopez down though he did try to punch back. It was getting monotonous. Lopez got up and then was met with another rapid fire five- or six-punch combination. Lopez was down for the fourth time and the referee stopped the devastation.
“I appreciate him risking his life,” said Schofield of his victim.
In a middleweight clash Shane Mosley Jr. (21-4, 12 KOs) out-worked Joshua Conley (17-6-1, 11 KOs) for five rounds before stopping the San Bernardino fighter at 1:51 of the sixth round. It was Mosley’s second consecutive knockout and fourth straight win.
Mosley continues to improve in every fight and again moves up the middleweight rankings.
Super middleweight prospect Darius Fulghum (9-0, 9 KOs) of Houston remained undefeated and kept his knockout string intact with a second round pounding and stoppage over Pachino Hill (8-5-1) in 56 seconds of that round.
Photo credit: Golden Boy Promotions
To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Harlem Eubank and Roman Fury Win With Panache in Brighton
-
Book Review2 weeks ago
Holiday Reading 2023: Best Books About Boxing
-
Featured Articles1 week ago
The Murder of Samuel Teah Calls to Mind Other Boxers Who Were Homicide Victims
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Fernando Vargas Jr Improves to 13-0 and Irma Garcia Wins a World Title in Long Beach
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Talking Boxing with Renowned New York Sports Journalist Wally Matthews
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Jamel Herring (KO 1) and Shurretta Metcalf (UD 10) Victorious in NYC
-
Featured Articles4 weeks ago
Avila Perspective, Chap. 259: MarvNation Boxing in SoCal and More
-
Featured Articles2 weeks ago
Benavidez Dismantles Andrade: Will Canelo Be Next?