BoxRec

Nearly all of us know by now what an epic battle this was. Hagler and Mugabi put on a great fight, so much so that round 6 was voted "round of the year" in 1986.

Hagler demonstrates such resilience and a concrete-like chin, taking muderous punches from Mugabi. Surely "The Beast" has to be one of the hardest punchers of all time?

Mugabi gave his all during the fight, committed himself fully and kept coming forward for Hagler. IMO, Mugabi was never the same fighter afterwards. Come to think of it, Hagler was not the same, either.

They don't make them like that anymore, that's for sure!

That fight and round in particular aged both men maybe ten years.
Marvin was already on the slide I thought. He was slower and more predictable, but with his steel chin and stamina he pulled a victory out of the bag.
Not many middles after would have beat Mugabi that night and Hagler did it on the slide. I thought rd 6 was even better than RD 1 V Hearns.

A peak Hagler early 80's would have been too much too early for Mugabi and mayber rd 6-7 would have been it for the Beast

The Hagler-Mugabi fight is one of my favourites and Mugabi, so used to knocking everyone out in the first few rounds tried the same on Hagler but to no avail. I think it was round 4 when Mugabi put everything into an uppercut and hit Hagler square on the chin....that punch would of knocked out cruiserweights let alone middleweights but Hagler took it and came back firing.

I wouldnt call round 6 a 'Great round' but I would call it a great round for Hagler, Mugabi was nearly knocked out in that round but was saved by the bell, and after that round it was all down hill for 'The Beast' as he tired later on in the fight.

That fight took the steam out of Mugabi, but the fight that reall finished him was the Duane Thomas fight; I still think Mugabi got thumbed when the fight was stopped and it could of risked loosing his sight.

I heard talk that Mugabi could be difficult to handle (out of the ring) and wasn't the best of trainers at times? Anyone else hear this?

Here we go again with the Hagler nuthuggers. Giving their boy kudos for beating up a light middle weight who moved up in weight to challenge for the MW crown. As I have stated Hagler made a career out of beating up smaller guys who moved up......so what?

ringsider wrote:Here we go again with the Hagler nuthuggers. Giving their boy kudos for beating up a light middle weight who moved up in weight to challenge for the MW crown. As I have stated Hagler made a career out of beating up smaller guys who moved up......so what?

Hagler had basically cleaned out the middleweights and there was nobody that comes to mind as presenting him with a challenge. Also, at the time some of the biggest name fighters happened to reside at 154. They challenged Hagler and he obliged them

Hagler went for the big money fights towards the end of his career and nobody could blame him. He'd already paid his dues by 1980

ringsider wrote:Here we go again with the Hagler nuthuggers. Giving their boy kudos for beating up a light middle weight who moved up in weight to challenge for the MW crown. As I have stated Hagler made a career out of beating up smaller guys who moved up......so what?

Yes but Mugabi punched harder than fighters in bigger weight divisions, he was a very dangerous fighter and Hagler cannot be criticized for beating a 25-0 (25ko) fighter.

I reckon Ringsider was a school pal of Marvins and he stole Marvins lunch one day and got a whupping for it. Now it's all anti Hagler.
There's just no pleasing some folk.

To be honest I wouldn't be the biggest Hagler fan and believe he would have lost V Robinson at his peak and maybe Monzon too. But we cannot take from the fact that on his peak he was one of the greats of boxing, superbly fit always, fair fighter, hard hitter and a granite chin with relentless pressure. He was a wee bit slow, but no fighter is perfect and his footwork could have been better. Slick cuties would pose problems for Marvin, but they would have to be close to Robinson's talent to do so.

I thought his worst performance was V Leonard, even though Ray basically ran for the fight. Ray didn't take Marvins' title, he stole it with a dubious decision.

Mugabi wasnt the same after his epic effort against the Marvelous one, the Duane Thomas and Terry Norris fights proved this; I think the pre-Marvelous Mugabi would have kayoed both these.