Marvin Hagler vs. Bobby Watts (1st meeting)

Marvin Hagler 157 lbs lost to Bobby Watts 156 lbs by MD in round 10 of 10

• Date: 1976-01-13
• Location: Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
• Referee: Hank Cisco 46-46
• Judge: Nate Lopinson 44-48
• Judge: Earl Vann 44-46

• See also: Hagler vs. Watts II

"Bobby 'Boogaloo' Watts, from North Philadelphia, won the 10-round decision last night from Marvin Hagler, of Brockton, Mass., as the fight fans screamed bloody murder. The hometown crowd went against the hometown guy. They were right. With the exception of the officials, Earl Vann, Nate Loberson and Hank Cisco, everyone had Hagler as the winner by as little as 7 rounds to 3. Even newly appointed boxing commissioner Howard McCall saw the outcome differently. According to Hagler and some 6,167 fans, a lot differently. The fight itself wasn't really that good, with both fighters doing some holding. But Hagler still did enough to win it." -Bucks County Courier Times

Notes

• "It might not have been the worst decision of all time, but it was a pretty bad one," said J. Russell Peltz, the fight's promoter.
• "Welcome to Philadelphia, Marvin Hagler!" read the headline in the next morning's Philadelphia Inquirer.
• The Boston Globe reported: "Marvin Hagler...disproved the invincibility of Philadelphia's middleweights, but he didn't count on the ineptitude of the local judges."
• "They expressed their opinions. I may have scored it differently. We may have a problem and I'm going to solve it." -Pennsylvania boxing commissioner, Howard McCall, after meeting with the judges.
• "That's why boxing has a bad name. I never saw anything like it. He didn't take a round from me. All he did was hold...like a girl." -Marvin Hagler
• "I've been judging since 1954. In all those years I've never seen a reporter agree with me. Maybe Watts was bleeding, but from where I saw it, he had the most effective blows. That's why I gave him six rounds." -Judge Earl Vann