Marvin Hagler vs. Mike Colbert
Marvin Hagler 160 lbs beat Mike Colbert 157 lbs by KO in round 12 of 15
- Date: 1977-11-26
- Location: Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Referee: Tommy Rawson
- Judge: 106-105
The fight was promoted by Rip Valente, who billed the fight as being for the vacant World Middleweight Championship. He changed the distance from 12 to 15 rounds and went so far as to get recognition from Massachusetts, Oregon, New Jersey, Virginia and "a few other states." Several weeks before the fight, Rodrigo Valdez defeated Bennie Briscoe to win the vacant WBA and WBC middleweight titles, which had been relinquished by the retiring Carlos Monzon.
Colbert's nickname was the Cobra, and Hagler started calling himself the Mongoose leading up to the fight. ""You know what a mongoose does?" Hagler asked. "He destroys cobras."
The Associated Press reported: "Hagler chased Colbert around the ring for 11 rounds before unleashing a two-handed barrage at the start of the 12th round, knocking the Cobra down in a neutral corner. Moments later, with one minute gone in the round, Hagler unleashed a vicious right hook that floored Colbert again and referee Tommy Rawson stopped the fight. "We knew he was a hit-and-run man and Marvin kept the pressure on," said Goody Petronelli, Hagler's trainer. "In the twelfth round, we decided to throw caution to the wind."
After the fight, Colbert went to Massachusetts General Hospital with a broken jaw. His manager, Mike Morton, claimed his jaw was broken by a punch thrown after the bell ending the 11th round.