By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Famous broadcaster Colonel Bob Sheridan talks to Fightnews.com® about how he called several fights featuring the great Marvellous Marvin Hagler (62-3-2, 52 KOs) including classic contests with Tommy Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard.

HAGLER V HEARNS

“Marvin Hagler’s fight with Tommy Hearns stands out as one of the greatest fights of all time along with Muhammad Ali v Joe Frazier in 1971. The Ring Magazine voted the three rounds the contest lasted the best three rounds in the history of the sport. I was there and I concur with that. I was going absolutely nuts calling that fight. It was absolutely non-stop with both guys in the peak of physical condition and they just whaled away at each other and it was just attrition that won that fight for Marvellous Marvin Hagler.

( APRIL 15,1985 at Caesars Palace promoted by Top Rank refereed by Richard Steele. Hagler crowned TKO winner at 1.52 round three)

THE PETRONELLI BROTHERS

“I knew Marvin well because he was from Brockton, Massachusetts and I was living in Massachusetts and got to know the Petronellis, who trained Marvin, Goody and Pasquale, very well. In the early going everyone said opponents tried to avoid Hagler because nobody wants to fight a southpaw, especially when they could fight like Hagler. Marvin was just unbelievably well-conditioned all the time and a real warrior. When he changed his name legally to “ Marvelous” he truly was marvelous.

The Petronellis knew what they had in Marvin Hagler from the get-go. They were two guys from Brockton. Remember Rocky Marciano was from Brockton. It was a real tough area in the greater Boston area. The Petronellis were very instrumental in the development of boxing with Marvin Hagler. They were great trainers of their time. They brought Hagler  – the southpaw nobody wanted to fight – to become the world middleweight champion who was in some of the most memorable fights in the history of boxing.

RATING THE GREAT MIDDLEWEIGHTS

“You have to go with Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Robinson also Sugar Ray Leonard among the greatest middleweight champions of all time. They are right there in the history of boxing. They’re all in the Hall of Fame. How do you separate Hall of Famers from different eras? They have got the recognition as the best of their time. Leonard and Hagler are both from the same era and both were recognized in Canastota. That’s what the Hall of Fame is all about.

HAGLER V LEONARD

“I thought Hagler won the fight, but Ray outsmarted him because of the Dundee brothers. Chris was in the corner with the stopwatch and Angelo would yell fifteen seconds at the end of each round and they did the same with Ali. Most rounds they won were because they were smarter than their opponents. They would catch the judges’ eye with the crowd going nuts. That was one of the good things Angelo did and Gene Kilroy was behind that also.

(APRIL 6, 1987 at Caesars Palace promoted by Top Rank and refereed by Richard Steele. Sugar Ray Leonard awarded twelve round split decision by scores Dave Moretti 115-113 and Juan García 118-110 with Lou Filippo 115-113 for Hagler)

HAGLER WAS A TOTAL PROFESSIONAL

“There have been a lot of good professional fighters, but talking about Hagler he was the consummate professional. He was always in great condition. One of the things about Marvin he was never out of condition when he wasn’t boxing for his entire career. He was ready to fight tomorrow if he had to.

SHOCK DEATH OF MARVIN HAGLER

“It’s terrible, terrible news. I don’t know anything about Marvin’s diet in Italy. I don’t know the answer to that. For a guy who has had seven heart attacks myself, and suffering my first one at age 47 years, I can sympathize if he was getting sick. The first heart attack is the most dangerous and I am speaking from experience with seven heart attacks. I am always walking on eggshells. The first heart attack is the most dangerous because you don’t know it’s happening. You hear about the pain down the arm. You think ‘No it cannot be a heart attack. Not at Marvin’s age. Not in the condition he was in.’