Brockton Mayor Robert F. Sullivan had announced a major event to celebrate the life of professional boxing legend Marvelous Marvin Hagler on Sunday, May 23rd at 2 p.m. at Rocky Marciano Stadium in Brockton, Massachusetts.
May 23rd has been declared “Marvelous Marvin Hagler Day” in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by Gov. Charles Baker and this special public memorial will feature several celebrity guests and speakers, including legendary boxing champion Bernard Hopkins, ESPN host Stephen A. Smith, Showtime Championship Boxing analyst Al Bernstein, WCVB Channel 5 sports anchor Mike Lynch, acclaimed boxing writer and historian Ron Borges and members of the Hagler family. There will also be a video tribute to the iconic champ presented by event sponsor Copeland Toyota.
Boxing promoter and Hagler family friend Peter Czymbor of Brockton will serve as Master of Ceremonies. More guests and celebrity speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.
“Marvelous Marvin Hagler has been an inspiration and a source of civic pride for Brockton for generations. He is one of the primary reasons why we are known as the ‘City of Champions,’” Mayor Sullivan said. “This public memorial will be a fitting tribute to one of our city’s favorite sons and one of boxing’s all-time greats.”
Hagler passed away March 13, 2021 at the age of 66. The public event will celebrate Hagler’s monumental impact on the sports world and the City of Brockton, which he called home for much of his life. Hagler was trained in Brockton by the Petronelli brothers and became one of the world’s most dominant professional athletes of the 1980’s, successfully defending his undisputed world middleweight titles 12 times in classic bouts against fellow boxing legends such as Thomas “Hitman” Hearns, Roberto Duran, and John “The Beast” Mugabi.
Hagler’s three round war against Thomas Hearns in 1985 is widely considered one of the greatest fights in the history of professional boxing. He starred in TV commercials, appeared on late night TV and, after his boxing career ended, he starred in action movies in Italy.
“Marvelous Marvin Hagler serves as a tremendous role model for the young people here in the City of Brockton,” said Todd Copeland, CEO of Copeland Toyota, which is the event’s lead sponsor. “He was never knocked down and he always kept charging ahead toward victory. Hagler is a symbol of what can be achieved through hard work and tireless determination. Copeland Toyota is honored to participate in such a special event for our city.”
Other event sponsors include Lyft, which is providing access to free and discounted rides to the event, and Bertucci’s, which is hosting a hospitality area for the Hagler family and VIP guests.
“Brockton has been home to Bertucci’s for a very long time and we are thrilled to be part of this day honoring boxing legend and Brockton native Marvelous Marvin Hagler,” said Robert Earl, Founder and CEO of Bertucci’s parent company Planet Hollywood. “We are happy to be part of such a great event here in the city of Brockton.”
Brendan Joyce, Community Strategist for Lyft in Massachusetts, said: “Lyft is proud to help people access transportation to this event honoring Hagler’s life, achievements and his many contributions to the City of Champions.”
The event will be open to the public, but seating may be limited depending on the latest COVID-19 guidelines. Gates for the event open at 1 p.m. at Marciano Stadium, located on the Brockton High School campus at 45 Breer St., Brockton. The program will start at 2 p.m.
More information will be released in the coming days.
Nobody deserves it more! RI greatest middleweight of all time!
Old school legend, blue collar no nonsense fighting machine.
Without a doubt one of the greatest ever!
So true.
Not many fighters consistently put the work in, take the risks and achieve what Hagler did.
fighters like hagler are few and far in-between
Totally true, Hagler was the epitome of a fighter.
Fought the best on the way up, going to Philidephia to fight the tough top contenders.
Avenged his 2 career defeats, emphatically, got a raw deal in his first title fight, drawing with Antuofermo.
Battered Minter in his own backyard to get the title in his 2nd attempt and held the undisputed title for 6.5 years.
Defended against the top contenders, making 12 defenses which included arguably the greatest fight ever with Hearns, and systematic beat downs of prime Hamsho, Roldan and Mugabi.
The only defenses that went the distance were against the legend Duran, who he beat, and the great Ray Leonard, who he lost controversially to.
That’s greatness.
Dang, I am still broken up about Mr. Hagler.
He made an impression that lasts.
I was gutted when he passed.
In reality, Hagler was not old by medical standards to have passed away at age 66. Considering medical science tells us the life expectancy in most adult populations is as high as the ’80s now. Many rumors swirl as to the cause of his death. Last I recall, the media claimed he had shortness of breath and chest pains. This could have been indicative of a cardiac event, pulmonary emboli to the lungs, stroke, or even a side effect from a pre-existing illness. So sad for the family.
Yeah, I was so shocked when I heard he’d died, he always looked happy and healthy, I thought he’d be around forever.
Damn.
Marvelous Marvin Hagler was an absolute legend, one of the best MWs ever.
I really don’t think we’ll see the likes of Hagler again and here’s why:
I kind of got carried away and listed all the champs of the 80s/90s.
I knew boxing had become more diluted, but this list emphasises how badly the alphabet organisations degraded the value of being Champion.
1980s – There were quite a lot of MW champs throughout the 80s:
– 3 Undisputed
– 8 Alphabet
Hagler was incomparable – for over 6.5 years he was Undisputed and defended successfully 12 times.
For the other 3.5 years there were 11 other champions.
Undisputed:
– Jun 1979 – Mar 1980: Antuofermo 1 successful defense
– Mar 1980 – Sept 1980: Minter 1 successful defense
– Sep 1980 – Apr 1987: Hagler 12 successful defenses
Alphabet:
WBC:
– Apr 1987 – May 1987: Leonard 0 successful defenses
– Oct 1987 – Jun 1988: Hearns 0 successful defenses
– Jun 1988 – Feb 1989. Barkley 0 successful defenses
– Feb 1989 – Dec 1989: Duran 0 successful defenses
WBA:
– Oct 1987 – May 1989: Kalambay 4 successful defenses
– May 1989 – Apr 1991: McCallum 0 successful defenses (in 80s)
IBF:
– Oct 1987 – Jul 1989: Tate 2 successful defenses
– Jul 1988 – May 1991: Nunn 3 successful defenses (in 80s)
WBO:
– Apr 1989 – Apr 1990: DeWitt. 0 successful defense (in 80s)
1990s – In the 90s there were an unbelievable 27 MW Champs:
– 0 Undisputed
– 27 Alphabet
Hopkins was the stand out Alphabet champion of the 90s – and he did become Undisputed in 2004 and made 1 successful defense.
But there was never 1 fighter at MW in the 90s who was Undisputed.
WBC:
– Nov 1990 – May 1993. Jackson. 4 successful defenses
– May 1993 – May 1994: McClellan. 3 successful defenses
– May 1995 – Aug 1995. Jackson. 0 successful defenses
– Aug 1995 – Mar 1996: Taylor 0 successful defenses
– Mar 1996 – May 1998: Holmes. 2 successful defenses
– May 1998 – Apr 1999: Cherifi. 0 successful defenses
– Apr 1999 – Apr -2001: Holmes. 1 successful defense (in 90s)
WBA:
– May 1989 – Apr 1991: McCallum 3 successful defenses (in 90s)
– Apr 1992 – Oct 1993: Johnson. 3 successful defenses
– Oct 1993 – Aug 1994: JD Jackson. 0 successful defenses
– Aug 1994 – Nov 1995: Castro. 2 successful defenses
– Nov 1995 – Jun 1996: Takehara. 0 successful defenses
– Jun 1996 – Aug 1997: Joppy. 2 successful defenses
– Aug 1997 – Jan 1998: Green. 0 successful defenses
– Jan 1998 – May 2001: Joppy. 3 successful defenses (in 90s)
IBF:
– Jul 1988 – May 1991: Nunn 2 successful defenses (in 90s)
– May 1991 – Feb 1993. Toney 6 successful defenses
– May 1993 – Nov 1994. Jones. 1 successful defense
– Apr 1995 – May 2005: Hopkins. 10 successful defenses (in 90s)
WBO:
– Apr 1989 – Apr 1990: DeWitt. 1 successful defense (in 90s)
– Apr 1990 – Nov 1990: Benn. 1 successful defense
– Nov 1990 – Jun 1991: Eubank. 3 successful defenses
– Nov 1991 – 1992. McCellan. 0 successful defenses
– May 1993: May 1994: Pyatt. 2 successful defenses
– May 1994: Mar 1995: Collins. 0 successful defenses
– May 1995 – Jun 1997: Bradley. 6 successful defenses
– Dec 1997 – May 1998: Grant. 1 successful defense
– Jan 1999 – Nov 1999: Schenk. 1 successful defense
– Nov 1999 – Nov 1999: Matthews. 0 successful defenses
– Nov 1999 – Apr 2002: Krajnc. 0 successful defenses (in 90s)
Jim Bob:
An outstanding chronology of the MW Division thru the late 80’s and 90’s.
I always remember one of Hagler’s most famous quotes:
“It’s hard to get up at 4:30 AM every morning to train while you are sleeping in silk pajamas”.
Thanks Gary,
I was a bit of a Hagler fanatic.
Yeah, it’s a good line, I remember that one too:)
He was definitely one of a kind.
The marvelous one we miss you
This is great news