Unbelievably great fighter. However, he went full VAJ after the Leonard fight. Horrible decision, but he QUIT. Pussy.
I'm not willing to go that far.
We loved him, but the game did not. Whenever there was a chance chop him on the scorecard, they did. Because Marvin wasn't a "boxer" he was a "fighter." At least that's the common perception.
Granted he fought a terrible fight against Sugar Ray. But Ray never once hurt him. Never really hit him at all. I wanted Marvin to press him and beat his punk ass to a pulp, but he fought more cautiously, Ray made a big show with flurries of snowflake punches late in the rounds. He'd mug, clown and throw a handful of completely ineffective punches and the moron judges gave him the rounds. It was bullshit. Total bullshit. Hagler asked for a return match, Leonard pussed around for a year and a half and then Marvin said "fuck this, I don't need the hassle" and walked away. I think it's telling that about a month after Hagler washed his hands of the sport, the REAL pussy in this story, Pussy Ray un-retired again.
I don't know why he didn't just wade into Ray and whip his ass. Whatever advantage Ray had in speed would have been neutralized by a hook to his skull. Maybe Hagler decided in the Mugabi fight that he'd lost a step or his power had waned. That was a gruesome fight and he did look like it took a lot out of him. I dunno. I will never understand that. Maybe it's because he was truly was older or slower having waited nearly a decade during which he fought some brutal bouts. Maybe it was because Ray insisted on puffier padded gloves (10 oz over Hagler's usual 8 oz mitts). Maybe it was because Ray demanded a larger ring or there would be no fight which gave him room to move and forced Marvin to cover more space to jam him up. Maybe it's because while Marvin was defending his titles and brawling like a man, Titty Ray was sitting back on his ass waiting on that one shot.
Fuck Ray Leonard. Long Live Marvin.
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