- Date Of Birth: May 23, 1954
- Date Of Death: March 13, 2021
- Occupation: Boxer and film actor
- City: Bartlett
- State: New Hampshire
Marvelous Marvin Hagler (born Marvin Nathaniel Hagler; May 23, 1954 – March 13, 2021) was an American professional boxer and film actor. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight division from 1980 to 1987, making twelve successful title defenses, all but one by knockout. Hagler also holds the highest knockout percentage of all undisputed middleweight champions at 78 percent. His undisputed middleweight championship reign of six years and seven months is the second-longest active reign of the last century. He holds the record for the sixth longest reign as champion in middleweight history. Nicknamed “Marvelous” and annoyed that network announcers often did not refer to him as such, Hagler legally changed his name to “Marvelous Marvin Hagler” in 1982.
Hagler is an inductee of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame. He was twice named Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America, as well as Fighter of the Decade (1980s) by Boxing Illustrated magazine. In 2001 and 2004, The Ring named him the fourth greatest middleweight of all time and in 2002 named him the 17th greatest fighter of the past 69 years. The International Boxing Research Organization rates Hagler as the sixth greatest middleweight of all time, while BoxRec rates him the 29th greatest boxer of all time, pound for pound. Many analysts and boxing writers consider Hagler to have one of the most durable chins in boxing history, having been knocked down only once during his entire professional career. The lone knockdown, scored by Juan Roldán of Argentina, is still being disputed.
After the loss to Leonard, Hagler moved to Italy, where he became a well-known star of action films. His roles included a U.S. Marine in the films Indio (1989) and Indio 2 (1991). In 1997, he starred alongside Terence Hill and Giselle Blondet in Virtual Weapon. Hagler also provided boxing commentary for British television. Another foray by Hagler into the entertainment field included work on the video game Fight Night: Round 3.
Hagler had five children with his first wife, Bertha: Charelle, Celeste, James, Marvin Jr. and Gentry. Although he owned a home in Bartlett, New Hampshire, Hagler lived in Milan.[ In May 2000, he married his second wife, Kay, an Italian, in Pioltello, Italy.
On March 13, 2021, Hagler’s wife, Kay, announced that Hagler had died of natural causes at his home in New Hampshire at the age of 66. His son James “said his father was taken to a New Hampshire hospital after experiencing chest pains and difficulty breathing.” – Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License from Wikipedia.
