Marvin Hagler's Big 5: The British Title Affair!
Unfortunately, in 2021, the boxing world lost its legend, Marvin Hagler. Marvelous lived only 66 years, and ironically in the professional ring, he won his last victory in his 66th match. Over the years, he has proven himself to be one of the most serious names in the middleweight division. 62 successes, 52 knockouts and only 3 defeats. With stats like that, it's hard to pick out his top 5 fights, but his British affair with Alan Minter deserves to be among them.
In 1980, Hagler looked in incredible shape. The American has accumulated 53 professional matches, in which he has 49 victories. His last defeat was 4 years ago, but in that period he has recorded 24 matches without defeat. But he doesn't win the most important of them. On November 30, 1979, he finished tied with Vito Antuofermo and the Italian remained world champion.
Against Minter, Marvin gets a second chance to fight for the most valuable honors in the middleweight division. Logically, the New Jersey-born boxer should travel to London to fight the champion on his home turf. In his previous 2 matches, Alan has defeated Antuofermo twice and is on paper the favorite against Marvelous.
At Wembley, the match starts calmly. But only in the first minute. After her, the two titans enter into frequent exchanges and combinations of blows. The match turns into a spectacle. In the second round, Minter's defense cracks, and in the third, there is already a serious arcade under the eye. Only in the middle of the part, the referee is forced to end the match because of the incredible attacks of the American. From his second attempt as a challenger, Marvin became a world champion in less than 8 minutes. The future will provide Hagler with 12 successful defenses in a row!