Marvelous Marvin Hagler

[READER]( When word broke on Saturday that Marvelous Marvin Hagler had died, I immediately reached out to my fellow fight fans to reminisce. Marvelous—and, yes, he legally changed his name to Marvelous—was the reigning middleweight champion for much of the 1980s. He was a marvel to watch. Relentless, strong—like he was carved from steel—and fearless. Durán, Leonard, Hearns—he fought them all. Successfully defended his title 12 times. Backed down from no one.[[Illustration of Ben Joravsky]]( Sure enough the memories from my friends poured in . . . Best middleweight ever . . . Greatest fight ever—Hagler v. Hearns . . . Loved him. Best switch hitter of all time. Never stepped back from anyone . . . That last text was from Christian. Somehow, he got sidetracked, launching into a recitation on the wonders of Roberto Durán—"master of the head games, psyched out Sugar Ray.” That’s how it goes with fight fans. Talk about one boxer and wind up talking about three others. Conversations can go all night. What I liked best about Hagler is how he ended his career. His last fight against Sugar Ray Leonard went against him—he thought the refs had cheated him. And so he retired. At age 32. It was like Jim Brown leaving the Cleveland Browns to make movies. Some promoters offered Hagler $15 million for a rematch against Leonard, but he turned them down. Fifteen million dollars, people. That’s more than they pay Reader writers—Reader editors, too. He wound up moving to Italy and making movies. Just like Jim Brown. Rick Telander, then writing for Sports Illustrated, tracked Hagler down in Milan for an article that ran in 1990. “Financially, I'm in good shape,” Hagler told Telander. “My health is good, my brain is good. One more fight and you never know what might happen.” I actually watched part of Indio—his first Italian movie. Looked like a pretty decent action flick. Though what do I know? I don’t speak Italian. Guess I just got a kick out of watching dubbed-in Italian coming out of Marvelous Marvin Hagler’s mouth. Interestingly enough, his co-star in Indio was Brian Dennehy. Yeah, that Brian Dennehy. For some reason Dennehy’s character wore a New York Yankees hat. Rewatching the trailer, I had this vision of an agent or producer—think Al Pacino talking to Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood—convincing Dennehy to come over to Italy and make a picture: “And here’s the thing, Brian—Marvelous Marvin Hagler’s in it!” Hope they all made a lot of money. Anyway, I’m so glad Marvelous escaped the ring before his brain got scrambled. It couldn’t have been easy to walk away from the money, fame, and adulation. But he never backed down, even when he was walking away. Courageous in and out of the ring—Marvelous truly lived up to his name. [Ben Joravsky [signature]]( [Matthew Sigur]( on the basketball card boom [Adam M. Rhodes]( one year of the pandemic [Ben Joravsky]( on the General Iron debacle [Vincent E. Norment]( on George Floyd [Rachel Joravsky and Miles Porter]( on Meyers Leonard’s antisemitism [Dan Mihalopoulos]( on machine politics [The Ben Joravsky Show]( [Listen to The Ben Joravsky Show]( [Bad for your health]( The city is still concealing many of the secrets regarding General Iron, Lincoln Yards, and Mayor Rahm. By [Ben Joravsky]( [@bennyjshow]( [Meet the new boss, Joe Biden]( And meet his bosses—corporations and the investor class. By [Leonard C. Goodman]( [@GoodmanLen]( [Dutch extreme metal band Autarkh transform loss into triumph on Form in Motion]( By [Monica Kendrick]( [Chicago rapper Dre Izaya is one hook away from the charts on I Fall Apart When They Leave]( By [Leor Galil]( [@imLeor]( [Lanise Antoine Shelley is opening up the House]( The new artistic director wants to take 'amazing feats of storytelling' into more diverse realms; Rick Bayless wants to give more money to local theaters. By [Kerry Reid]( [@kerryreid]( [Issue of March 4 - March 17, 2021 Vol. 50, No. 12]( [Download Issue]( (PDF) 1971 Chicagoans have relied on the Reader for trusted alternative coverage of our city. The Chicago Reader is now a 501c3 nonprofit organization which means our survival is in your hands. In order to continue to be your trusted alternative voice of Chicago, we need your help. If you can donate just $5 today, we can show the world that community funded, independent journalism is the future. [DONATE TODAY!]( [View this e-mail as a web page]( [@chicago_reader]( [/chicagoreader]( [@chicago_reader]( [Chicago Reader on LinkedIn]( [/chicagoreader]( [chicagoreader.com]( [Forward this e-mail to a friend](. Want to change how you receive these e-mails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. Copyright © 2021 Chicago Reader, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616