The Marvelous One Passes

[OldTerry]

That iron will and unrelenting mentality in and out of the ring was something. A guy like Holyfield funnily enough developed it because of his mother always putting it in his head that defeat or backing down in any way was never an option. I wonder how Marvin developed it, there doesn't seem to be a lot of info about his upbringing.

His early years were as a child being raised in Newark NJ. Lot's of crime and violence on the streets. His mother made the decision to escape Newark and they moved to Massachusetts (Brockton I believe). In 1969, Hagler took up boxing after being roughed up on the street by a local boxer—whom he later defeated—with his friends watching. The very next day after being roughed up, Hagler, determined to become a boxer himself, walked into a gym owned by brothers Pat and Goody Petronelli, who became his trainers and managers. The rest is history with much of it being available on Wikipedia.

[BKM-]

I appriciate the info. Doesn't sound like anything in his situation was unique even though he himself was. Lots of boxers grew up in a rough area. They don't stand out like Hagler's will, work ethic and warrior spirit inside the ring.

Maybe there was a certain unusual event in his early life that would lead to it. Maybe there is no explanation, or his ancestry goes back to some fearless tribal warrior of the african plains.

[Willie Pep 229]

What I was trying to share with my post about Hagler laying on the kitchen floor ducking bullets with his mom, but failed to do, was the importance of his mother in his life. Hagler was talking about how he was a mamma's boy to a very tough woman who lead him down the narrow path to success.

[markusmod]

What I was trying to share with my post about Hagler laying on the kitchen floor ducking bullets with his mom, but failed to do, was the importance of his mother in his life. Hagler was talking about how he was a mamma's boy to a very tough woman who lead him down the narrow path to success.

He was the true Mama's boy, not Dennis Douglin!