Boxing isn't a beauty contest and I've seen any reports of boxers being judged because of their attractive features. Even in the beauty obsessed pop culture we live in, a boxer's good looks is usually at the bottom of the list when any serious sports announcer discusses a fighter's career. As to your question about "Marvelous" Marvin: that is incorrect. Hagler received a lot of press coverage during his heyday. He was on the cover of Ring Magazine after he defeated Mustafa Hamsho. It was titled "Hagler Hammers Hamsho" in the December 1984 cover of The Ring Magazine. He frequently appeared on the covers of the October 1983, March 1984, July 1985, April 1981, April 1985, October 1986, April 1987, November 1985, and May 1982 covers of The Ring Magazine. He was also featured frequently on the covers of Sports Illustrated during the 1980's. If Hagler was so "ugly" and "overlooked" as you claim then why was he frequently on the cover of both Sports Illustrated and The Ring Magazine during the 1980's?
A lot of New England fighters don't get the same exposure or they don't go Hollywood , so to speak. Hagler had to fight all the tough fighters from Philly, for peanuts,while the Media child Leonard got $40,000 for his pro debut on ABC sports on a Saturday afternoon. Hagler was fighting Willie "The Worm" Monroe in a Philly locale for $1500. Hagler was a true blue collar fighter and not a TV media child.Leonard had won that fight in Vegas with Hagler , in the publics mind, before the fight ever took place. He ran, then would throw a 10 punch combo and weather it hit or not made a difference, was awarded the round. TV"S media child. Hagler was pissed, frustrated and walked away from the game. I respect him more than 10 Leonards.
Lol get outa here
Marvin Hagler was handsome...he had that rugged good looks
If you want ugly, try Hearns or Duran
He was very marketable in the years after the Hearns fight
The reason he was overlooked abit compared to guys like Leonard was not because of looks but because he was'nt the smiling, sweet talking, American hero role model and Olympic medallist that Leonard was
He was the no nonsense badass..come in...destroy...leave
Kinda like how some badass groups get overlooked for bloody one direction and the backstreet boys back in the day
Not saying Leonard was like the backstreet boys...he was flashy, but he was badass too...he could fight...but not as badass as Hagler...Leonard had to run to beat him
Early on in his career, Hagler was overlooked just becuz he was a New Englander. Consequently, he had to go to boxing hotbeds like Philly to get bouts with contenders.
By the time HE was a contender, rival managers often opted to have their fighters avoid Marvin becuz, as Joe Frazier told him, "you have three strikes against you: you're good; you're black; and you're a southpaw."
And, no, Hagler did not get "his due" 'til he beat Hearns.
HOWEVER, since that bout, Hagler has been greatly OVERrated , IMO, by fans and "experts". Yes, the guy was great, but to rank a boxer who was very anxious and overcautious in big bouts (like he was in, say, the first bout with the light-punching, tissue paper-skinned Vito Antuofermo or his bout with Duran, who, by then, was a fat, poorly-trained, over-the-hill lightweight), wasn't very effective fighting "movers", etc in the top ten AT at middlewgt is ridiculous. I personally put him in the top 20 or 25 (BTW, I rate fighters in EVERY wgt class in which they fought - not just their best one - so I include several fighters in my middlewgt ranking that many others don't consider as such); if his skin didn't lacerate so easily, then top 15.
Haglar may not be a pretty boy and attract the attention of the press or hollywood, but he is certainly not overlooked by boxing fans.
He earned everything he got, he was not promoted by agents as was Leonard, and De La Hoya.
He was overlooked because he didn't have that flashy style and charisma that the public liked. He very well took the hard road to success but by no means was he any less of a fighter.
hagler wasn't ugly he had the body of a god and a shiny head what more can you want from a fighter . i don't think of hagler as over looked he was a star in britain as much as duran or leonard was .
Lets face it guys, even if your a good boxer, the better looking ones are always the most remembered. I mean they are just more marketable. So it makes sense. But Marvin Hagler was a hell of a boxer but he was overlooked. I mean he was ugly, his face looked like it was burned with a torch. And do you feel this is the main reason? Or what is your reason in general?
