Marvin Hagler: how ‘Marvelous’ used Hong Kong as a ‘victory’ platform in 1988; tributes for boxing legend, who dies aged 66
- The former undisputed middleweight champion, famous for his epic fights against Thomas Hearns and ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, was a regular visitor to Hong Kong
- ‘One of these legends who kind of lives up to the billing,’ says Hong Kong’s Robbie McRobbie, a director with Operation Breakthrough when Laureus hosted Hagler at a charity dinner in 2015
“Marvelous” Marvin Hagler was casually chatting to former Hong Kong football star Derek Currie during a visit to the city in 1988. It was not long after Hagler’s fierce rival “Sugar” Ray Leonard had visited Hong Kong and told local media how he had won their blockbuster middleweight fight the previous year “fair and square”.
On being told this, Hagler – who died on Saturday at the age of 66 – was taken aback, and said to Currie: “After the fight, he put his glove around me and said ‘you got me, babe’. What does that mean?”.
Eager to make his views public, Hagler asked Currie if he could organise a media conference. Currie at the time was PR guru for brewer Carlsberg and was well ensconced with the local media. A press conference was quickly arranged at the Hong Kong Football Club and Hagler was able to tell his story.
“After the fight, many boxing experts from around the world, including my brother [ex-boxer and Scottish journalist] Dick, thought Marvelous had won the fight,” said Currie, who is also mourning the loss of his brother, who died two weeks ago.