Marvin Hagler and 1776

Marvin Hagler and 1776

Marvin Hagler was the best middleweight fighter I’ve seen in my entire life. He was fully ambidextrous with a very strong punch with either hand. Furthermore, he looked like a bad mofo, with a Van Dyke moustache and beard. Very few men ever went the distance with him. Hagler also had a sense of humor. When he arrived in London to fight Alan Minter, an English journalist asked Hagler how he felt about fighting abroad for the first time. Hagler replied, saying, “I never fight broads. I respect them too much.”

In addition to his amazing pugilistic talents, Marvin Hagler also taught me a lesson about being an American. Clear back in 1976, during the American bicentennial celebrations, Columbus Monthly Magazine ran a feature entitled, “Would You Have Been a Patriot or a Tory?” The article helped you decide which side of the Revolution you would have been on. You might think it’s a bit silly to ask someone to project back 200 years, but I found myself just a little bit troubled. I knew enough Constitutional Law, even back then, to understand that English settlers in America enjoyed a far greater level of political freedom than anyone else in the world. For example, in 18th century England, only landowners could vote. Only 10% of English people qualified. By contrast, over 90% of men in America owned enough land. While I certainly regard the Founding Fathers as giants, they certainly had the good fortune to be giants standing on the shoulders of other giants. All things considered, I found it hard to believe that anyone fully aware of the greatness of the English system who lacked the knowledge of anyone who lacked a better alternative would take arms against the Crown. That’s an admission that any proud American is loathe to make. That question troubled me a bit until February of 1983, when I learned that Marvin Hagler was going to defend his middleweight crown in London against an Englishman named Tony Sibson. It occurred to me that quite a few English boxing fans would probably bet with their hearts and not with their heads, and that a bet on Hagler would the closest thing imaginable to a certain bet. I did a bit of research: I called Las Vegas and learned that there was no betting line on the fight. Trying to get anyone to bet against “Marvelous” Marvin was about as likely as someone willing to wager that the Sun would not come up in the East. On the other hand, I learned from an English friend that, in London, Sibson was a 4-1 underdog, while Hagler was a 1-5 favorite. I thought that would be an easy way to make 20% on my investment. I should add that my English friend is a mutual fund manager, and that I was his best man when he got married. I sent him 1500 dollars via certified mail to put down on Hagler.

I did not actually see the fight until this year on YouTube. No disrespect to Tony Sibson. He was quite game and lasted until the closing seconds of the sixth round—about five-and-a-half rounds longer than I would have lasted. But Sibson was way out of his league, barely landing a punch. A week later, I got a check from my friend in London. I discovered to my complete dismay that, while I had turned a tidy profit, Her Majesty’s government had made off with about half of my winnings. At that moment, it no longer took any imagination on my part to understand why the Minutemen picked up their muskets in 1775.