Sorcery at Caesars: Sugar Ray's Marvelous Fight by Steve Marantz & Leigh Montville

Sorcery at Caesars: Sugar Ray's Marvelous Fight by Steve Marantz & Leigh Montville

Author:Steve Marantz & Leigh Montville [Marantz, Steve & Montville, Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography, Boxing, History, Non-Fiction, Sports
ISBN: 9781592995219
Publisher: Inkwater Press
Published: 2010-09-16T23:00:00+00:00


1983: "You beat him"

Hagler loaded his family into a 36-foot recreational vehicle and drove west in late summer of 1983. Escorted in a separate car by photographer Angie Carlino and a friend, Jack Hurley, Hagler covered 36 states and 11,000 miles, staying at KOA campgrounds, with stops at Mt. Rushmore and at a dude ranch in Wyoming. Hagler rode horses and ate exotic foods such as alligator and buffalo steak.

By now, Hagler knew to trade his celebrity for drinks, meals, accommodations, and souvenirs. "He learned how to play," Carlino recalled. Though comfortably wealthy, Hagler's frugality was deeply ingrained. He complained that disclosure of his purses set him up as a mark for scams, and asked Arum to keep the figures private. He kept a short rein on Brockton accountant Peter Mareb, who handled his finances. Hagler met once a month with Mareb and was active in investment decisions. He insisted on a conservative portfolio heavy on bonds, which stood him in good stead when the stock market nosedived in 1987. To Arum, Hagler had become a "classic New England Yankee" who lived below his means and abjured ostentation. In this, Hagler channeled Marciano, a legendary penny-pincher, but was distinct from many free-spending champions who had come to financial ruin.

In small towns Hagler stopped at local gyms and chatted with fighters. Everywhere, admirers lavished him with warmth and respect. In Hollywood Hagler was a guest on the sets of two TV shows, "M*A*S*H" and "Dynasty," and one film, Johnny Dangerously. The making of entertainment fascinated Hagler; he sat for hours watching the oft-tedious work and never seemed bored or impatient. To actress Joan Collins, the star of "Dynasty," he offered a Marvelous Marvin t-shirt. She graciously accepted but declined to wear it.

If Hagler was in an unusually good mood on vacation there was a reason. A multi-million dollar payday had materialized with the most unexpected opponent - Roberto Duran. A little more than 21/2 years after his "No Mas" disgrace, Duran had climbed off the scrap heap and won a junior middleweight title. When Duran knocked out Davey Moore in 8 rounds, in June 1983, among the audience at Madison Square Garden were Hagler and his oldest son, Gentry. Duran's resurrection occurred shortly after Hagler, bored by his recent opponents (Tony Sibson, TKO 6; Wilford Scypion, KO 4) and worn down by his harsh training regimen, had hinted at retirement. "How long can you keep beating your head against a wall?" Hagler asked. "How long can you keep psyching yourself? How long can you keep getting your body in shape?"

Now thoughts of retirement receded as an ebullient Hagler told reporters, "I would like to have seen (Duran) get out of the game, but I guess this proves that if you hang around long enough you get what's coming to you." Arum immediately declared a Hagler-Duran bout to be "the fight everyone wants to see" and pegged Hagler's purse at $5 million plus a percentage of the closed-circuit revenues. By the time Hagler finished his vacation 21/2 months later the bout was set.



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