Top 38 Quotes & Sayings by Marvin Hagler

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American athlete Marvin Hagler.

Last updated on December 25, 2024.

Marvelous Marvin Hagler was an American professional boxer and film actor. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight division from 1980 to 1987, making twelve successful title defenses, all but one by knockout. Hagler also holds the highest knockout percentage of all undisputed middleweight champions at 78 percent. His undisputed middleweight championship reign of six years and seven months is the second-longest active reign of the last century. He holds the record for the sixth longest reign as champion in middleweight history. Nicknamed "Marvelous" and annoyed that network announcers often did not refer to him as such, Hagler legally changed his name to "Marvelous Marvin Hagler" in 1982.

American - Athlete | Born: May 23, 1954

Source: Wikipedia

Even though the outcome wasn't the way it should have been, publicly I still feel in my heart I won the Sugar Ray Leonard fight.

Marvin Hagler

You know looking back on it now I used the fight and after the fight as motivation, to make sure I was going to be the best middleweight in the world for a long time.

Marvin Hagler

I started out doing commercials, like Diet Coke and Pizza Hut. And I started to find there was a different life for me, in a different field. From there, I got a call from a director in Italy, and we did 'Indio' I and II, and that's where it started.

Marvin Hagler

Some fighters know when to stop on their own and go on to something else, and then some fighters have nothing to go back to after they are finished. Some fighters still have the burning fire and feel that they just need to try one more time. Few can do it.

Marvin Hagler

I tried my best to ensure I kept the respect for the middleweight division in the tradition of Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake La Motta.

Marvin Hagler

I'm going to keep on being Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

Marvin Hagler

In boxing, there's no more secrets today. Technology is such that you know everything about everyone.

Marvin Hagler

I know that when a fighter is out of the ring for more than two years, when he comes back he isn't the same anymore. Each fighter is different. But each must think, even if something goes wrong, 'I have to make this decision and live with it for the rest of my life.'

Marvin Hagler

People still look at me as the champion and that's very important to me.

Marvin Hagler

I trained in Provincetown, Mass. Back then, they didn't have all the tourists on Cape Cod. Very isolated. Very good spot. I called it the jail. All you could do was train, run, walk, talk boxing.

Marvin Hagler

Fighters remember that one-punch KO. Something clicks, and they lose it. They don't wanna be knocked out. It happened to Roy Jones.

Marvin Hagler

For me, I believe George Foreman was a bad example because when he became world heavyweight champion again at 42, that made a lot of fighters think they could also carry on.

Marvin Hagler

The likes of Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Tommy Hearns were true champions. There were some incredible fights between us, and I was happy to give them all an opportunity to fight me.

Marvin Hagler

I like acting very much because I don't get punched, and it's not real.

Marvin Hagler

When you knock people out, it's sometimes a very scary situation - but I always hoped that no one got seriously hurt. Now when I see them get knocked out, I laugh. When you finish the game, it's funny. And when I look at film of myself, I think, 'I wouldn't fight that guy.'

Marvin Hagler

You know, I think I had a great career; there's not much I think I'd do different other than get a title shot much earlier. I didn't get one till 49 or 50 fights into my career.

Marvin Hagler

Sugar Ray wouldn't give me a rematch, and that's the reason I walked away from boxing.

Marvin Hagler

Oh yeah, I mean every fighter has got be dedicated, learn how to sacrifice, know what the devotion is all about, make sure you're paying attention and studying your art.

Marvin Hagler

These interviews, sometimes they jog your memories, like what you were doing when you were 10 years old. They're always searching for your past; they can keep you living there. I want to go on to the future.

Marvin Hagler

No one is the same after I fought them - Hearns, Duran, Leonard. All of them.

Marvin Hagler

In some ways that fight gave me more respect around the world and helped me be even more popular because so many people felt my pain and saw that I was robbed.

Marvin Hagler

It is a great feeling when you lay down at night, and you know there are little kids out there imitating you, and people want to know what you eat and when you go to sleep.

Marvin Hagler

I want to advance myself in some areas. I want to go into broadcasting, be a boxing commentator and still get to travel, and I want to take courses so I can speak better. I want to take courses in business and promotion.

Marvin Hagler

There are a lot of things and in order to be at the top and maintain your focus you have to have something that motivates you. For me, it was what I perceived as a lack of respect from the boxing world as well as the media, which made me want to work so hard and be great.

Marvin Hagler

Sitting here now today, I can forgive a lot of the English people because it only takes a hand full of bad people to do something stupid like that and it can make the whole country look bad.

Marvin Hagler

Well, you can't trust most people in this game, period; it can be a very shady business.

Marvin Hagler

The situation right after the fight wasn't too good; I believe I'm still the only champion in the world who never received the belt inside the ring once you've won the title. I held that against the English fans for a long time but I felt that also motivated me.

Marvin Hagler

The only difference between street fighting and boxing is there a ref there from stopping me from killing you

Marvin Hagler

A champion shows who he is by what he does when he's tested. When a person gets up and says 'I can still do it', he's a champion. If they cut my bald head open, they will find one big boxing glove. That's all I am. I live it.

Marvin Hagler