‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler, who has just died at 66, will be remembered as one of the greatest boxing middleweight fighters and one the finest at any weight in any era. He was a tough boxer, described as having a chip of both shoulders and a hard hitter.
Born on 23 May 1954 5.17am Newark, New Jersey, he grew up fatherless in the ghettoes of Newark, relating more to the wounded birds he helped and his pet turtle. “They were the only friends I could relate to” he once said. “Maybe the only friends I really liked. I was always by myself.” He dropped out of school at 14, worked in construction and after a beating in a street fight found a boxing gym where he trained.
He won all but one of his 56 amateur fights and was unbeaten for the first three years of his professional career. He faced racism, notably when he won the World Middleweight title in London in front of a bottle-throwing Brit audience; and faced the dark side of the boxing business. His last fight in 1987 against Sugar Ray Leonard went against him on a judge’s decision that he and many others disputed. He never boxed again and retired fourteen months later with a record of 62 wins, three losses and three draws and moved to Italy to embark on an acting career.
He had a Taurus Ascendant giving him a weighty persona but his Sun was in airy Gemini in the 1st; and his Mercury, Venus, Jupiter were also in Gemini. Like many overwhelmingly physical individuals he lacked Earth signs with only his Mars in Capricorn. Not what you’d expect. His Mars was in an edgy sextile to an obsessive Saturn in Scorpio. But it isn’t really as brutal or ruthless a chart as his lifestyle and public image suggested. He did have a pivotal Pluto in his 4th house on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine to Jupiter Venus trine Neptune, so he would be controlling, determined and ambitious.
But Sugar Ray Leonard, 17 May 1956 7.58pm Wilmington, North Carolina, has a much more typical chart for a boxer. He had a Taurus Sun opposition Saturn in Scorpio square a super-confident Jupiter Pluto in Leo opposition Mars in Aquarius – Fixed and stubborn to the nth degree, gutsy, used to punishment, taking and giving it.
Thank you very much Marjorie! What a fighter and man, only knew to move forward and classy RIP
In my view Hagler is one of the greatest fighters of all time because he matched skill and stamina with a fierce determination and a jaw of granite. I must admit I was was expecting a lot of fixed earth rather than the air in his chart. That Saturn in Scorpio allied to that Mars in Capricorn would probably account for his formidable endurance in the ring. He took on and beat some very feared explosive knockout punchers such as Tommy Hearns and John Mugabe both top quality opponents. That required courage as well as craft. Always kept his dignity both in and out of the ring.