Friday, March 29, 2024  |

News

On this day: Marvelous Marvin Hagler chops up Juan Roldan

Photo by The Ring/ Getty Images
Fighters Network
30
Mar

If you wanted a world middleweight title in the early 1980s, you had a serious job on your hands.

On March 30, 1984, Marvelous Marvin Hagler retained his undisputed 160-pound championship for the ninth time with a 10th-round stoppage of Argentinian hard man Juan Roldan. The bout took place at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Hagler was slow out of the blocks and Roldan capitalized by nailing the champion with some heavy shots in the early going. In fact, Roldan is credited with being the only fighter to put Hagler on the canvas, although replays confirm that the first-round knockdown should have been ruled a slip.

As the bout moved on, Hagler began to take over. A sharp flurry, punctuated by a left uppercut, caused terrible damage to Roldan’s right eye and resulted in a knockdown in the third round. Hagler now had a target and he pounded the injury without mercy for the remainder of the fight.



In the 10th-round, the pace and the pain was too much to bear. Hagler followed a jolting right jab out of the southpaw stance with a two-fisted flurry and Roldan was deposited flat on his back. When the challenger found his feet, he told referee Tony Perez that he’d had enough and the bout was waved off.

“It was just a matter of time, I knew we had 15 rounds,” Hagler told HBO during his post-fight interview. “You can’t go in there and try to knock everyone out (early). I learned that from the Roberto Duran fight. I took my time and put my punches together.”

 

SUBSCRIBE NOW (CLICK HERE - JUST $1.99 PER MONTH) TO READ THE LATEST ISSUE

SIGN UP TO GET RING NEWS ALERTS