Bit Players Take Seats; Stage Set for Rematch : Hagler Might Not Be the Beast but Shows Mugabi He’s the Best

Just as Thomas Hearns had earlier in the evening, so did Marvelous Marvin Hagler work to promote an eventual rematch between the two middleweights, working the angles like a big-time wrestling promoter.

Hearns’ role in the buildup was to look sensational, to remove any doubt about either his punching power or his ability to take a punch. Hagler’s role, on the other hand, was to look mortal. Not necessarily ordinary, but certainly within the reach of a rejuvenated Hearns.

So, just as Hearns’ one-round knockout of James Shuler was important to an autumn rematch, Hagler’s laborious 11th-round knockout of the previously undefeated John (The Beast) Mugabi restores interest to a fight that was so lopsided when first staged last year.

The only problem is that immediately afterward, in the moist air of Caesars Palace’s outdoor arena, Hagler said: “Believe it or not, this might be my last fight.”

Well, that would be a problem in Monday night’s little tournament, a shrewd setup that only warranted international attention on the basis of an eventual Hagler-Hearns rematch. Without Hagler, the indomitable middleweight of our time at least, the division is somewhat deprived of mega-million possibilities.

And just when Hagler was beginning to look vulnerable, too. Or maybe Hagler sensed as much. In any event, by the time he got dressed in a natty brown suit and found sunglasses large enough to hide a swollen right eye, Hagler was waffling, saying he didn’t want to commit himself. “Give me time to think about it,” he said.

It was a strange night all around. It had rained right up to the co-main events, but the 15,000 people in the outdoor grandstands were not bothered. They wore dry-cleaning bags, offered for sale outside the arena for $2 apiece.

But then it got really strange. World Boxing Assn. bantamweight champion Richie Sandoval, obviously suffering the effects of having to lose 10 pounds in the last week for his defense against Gaby Canizales, was knocked down a total of five times, incredible to all but referee Carlos Padilla. The last knockout kept him unconscious for a terrifying 14 minutes.

Then Hearns, who hadn’t fought since last April when Hagler walked through him in three rounds, destroyed the previously undefeated Shuler in the first round.

And then Hagler, who has everything but a cape, so super is he regarded in the world of boxing, came out to defend his world title and displayed for five rounds an incredible look of mystification. Hagler, who earned between $2.5 and $5 million for his fight, wasn’t going to get it easy.

Mugabi, a 27-year-old Ugandan who had demolished all 26 of his previous opponents, was a wild-swinging but obviously dangerous foe. And Hagler, who has looked tentative in all but his Hearns fight, conceded him respect. “I was a little tight in the beginning,” he admitted. “I just couldn’t find a good punch to put on him.”

It wasn’t until the sixth round of the fight, when Hagler stepped inside Mugabi’s right hand and hit him flush with a left, that the fight got interesting. Real interesting. In the most frantic round of the bout, Hagler battered Mugabi from ring post to ring post. But Mugabi, whose idea of defense is to keep his hands low, where they won’t get in the way, refused to show signs of being in jeopardy. And he kept hitting back, of all things.

It appeared that Mugabi, who had previously been known for the punch he could deliver, would become known for the punch he could take.

So Mugabi survived the round and then went into later rounds as strong as before. Mugabi later claimed he had hurt his hand in the fifth--and in fact he didn’t use it much afterward--thereby depriving him of offense. “My hand full of bruise,” he said. “He got a big head.”

All the same, Hagler accepted plenty of blows, and some of them contributed to a tremendous swelling of the right eye. Hagler, who agreed that his whole body was swollen, said it was necessary. “I had to take a lot of shots because I had to take it to him,” he said.

But after the ninth round, it was obvious that Mugabi, who had only gone into the 10th round once and who had not even gone into the second round in 10 fights, was tiring. He was in a new territory, and he didn’t know where he was going. He was tired.

It was this fatigue, more than anything, that allowed Hagler to bore in fearlessly. There were three right hands to Mugabi’s defenseless head, a left and then a terrific right that sent him down. Hagler hit him with another for good measure.

The judges scored it close, even though Mugabi seemed to score only when he was counter-punching and not that consistently. Judge Jerry Roth had it 97-94, Dave Moretti 96-95 and Dalby Shirley 97-94.

Hagler, 31, (62-2-2) might now look to another big-money payday with his Hearns rematch but says he is not so sure. Later in the evening, he conceded that such a tough fight might have encouraged him to issue premature comments. No doubt promoter Bob Arum, who will likely match his $8-million purse from the first Hagler-Hearns fight, will be persuasive.

Mugabi, meanwhile, who got $800,000 for this challenge, will likely return to the junior middleweight division where is ranked No. 1. Mugabi, who weighed 157 to Hagler’s 159 1/2, might have a future there. “I believe he can beat any junior middleweight,” Hagler said, “just so he leaves the middleweights alone.”

So the evening ended, with Hearns looking sensational enough to qualify him for a Hagler rematch and Hagler looking, well, not so marvelous that there would be a lack of anticipation. Hey, we are meant to believe, maybe Hearns can beat Hagler.

Even though it seems like we all went through this once before.