Date: April 1981

Cover: Marvelous Marvin Hagler (photo by Jack Goodman)

What’s So Important About This Issue? Even though Hagler had stopped Alan Minter to capture the middleweight title in late-September of the previous year, this was Hagler’s first cover. And what a memorable cover it was, featuring the 160-pound champ dressed up in a superhero costume that was stitched together by the wife of editor Bert Sugar.

Cover Story: “Boxing’s ‘Captain Marvel’ Bolts Onto The Scene As … Marvin Hagler, Champion” by Michael Katz presented an in-depth profile of the man who was on his way to becoming the most dominant middleweight since Carlos Monzon retired in 1977. In a fascinating sidebar, writer George Kimball described his trip to the U.K. with Hagler for his title-winning bout with Minter that was marred by racist fans who started a riot when Hagler won.

Also In This Issue: “Mapscam AKA Harold Smith … Putting All The Pieces Together” by Dave Anderson … “Will Boxing’s New Investigation Do Justice To The Sport?” by Barney Nagler … “Where Are They Now? Billy Fox” by E. J. Gary …  “The Philadelphia Story: Sportsdom’s Newest City Of Champions Has Always Been Boxing’s Championship City” by Mike Silver … Fighter of the Month: Eusebio Pedroza, who had just defended the WBA featherweight title against Patrick Ford.

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