Hagler vs. Briscoe, 1978 Battle of The Baldies: Real Combat Media Historical Boxing
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
The late Marvelous Marvin Hagler, then age 24, a middleweight prospect on the rise, was on the way up towards becoming world middleweight champion when he faced Philadelphia’s late “Bad” Bennie Briscoe, age 35, in August 1978 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Briscoe, who lost six of his last fourteen bouts, all losses by decision, was fading at the time this crossroads bout took place. Hagler, a southpaw from Brockton, Massachusetts, 62-3-2 with 52 knockouts, came from the legacy town of Rocky Marciano, and lost only one more bout after his bout with Briscoe, with Ray Leonard in April 1987 at Caesars Palace Outdoor Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. Hagler never fought again after that.
After losing by 15 round decision in a WBC and WBA World Middleweight title bout in a rematch with Rodrigo Valdez at Casino di Campione, in Campione, Italy, Briscoe dropped ten-round decisions to future world champions Hagler and Vito Antuofermo, David Love, Vinnie Curto, Richie Bennett (Briscoe won the rematch), Ralph Hollett, Jimmy Sykes, Nick Ortiz, and Clemente Tshinza. Hagler, on the other hand, figured in 15 world middleweight title bouts which followed, drawing the first, and losing the final bout to Leonard, winning the 13 bouts in the middle over such names as Mustafa Hamsho, Roberto Duran, John Mugabi, and Juan Domingo Roldan. Of those bouts, only Duran, Leonard and Antuofermo (the first bout) went the 15 round distance. Hagler’s titular bouts with Leonard, Duran and Thomas Hearns were all-box office draw and televised classics. His title win over Alan Minter at Wembley (TKO 3), his defense against Caveman Lee at Bally’s Atlantic City (TKO 1) and rematch with Mustafa Hamsho at Madison Square Garden (TKO 3) were the stinkers. His bout with Thomas Hearns, in which he survived an early horrific cut to stop Hearns at Caesars Palace (TKO 3), was the all-time hyped action packed craziest bout of the century while it lasted, for all divisions, exactly as the experts predicted, to that point.
Highlights of “The Battle of the Baldies” can be found online. Besides both combatants being bald, Briscoe had a slightly lighter complexion, the only way to tell the two baldies apart during the contest, fought in center ring at close quarters for the most part. Briscoe worked off his right jab. Southpaw Hagler spun Briscoe in a 360 on his feet early on. Hagler came forward with pressure. Briscoe took the bout inside ferociously. Both men threw body punch combos, with the edge of punch volume and punches landed slightly but clearly in Hagler’s favor. Briscoe had Hagler cut on the right eyebrow. Scorecards of 49-43, 48-43, 47-43 favored Hagler, but the bout was far closer than the scores indicated. Briscoe attempted to work the cut. Hagler survived toe-to-toe exchanges to the final bell, an all-time classic war. It is a shame Hagler never got to fight Bennie Briscoe, Carlos Monzon, Gerald McClellan, Iran Barkley or Julian Jackson in world title bouts. All were great then.
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