4. Marvellous Marvin Hagler
Early in his career, nobody wanted to face Marvellous Marvin Hagler. Most of his early fights were on short notice, and top contenders avoided him like the plague.
Joe Frazier once told him there were three reasons nobody ever wanted to fight him:
“You have three strikes against you: You’re black, you’re a southpaw, and you’re good.”
Announcers didn’t even want to refer to him by his nickname, forcing him to legally change his name to Marvellous Marvin Hagler.
He would eventually go on to have the 2nd longest middleweight title reign of all-time. Despite his success, you have to wonder how much his early struggles to get fights slowed his career progress.
