Boxing lost one of its great champions as former Middleweight Champion, Marvin Hagler died today at the age of 66.  It is not known at this time how he passed away.

Hagler debuted in 1973 and due to being a southpaw, he struggled for years to find credible opponents.  After amassing 46 wins against 2 defeats, Hagler finally got a World Middleweight Title shot against the Vito Antuofermo, but he was unable to win, as the match went to a 15-round draw.  A year later, in 1980, Hagler defeated Alan Minter from the United Kingdom to win the title.

Hagler would dominate the division, first dispatching Fulgencio Obelmeijas of Columbia, and successfully defending against the man he could beat before, Antuofermo.  After five more title defences, Panama’s Roberto Duran took his shot at the champion, but was beat by Hagler by unanimous decision. Hagler beat two more challengers before beating Thomas Hearns in a three-round slugfest.  He then beat John Mugabi for his twelfth consecutive title defence, and it set up a super-fight against Sugar Rey Leonard, the former World Welterweight Champion, who had retired three years earlier.

The contest between Leonard and Hagler was arguably the biggest non-Heavyweight fight of the decade, which was won by Leonard by split decision.  It was a highly polarizing fight, but one that screamed for a rematch.

Leonard retired again afterward, and when he came out of retirement, he offered Hagler a rematch. Hagler, by this point, had retired himself, having grown weary of awaiting a rematch, and was content to stay retired.

Hagler overall have a record of 62-3-2 with 52 KOs.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the fans, friends and family of Marvin Hagler.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present the pre-2021 update of our top 50 Philadelphia Phillies of all-time.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National League. 

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

There are no new additions, but as always, we announce our top five immediately, but out full list can be found here.

1. Mike Schmidt

2. Robin Roberts

3. Steve Carlton

4. Pete Alexander

5. Ed Delahanty

While there were no new entries, there is one significant move on this list.

Pitcher, Aaron Nola, shot up to #39 from #45.

We welcome your input and commentsand as always, we thank you for your support.

There always seems to be a significant retirement in baseball’s Spring Training.  For 2021, it is Nick Markakis of the Atlanta Braves.

Playing at Rightfield, Markakis debuted with the Baltimore Orioles in 2006 where he was sixth in Rookie of the Year voting.  Markakis showed decent power, having back-to-back 20 HR/.300 years (2007 & 2008), and he was twice a Gold Glove recipient.

After the 2014 Season, Markakis signed with the Atlanta Braves, and in 2018, he was chosen for his first Silver Slugger and All-Star Game, while earning a third Gold Glove.

Markakis retires with 2,388 Hits, 189 Home Runs, 1,046 RBIs with a Slash Line of .288/.357/.433.

Markakis will be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2026.  While he is not likely to get inducted, he will appear on the ballot, and might receive a few votes.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Nick Markakis the best in his post-playing career.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present the pre-2021 update of our top 50 Kansas City Royals of all-time.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League. 

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

There are no new additions, but as always, we announce our top five immediately, but out full list can be found here.

1. George Brett

2. Bret Saberhagen

3. Kevin Appier

4. Willie Wilson

5. Amos Otis

While there were no new entries, there were two movements among active Royals.

Multi-time All-Star Catcher, Salvador Perez, rose from #15 to #13.  Second Baseman, Whit Merrifield, climbed from #32 to #27.

We welcome your input and commentsand as always, we thank you for your support.