As soon as those in charge announced Marvelous Marvin Hagler’s seventh middleweight title defense would come against Roberto Durán, the focus immediately became about the contrast between the two fighters. It was the middleweight against the lightweight, the American against the non-American, the outsider against the media star. Of course, a fight promotion centered around how the fighters were in remarkably similar positions wouldn’t have been as effective.

Durán, indeed a lightweight great, would’ve had to use a time machine to see 135 pounds with binoculars by November of 1983, and Hagler had built his own fan base. Nationality did little to actually sell a fight where both fighters regularly appeared on television in the U.S. and both were aggressive punchers who spoke the universal language of violence. Both Hagler and Durán needed a standout showing.

Four years earlier in 1979, as Durán fought welterweights while seeking a shot at “Sugar” Ray Leonard, Hagler fought to a disappointing and controversial draw with then-champion Vito Antuofermo in Las Vegas. Old heavyweight champion Joe Louis, who was about 18 months from his death at only 66, managed to grab Hagler after the fight and say, “You won that fight. Don’t give up.”

Hagler was back in the gym the following day. “All this will do is make me meaner,” Hagler said. “It’s gonna make me tough.”

In those four years, Hagler went 11-0 record and only one opponent heard the final bell. He finally stopped having to make his living as a cement worker and publications called him middleweight's “uncrowned champion.” He dispatched most of the division before winning the title and cleaned out the rest, including Antuofermo, afterward. The problem was, while he’d clearly improved his situation, big fights eluded him.

Boxing’s waning popularity experienced a huge boost in the U.S. following the 1976 Olympics. A handful of future world champions emerged from the Games in Montreal, but the most popular among them by a country mile was Leonard. Durán hit an apex when he defeated Leonard in 1980, and then Leonard’s career exploded as he sent Durán to the depths in their infamous “No Más” rematch.

Durán only wore on everyone’s patience when he lost fights to Wilfred Benítez and Kirkland Laing in 1982. It wasn’t until he brutalized the young, talented Davey Moore for the WBA junior middleweight title in ‘83 that anyone considered him an elite player again.

There were just enough asterisks to the Moore fight, though. Durán’s experience eclipsed Moore’s, for instance, and the Panamanian bent a number of rules. Durán would need to show he could actually campaign at junior middleweight. So when Top Rank and Main Events quickly announced discussions for Hagler-Durán after the Moore fight, heads were scratched.

Hagler was a strong favorite, between 3-to-1 and 4-to-1 in most places, but the odds only told part of the story. Durán was set to make $1.5 million and Hagler a career-high $5 million. They were each doing their part to secure financial comfort for their families. They were both also competitive, the kinds of people who enjoyed winning and excelling just because. Both just happened to be at a point in their respective careers where something mediocre just wouldn’t do. There was extra pressure on Hagler to outclass the smaller fighter, however.

Durán would have to brawl with Hagler and work inside, experts said. But the early rounds between them were tactical as they threw different kinds of jabs: Hagler a long, spearing stick, and Durán a quick and blinding jab meant to deter rather than damage. Hagler occasionally connected with a southpaw left, Durán with snapping right hands. Durán went to the body a few times, though Hagler’s defense helped him pick off most of the incoming.

The action mimicked their place in the boxing sphere, with Hagler workmanlike and steady, but Durán more explosive and bringing the crowd to a frenzy each time he lashed out. One of the more underrated pieces of Durán’s game was his ability to interrupt the rhythm of opponents and force them to work when they didn’t necessarily want to, which Hagler found out early on.

Hagler’s left cheek began showing signs of being smacked by Durán’s right in round 4, though Hagler took control until being caught with a series of right hands after he switched from southpaw to orthodox in the fifth.

In round 6, fans got their wish as a more grinding fight unfolded. Hagler went back to being a right-hander and punished Durán from a mid-range, and “Hands of Stone” absorbed Hagler’s whacks only to roar back to life before the bell. When Durán reached out with his jab in the seventh, Hagler held his glove out suggesting the smaller man was trying to use his thumb and Durán replied with a sawtooth grin. So Hagler punched Durán around the ring for the remainder of the round.

The pace slowed enough in rounds 8 and 9 that memories of Hagler’s heartbreak against Antuofermo flooded back. Durán fought without fear and punched with Hagler once it became clear the champion couldn’t maintain his pressure.

Hagler dashed Durán’s hopes of easily winning any rounds by going on the attack in round 10. Durán’s bravery was impressive and he landed his own punches, Hagler simply walked through them and his return fire was better and harder. The crowd then booed as Hagler moved in and out to avoid exchanges in the 11th.

Criticism from his own corner for the movement made Hagler open up the 12th with a cruel and sustained attack. Durán answered and the crowd fell in love again. Suddenly Durán found a moment to seize and he landed a whistling right uppercut before clowning the champion. Hagler lost steam temporarily and the swelling near his eye got markedly worse before he went to his corner.

Round 13 featured more mockery from Durán, who closed strong following good exchanges. In Hagler’s corner, Goody Petronelli warned the fighter that he was in danger of losing his title and told him to get busy. Hagler the soldier showed up and followed orders, applying pressure and ignoring Durán’s taunts while breaking the smaller man down in rounds 14 and 15. A cut near his eye and the sting of being unable to stop his man were small prices to pay for holding onto his title.

At the final bell, Hagler dismissively waved his glove toward Durán as if to say, “I’m done with this guy.”

Amazingly, Hagler needed the last two rounds to win. After round 13, Durán won enough rounds on the judges’ cards to be ahead on two of them, with the other even.

“Why didn’t you knock [Durán] out?” In a flash, the question posed to Hagler in the immediate aftermath became the narrative of the bout.

In his final issue as The Ring’s editor, Bert Sugar called Hagler “Marginal Marvin” in his report on the bout. He also referred to the bout and the event as “out-of-synch.” Sports Illustrated said he was “something less than marvelous.”

Naturally Durán dismissed the loss and called Hagler a coward who refused to actually fight him and couldn’t hurt him. He parlayed the attention into an immediate big fight with Thomas Hearns, who knocked him out and wrecked his momentum, forcing Durán to take more than a year off.

The punishment both men absorbed in the fight wasn’t to the level that one would expect much of an effect on either man’s career. So it might just be coincidental that both fighters experienced a downturn after this clash. After all, Hagler and Durán had both been fighting for a decade or more and couldn’t be monsters forever.

Thankfully time tends to be kind to the all-time greats of the sport, and especially those who consistently delivered action fights. Hagler-Durán wasn’t a war or a scrum, though it was a tense and high-level battle that defined both the era and the greatness of The Four Kings.