Three Hall of Famers will be among the boxing cognoscenti attending the “Monte Carlo Million Dollar Super Four” event in Monaco on March 30.
Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Brian Mitchell and Stan Christodoulou will all be on hand, with Christodoulou and Hagler enjoying a re-union of sorts: the South African referee was the third man in the ring when Hagler fought Roberto Duran in a gruelling 15-rounder in Las Vegas 30 years ago.
Hagler reigned as undisputed middleweight champion for seven years. Despite having retired in 1987, his reputation remains undiminished. He was inaugurated in the International Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York 20 years ago.
Hagler lives in Milan, Italy where he does occasional movie work. He is also a member of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.
Mitchell is South Africa’s greatest fighter, having won the WBA and IBF super-featherweight championships. In a storied career, the “Road Warrior” never lost a title fight and was a recipient of the State President’s award in his home country.
He was inducted in 2009.
Mitchell will be attending the Monte Carlo tournament as manager of exciting cruiserweight prospect Junior Makabu, who will fight on the undercard.
Forty years after officiating his first world title, Christodoulou continues to work big fights. Aged 69, he was the first man to referee world title fights in all 17 weight divisions and the third to oversee 100+ world title bouts.
Among the biggest fights he has worked include Aaron Pryor v Alexis Arguello, Lennox Lewis v Evander Holyfield and Barry McGuigan v Eusebio Pedroza.
He was inducted in 2004.
The event on March 30 is headlined by WBA and IBO middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin defending his title against Nobuhiro Ishida.
The opening round of the Super Four tournament matches Edwin Rodriguez against Argentinean Olympian Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna and former two-division world champion Zsolt Erdei squaring off against Denis Grachev.
The European junior-middleweight title bout featuring champion Sergei Rabchenko (Russia) and Adriano Nicchi (Italy) also features on this historic card.
