By Scoop Malinowski

Pre-fight psychological warfare might have played a major part in determining the outcome of Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Marvelous Marvin Hagler in 1987. You be the judge…

“Marvin called off the remainder of the press tour (after completing nine of 12 stops) all by himself,” said promoter Bob Arum. “We didn’t try to reschedule the other cities because Hagler made it clear he had had it with traveling and wasn’t going to do it.”

What annoyed Hagler? What frustrated Hagler to the point of canceling the tour? Was Leonard making him uncomfortable with his subtle, backhanded put-downs? Was he no match for the witty and deviously deceptive Leonard, similar to how Ali was able to verbally play with Frazier?

Here are some selected out-takes of the Leonard-Hagler press tour. You be the judge…

Leonard: “To be in the ring with the Marvelous One is a great honor because I’ve analyzed Marvin through the years, watched him totally demolish opponents. He’s been invincible. But Marvin is an excellent speaker too. Hagler can smile - if he wants to smile, he can. But he won’t smile for you here today.”

Leonard: “When people ask me why I took this fight, I tell them I took it because Hagler is the best. But it’s only for one fight. I don’t care about the belt. I’ll give it back to him after I beat Marvin.”

Hagler: “It will be a fight of skill, everything boxing stands for. One that will bring all people together, all races and creeds.”

Leonard: “This guy (pointing to Hagler) is my buddy. Look at him. Can those chubby cheeks hurt me?”

Hagler: “I like Ray’s exhibition. He sounds like he’s on HBO. At least he has a job. And he’ll be there permanently after this fight.”

Leonard: “Hagler’s had some tough fights back to back, so he laid back for a year, talking about being an actor and doing some TV commercials. But in one year you deviate from your beginning as an athlete and it’s hard to come back.”

Hagler: “I won’t change my training schedule for this fight, preferring to stay with what has worked for me very successfully. Of course I’ll change some sparring partners to imitate Leonard’s style as much as possible. I get nervous about a fight in Vegas, the strange judgings. I know I can’t take any chances.”

Hagler: “This is nothing personal against Leonard. I want him to keep hoping - that’s why I let him talk. The layoff (Hagler was inactive for a year also) will be a factor but not much. Ray’s trying to kill me with that friendship stuff. I’d enjoy hurting him. I’d like to stop his showboating. You must be calculating every second on the ring. If Ray thinks it’s going to be fun, he’ll wish he’d never thought about this fight.”

Leonard: “As far as the media tour is concerned, it’s part of the business. I like to be on time for conferences. Sometimes Marvin is late. When he was late in Boston I took him aside and said, Let’s be practical, get in and get out, get it over with and go on our way. Hagler apologized and he hasn’t been late since.”

Hagler: “Leonard has his weaknesses. I won’t go into all of them here. But when the crowd is not on his side he gets a little nervous.”

Leonard: “Hagler’s getting all the money. So I said, give me something. I wanted 12 rounds (instead of 15) for psychological reasons. The Roberto Duran fight (vs. Hagler) was an example. It didn’t look that close, but the way the judges saw it Hagler had to win the 14th and 15th rounds to keep his title.”

Hagler: “I’m not worried about the rounds because this fight definitely isn’t going the distance.”

Leonard: “Hagler will be a physical fight but it will also be psychological. The key is to not let him get off early like John Mugabi did. You have to take the advantage, winning round by round. Age won’t be a factor but when I see the Petronellis shaking their hands I know I’ll have Marvin frustrated. And I’ll do that by making him miss. Hagler can box and he might want to dance with me.”

Hagler: “I didn’t get to Las Vegas in time to see (Duane Thomas KO 3 Mugabi to win the WBC Super Welterweight title). I was a little shocked because I thought Mugabi could be a champion against somebody else. It’s clear I took more out of him than they’ll give me credit for.”

Leonard: “As an American out of the Olympics I was the hero, Duran pretty much the villain. But I was subjected to an asshole and it was a lesson that made me a better fighter. He insulted me, my wife, he gave me the finger. When I got into the ring I wanted to beat him at his own game, meaning to out-macho him. It ruined my gameplan in a close fight. Down in New Orleans it was a different fight. I had his mind. But someday, I’d like to know why he quit in the 8th round. Maybe Duran doesn’t know himself.”

Scoop’s book “Heavyweight Armageddon: The Tyson-Lewis Championship Battle” is available at amazon.com, e-reader, Barnes & Noble, Borders and www.zumayapublications.com (free shipping in U.S. and 30% off).