While Greg Haugen had three stints as a world champion and defeated three boxers who made it to the Hall of Fame during a legendary 17-year-career that went from 1982 to 1999, he's probably best known for a wisecrack he made regarding the level of opposition that the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez faced during his career.
Chavez was 84-0 on Feb. 20, 1993, when he fought Haugen at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. During the fight’s build-up, Haugen was asked whether he was intimidated by Chavez’s undefeated record.
Haugen, who oozed confidence, sneered.
“He’s fought a bunch of Tijuana cab drivers,” Haugen said.
A record crowd of 132,247 showed up to watch Chavez stop Haugen in the fifth round. After the fight, Haugen was asked about the crack he'd made.
“Those cab drivers were tough,” Haugen said.
After a battle with renal cancer, Haugen passed away on Saturday at a care facility outside Seattle, surrounded by family. He was 64.
"He'd been ill for a while, but it really began to come to fruition in the last several months," his daughter, Cassandra Haugen, said. "Over the last few months, he started to get more ill. He definitely was a fighter. He's one of the toughest men I know and he fought hard. His spirits were good and he had his wits about him. He was my Dad right up until the end. He fought so hard but unfortunately [on Saturday], the Champ fought his final round."
Haugen twice held the IBF lightweight title and once was WBO super lightweight champion. He was 39-10-1 with 19 KOs and held victories over Hall of Famers Vinny Paz, Hector "Macho" Camacho and Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini.
Courtesy of Daren Libonati
Greg Haugen (L) goes nose-to-nose with Vinny Paz before their fight.
Haugen handed Camacho his first defeat on Feb. 23, 1991, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Before the 12th round, Haugen refused referee Carlos Padilla's request for them to touch gloves, and so Camacho punched him. Padilla deducted a point from Camacho and instead of it being a draw, the point deduction switched it to a split decision victory for Haugen.
After a three-year retirement, Mancini returned on April 3, 1992, to take on Haugen in Reno, Nev., in what would be Mancini’s final fight. Haugen won by seventh-round TKO after winning five of the first six rounds on all three cards.
“When guys come back to fight, you remember who you were and not who you are,” Mancini said. “Right before I was supposed to go out [to fight Haugen], I told my trainer, ‘I really don’t want to be here.’ And he said, ‘Now’s a great time to tell me, isn’t it?’ But Haugen was a good fighter, for sure. He was a good, smart boxer. He had very good ring IQ. He wasn’t the hardest puncher, but he was a tough guy and he knew what he was doing in there.”
Daren Libonati is a long-time friend of Haugen. Libonati was hired in 1993 as the MGM Grand's director of booking, with the expectation he'd help the MGM take over from Caesars Palace as Las Vegas' top boxing destination when it opened in 1994.
Libonati said he was in a meeting with Dennis Finfrock, the former UNLV athletic director who at that point was running the MGM Grand Garden, promoter Don King, casino executive Tony Alamo Sr. and others discussing what fight to make for the first boxing show in the Grand Garden, which was set for Jan. 29, 1994.
Most in the room were pushing for a rematch between Chavez and Meldrick Taylor. They'd fought in a memorable March 17, 1990, bout which Taylor had won on the cards but was stopped in the final seconds. Libonati, who had been talking to Haugen, pushed for a relatively unknown Frankie Randall.
"Nobody understood Chavez more than Greg," Libonati said. "Nobody. He had studied him so much and he felt Randall had the style to beat him. And he was telling me, 'Believe me, Daren, he's crafty and he knows how to box.' And I was pushing for Randall and Tony Alamo chastised me. He said, 'You don't know what the f*ck you're talking about.' I kept saying, 'No, no, this can be a great fight."
Randall won that fight by split decision. The rematch was held on May 7, 1994, and started the tradition of fights on Cinco de Mayo in Las Vegas. Chavez won that by technical decision.
In addition to his wins over Paz, Camacho and Mancini, Haugen also fought and lost to Hall of Famers Pernell Whitaker, Chavez, Camacho and Paz. He stopped Freddie Roach, now one of boxing's best trainers, at the Showboat in Las Vegas on Aug. 22, 1985, in seven rounds at a time when Roach was known as "Schoolboy" Freddie Roach.
Libonati said Haugen tried to train fighters, but he got a viral infection in his left arm and the muscles atrophied, so he was unable to do that.
"If he could have done that, he'd have been such a great trainer because he understood the sport at a level few have," Libonati said.
Haugen is survived by four children: Daughters Jasmine Haugen and Cassandra Haugen and sons Brady Haugen and Lane Haugen. He is also survived by five grandchildren.
Cassandra Haugen said services are private. She said there is a possibility of a public memorial service in the future for his fans to remember him, but that has not been scheduled.
He fought in one of boxing's greatest eras and died like he boxed, giving everything he had. But throughout it all, he was all about family.
"He didn't really want us around the fights that much," Cassandra Haugen said. "He wanted us to see him as Dad, not some star, and he wanted us to to grow up with a normal life and away from the glitz and the glamour. When he was fighting, boxing was a gladiator sport, definitely not like it is now. He fought so many tough guys, so many great fighters. And people remember him for that toughness, but I remember what a wonderful and special man he was.
"He was a good man with a huge heart. He came from nothing and made himself into a champion, but he was always a kind-hearted man and just the best Dad."