Despite living in the shadow of the Marvelous One, Sims had a very impressive career of his own that deserves a minute under the spotlight.
Robbie Sims fights Roberto Duran
In terms of boxing, Robbie Sims is probably most famous for being the half-brother of Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Robbie was the guy who often accompanied his famous brother to the ring along with Hagler’s lifelong trainers Pat and Goody Petronelli.
Despite living in the shadow of the Marvelous One, Sims had a very impressive career of his own that deserves a minute under the spotlight.
New Jersey-born, Brockton, Massachusetts-residing Sims turned pro in 1980 and would fight for 16 years, logging an impressive 38-10-2 (26 KOs) over 50 fights.
While he never won a world title, he did go the distance with Sumbu Kalambay in a WBA middleweight title shot in Italy in 1988.
He also came very close a second time, losing a razor-thin SD to rugged Doug DeWitt a year later for the WBO middleweight title.
The list of contenders and champions he faced throughout his career was impressive, to say the least.
After going 12-0 in his first 2 years as a pro, Sims would drop a 10-round UD to future champion and budding star Bobby Czyz.
Over the next 11 years, Sims would face a long list of top contenders and champions while maintaining a position in the top 10 of the world rankings.
In this run, he fought the likes of rugged opponents Clint Jackson, Tony Cheverini, Mike Tinley, Ronnie Essett, Dennis Milton, and Teddy Mann, among others. He would also defeat legendary champion Roberto Duran, along with facing world champs Doug DeWitt, Vinnie Pazienza, Nigel Benn, and Iran Barkley. He would fight to a draw with Scottish champion Murray Sutherland.
After losing his last fight in 1993 (Pazienza), he would return 3 years later to score a UD win over Jose Burgos before hanging up the gloves for good.
Years ago, in an interview, Brockton, Massachusetts, business owner Bill Hogan, who knew the famous fighting brothers well during their time, summed up Robbie.
“Hagler was the undisputed middleweight champion, but Sims was a great fighter in his own right”, he said. “Robbie was a top-notch boxer. Timing is everything. There was a lot of great middleweights when he was fighting, including his brother. There must have been 12 middleweights, and anyone of them could have been world champions, in my opinion. Rob’s a nice guy, too.”
Great career, Robbie!