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Gregory Lee Haugen was born on
August 31 1960 in the city of
Auburn in Washington State. Of
Norwegian ancestry, he learned
how to box when his father, a
former marine, took him to a
local gym at age five, hoping it
would help his son defend
himself against bullies in
school.
His parents divorced when he was
ten, and the former marine moved
to San Diego and vanished from
Greg’s life. Haugen didn’t see
his dad for another ten years,
but he saw plenty of action in
the boxing ring as he proved to
be a talented and tough fighter.
However, at fifteen he felt
burned out and decided to quit
boxing, along with high school,
and took a job pouring concrete
to help his mother Sandy out
financially. Greg having five
siblings there was plenty to
spend money on in the Haugen
household, and even with three
jobs Sandy struggled to make
ends meet.
In 1980, now twenty years old
and with a strong body developed
from five years of hard work,
Haugen again found the desire to
box. He quickly became a force,
and won a bronze medal at the
Olympic trials that same year in
Spokane. But his boxing career
stalled again when he moved to
Alaska with girlfriend Karen to
take a job in the sheet metal
business.
But fighting was in young
Haugen’s blood, and in Anchorage
he found a way to do just that,
without having to do it at the
level he was used to in amateur
boxing, when he started
competing in Tough Man contests
staged at local bars and other
obscure venues.
This was probably too easy for
him after around 350 real boxing
matches, of which he only lost
around 25, because after
twenty-four straight victories
over out-of-shape truck drivers
and unskilled construction
workers, he decided to turn to
professional boxing in 1982.
Haugen made his professional
debut on November 4 1982 at the
Tudor Club in Anchorage, Alaska.
He was matched unusually tough
against experienced Filipino
Noel Arriesgado, who according
to BoxRec.com brought a 13-3-1
record, most of those bouts over
ten rounds, but probably had
more fights that went unrecorded
in his native country.
Greg beat Arriesgado on points,
and then stopped him in seven
rounds of a rematch exactly one
month later in the same venue.
After only two paid bouts,
Haugen was already a ten round
fighter, and when he and Karen
moved back to Washington State
in early 1983 he continued on
the fast track he started in
Alaska by winning a unanimous
decision over journeyman Joe
Perez over that very distance.
By the summer of 1985 Haugen had
compiled a record of 10-0 (5),
with one no-contest, and was
ready for a big test against
fellow prospect Jeff Bumpus
(18-1), whom he defeated by
decision at the Resorts
International in Atlantic City.
Little over a month later, full
of confidence from the Bumpus
victory, he decisively announced
his arrival on the scene when he
took a fight on three days’
notice against contender Freddy
Roach (39-8) in Las Vegas. He
put on a magnificent performance
to stop Roach in seven rounds of
a real barnburner Live on ESPN
television.
Impressive stoppage victories
over Chris Calvin (17-3-2) and
former world title-challenger
Charlie Brown (26-2) followed,
and the boxing world definitely
took notice of Greg Haugen.
Journeymen Juan Carlos Alvarado
and Ken Willis were beaten
easily, before Haugen captured
his first belt, the NABF, in May
1986 with a unanimous decision
over Puerto Rican Edwin Curet
(20-4-2).
Another victory, over Ernie
Landeros (13-2-2) in August 1986
put Haugen in line for his first
crack at a world championship
against 26-1 IBF Lightweight
title-holder Jimmy Paul from
Detroit.
Fighting at the legendary
Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and
on Showtime TV, the undefeated
challenger didn’t let the
opportunity go to waste, as he
fought his heart out to win a
close majority decision after
fifteen rounds (143-142, 144-141
and 143-143).
Now a world champion, one would
think that Haugen would be
cautious in who he agreed to
make his first defense against,
but like the true warrior he was
he agreed to go to Providence,
Rhode Island to face local fan
favorite Vinny Pazienza (22-1).
Haugen lost a close decision to
“The Pazmanian Devil”, a result
he disputes to this day, but
when they rematched in early
1888 in Atlantic City, the score
was evened as Greg won a clear
unanimous verdict. Only two
months later he defended the
title (W TD11) in a homecoming
fight against Miguel Santana
(21-3-1) at the Tacoma Dome,
only a few miles from his home
town of Auburn.
Six months later he travelled to
Denmark, close to his family
origins in Norway, and made the
second successful defense of his
second reign as world champion
when he dominated and stopped
another local fan favorite in
undefeated European Champion
Gert Bo Jacobsen (26-0).
Jacobsen, who was undoubtedly
world class, would later become
a world champion at
Welterweight, making Haugen’s
destructive victory even more
impressive. But in his third
defense, in February 1989, he
came unstuck against legendary
Southpaw Pernell Whitaker,
losing every round and suffering
his careers first knockdown.
“I was pretty disappointed at
that time with my management”,
Haugen told BoxingInsider.com in
a 2009 interview. “They didn’t
know boxing and I didn’t know
much about the fight business.
They were throwing me to the
wolves every fight. I was mad,
pissed off because I was the
champ and I am fighting on the
road again. It was kind of my
protest fight, a boycott against
management. I just didn’t throw
many punches and lost.”
Losing to Whitaker was no shame,
and Haugen rebounded well with
two victories to set up a
non-title rubber match with
Pazienza in August 1990. Now
boxing at Light Welterweight, it
was again a close fight but like
in their first encounter
Pazienza was awarded the
decision.
At this point, there was no
shortage of boxing insiders
writing Haugen off. He had a
good run, and after two low-key
rebuilding victories he was
merely a name to pad the already
impressive record of 38-0 WBO
Light Welterweight World
Champion Hector “Macho” Camacho
in February 1991.
But the former Lightweight champ
had not read the same script,
and despite being staggered in
the first round and dropped by a
right hook in round three, he
battled on to win a split
decision and his third world
title.
Unfortunately he tested positive
for Marihuana after the fight,
an indication that he didn’t
always live the life a champion
is best served living, but since
it was not a performance
enhancing drug Haugen was not
stripped of his championship. He
was instead fined 25.000 Dollars
by the Nevada State Athletic
Commission, who also ordered him
to undergo drug counseling.
Three months later Haugen fought
Camacho again, and again it was
decided by a split decision.
Many felt that Haugen had done
enough to retain his crown, but
two of the three judges felt
Camacho deserved to win and so
Haugen was again an Ex Champ.
“I got jobbed a few times in my
career,” Haugen told Rick
Folstad a few years ago. “They
robbed me in Providence(against
Pazienza) and they robbed me
against Camacho (in the
rematch). I was the first guy to
beat him but then in the second
fight they gave it to him.
But he knew he lost.”
In
October
1991 he
laboured
to stop no-hoper Alfonso Perez
in eight rounds at the Country
Club in Reseda, California, a
performance that didn’t bode
well for his future at world
level. At this point, promoters
and TV executives were not
exactly tripping over each other
to acquire the services of Mr.
Haugen.
But then came a great
opportunity when promoter Al
Goosen decided to match Haugen
with another former world
Lightweight champion and
crowd-pleaser in Ray “Boom Boom”
Mancini. The fight was dubbed
“Tough Guys Don’t Dance”.
The pair fought in April 1992 at
the Reno-Sparks Convention
Centre in Reno, Nevada, and,
while both of them certainly
didn’t dance, Haugen had too
much for the faded Mancini and
proved he still belonged inside
the squared circle by recording
a technical knockout in round
seven after flooring Mancini
once.
Haugen won a few stay-busy bouts
to round out 1992, but in
February 1993 he was again
center stage when he travelled
to Mexico City to challenge WBC
World Champion Julio Cesar
Chavez in front of a
record-breaking crowd of 132.247
spectators at the massive
Estadio Azteca.
Before the fight, Haugen was
quoted: “All he’s fought are
Tijuana Taxi Drivers”, when
describing the opponents on the
hugely impressive 84-0 (72)
record of Chavez. No matter the
quality of his adversaries,
Chavez was too strong and good
on the night for the American,
and won by fifth round TKO.
When confronted with the Taxi
drivers-comment after the
defeat, a battered Haugen proved
he didn’t take himself too
serious in defeat when he
remarked: “They must have been
very tough Taxi drivers.”
Haugen felt he still had
something to offer after the
conclusive loss to Chavez, but
from 1994-1997 he only managed
to win five of eight bouts,
going 5-2-1. His losses were to
good opponents, but his
victories were over boxers below
world class.
In September 1997 he defeated
former contender Mark Fernandez
(32-15-1), which set up a shot
at the vacant WBF World
Welterweight title against Paul
Nave in San Rafael, California
in March 1998. Haugen lost the
decision in Nave´s home town,
but acquitted himself well
enough to get a rematch eight
months later.
In the second go-around, the now
38-year-old Haugen was a
testament to the theory that
great fighters always have one
great night left in them, as he
won the fight by split decision,
again in San Rafael, and made
himself relevant again by
lifting his fourth world
championship in three weight
classes.
A third meeting was arranged for
December 1999, and was ruled a
draw. But Haugen failed another
drug test, and the bout was
ruled a No-Decision. This was
the last fight of the remarkable
career of Greg Haugen, and
unfortunately not the best way
to go out. But it wasn’t hard
for him to walk away, and in
retirement he doesn’t appear to
be one to dwell much on the
past:
"It wasn't hard at all," he once
told Seatle PI of retiring. "I
miss the competition, but I
don't miss getting hit. I tried
the best I could. I fought the
best there was, and most in
their hometowns. I didn't back
down from anybody."
Former World Boxing Federation (WBF)
World Welterweight Champion Greg
Haugen retired from active
professional boxing with a
40-10-1 (19) record, but he has
not turned his back on the
sport. For a while he was
employed by the
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe,
working with their boxing
program, and he has trained
several promising professional
boxers.
Haugen has four children, two
daughters and two sons, and
several grandchildren, one of
which is autistic. In 2007 he
set up the Greg Haugen
Foundation, which works to raise
money to help families affected
by autism, doing boxing events
and black-tie dinners with other
former boxing greats.
He was inducted into the World
Boxing Hall of Fame in 2008, and
is almost certain to be inducted
in the more famous International
Boxing Hall of Fame in the not
too distant future.
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