BOSTON -- The estranged wife of Marvin Hagler has demanded the former middleweight champion seek treatment for cocaine and alcohol abuse before he is allowed to return home, a Boston television station reported Thursday.
WNEV-TV Channel 7 reported Bertha Hagler, who won a restraining order barring Hagler from visiting their five children or suburban Boston home, also demanded he seek drug and alcohol treatment.
Hagler's alleged 'widespread abuse' of drugs and alcohol escalated after he lost his title April 6 to Sugar Ray Leonard, the report said. Hagler has been living in seclusion at his Barlett, N.H., home since the bout.
The station reported the information about Hagler's alleged substance abuse came from close friends and family members, none of whom were identified.
Hagler could not be reached for comment, but his co-manager, Pat Petronelli, denied any knowledge of the fighter's alleged drug problem.
'I'm shocked to hear it,' Petronelli told The Boston Herald. 'I don't know what's true or what isn't true. I have no way of knowing.'
Mrs. Hagler declined comment on the report.
On Wednesday, Hingham District Court Judge Alvin Tamkin extended a temporary restraining order barring Hagler from visiting his children or returning to the family's Hanover home until July 8.
At that time, attorneys for Hagler and his wife were expected to submit a written agreement to structure relations between them and their five children while the couple was apart. Successful completion of that agreement could lift the court order, originally imposed June 26.
Bertha Hagler's attorney, Wayne Budd, said he did not think divorce was likely. Hagler and his wife agreed to continue discussions aimed at ironing out the future of their marriage.
However, Bertha Hagler has consulted with famed New York City divorce attorney Marvin Mitchelson aboutthe situation, a spokesman for the lawyer said.
Bertha Hagler claimed in a court petition last Friday her husband threw her from their suburban Hanover home and tossed a boulder at a family car parked in the driveway. She said she feared physical harm from her husband.
Hagler's boxing handlers say he has been bitter since losing the middleweight championship he had held for nearly seven years. Leonard took the title in a 12-round split decision in the richest boxing match ever. Hagler's career record is 62-3-2, his previous loss coming back in 1976.
Hagler has yet to announce if he plans to continue fighting.
