It seems like an eternity ago that John "The Beast" Mugabi pummeled champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler for much of their fight before losing _ as much to fatigue as to Hagler's blows _ in the 11th round. Even in defeat, Mugabi was so impressive that lucrative fights seemed assured. But that was March 1986 and now, four years later, Mugabi is still waiting for big paydays. Mugabi, who will make his first defense of the World Boxing Council super welterweight title against Terry Norris today at the Sun Dome, has been courting Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Michael Nunn. None have signed deals. Mugabi will make $150,000 in today's scheduled 12-round fight, and Norris will receive $30,000. "I've offered Nunn $2-million. I've offered Hearns $5-million and I've offered $8-million to Leonard," said Mickey Duff, Mugabi's manager. "It really didn't matter how much money I offered, however, because these people are deathly scared to fight Mugabi under any circumstances." Mugabi's punching prowess speaks for itself. He's 37-2 and has won all 37 fights by knockout, joining World Boxing Organization light heavyweight champ Michael Moorer (19-0) as the only titlists ever to win every fight that way. Still, boxing analysts agree that Mugabi's stock fell dramatically after he lost to Duane Thomas in May 1986 and then was inactive for nearly two years. "I'm not trying to be critical of John Mugabi, he fought a fabulous fight against Hagler, and he did come back to win a title, but he's not so marketable right now that those guys are going to jump to fight him," said Al Bernstein, ESPN's boxing guru. "He's not in a position to pound his fist on a table and say he deserves to fight those guys. Who's he beaten? Who's seen him in the last four years (the Thomas fight was his last nationally televised fight). He needs to defend his title a few times first." ABC is televising this fight live at 4:30 p.m. as part of its Wide World of Sports program. The show, however, will be blacked out in the Tampa Bay market. "At one time, he was the world's most charismatic fighter, but he's been kind of out of the spotlight since the Thomas fight," said ABC fight analyst Alex Wallau. "This is the fight that could put him back in the spotlight if he's impressive." "I'm ready," said Mugabi, 30, who lives in Tampa and trains at the Safety Harbor Spa. "I've trained hard. I want to fight Leonard, Hearns, Hagler, Nunn or anyone else." Notes: Fewer than 1,800 tickets (4,000 capacity) have been sold as of Friday for the five-fight card that begins at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the Sun Dome and all TicketMaster outlets for $25, $50, $75 and $100.