Thomas Hearns won multiple world titles at different weights, and during his thrilling, indeed spellbinding ring career, Tommy appeared in differing forms or styles. In his early days as an almost freakishly tall 147-pounder, Hearns was in full “Hitman” mode, his lethal fists destroying most of the 32 welterweights he met. In these earlier days, Hearns, in his late teens/early 20s, wiped out good men such as Bruce Finch, Bruce Curry, Saensak Muangsurin, Angel Espada, and, of course, in winning his first world title, Pipino Cuevas.
Then, after losing the epic with Sugar Ray Leonard, this was a magnificent duel that saw Hearns showcase to the world his beautiful boxing skills and power. Tommy goes into “Motor City Cobra” mode. Brilliant displays of The Sweet Science saw Hearns pick up wins over Wilfred Benitez, Murray Sutherland, and Luigi Minchillo.
Bothered during this time by hand trouble, Hearns had surgery, and he returned as the gun-toting (remember the famous Ring Magazine cover, with Hearns dressed in murderess gangster garb) “Hitman,” this in the summer of 1984, and he annihilated fellow great/legend Roberto Duran in two chilling rounds for arguably his finest KO. Hearns then roared against yet another all-time great, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, in duel Hitman/slugger proportions. What followed was the greatest opening round in boxing history and one of the greatest fights ever.
Hearns would return to score another chilling KO worthy of his intimidating nickname, this an icing of James Shuler, while Tommy would score further stoppage wins over top-notch warriors like Dennis Andries and Juan Domingo Roldan before disaster struck in a fight with “The Blade,” Iran Barkley. The critics insisted Hearns was done as both a Hitman and a Cobra. Tommy knew better, and after displaying another immense quality of his, his heart, in edging James Kinchen in a grueling battle, Hearns finally got his hands on Leonard in the rematch he had been aching for eight years.
In this fight, the boxing world perhaps saw Hearns showcase and merge his two boxing styles better than he ever did. Leonard again struggled with Hearns’ boxing, and he suffered at the hands of his power. The drawn verdict fooled nobody, least of all Sugar Ray himself, who said after the war (and continues to say today) that he and Tommy were now “one and one.”
After a vintage “Cobra” show against the favoured Virgil Hill in 1991, this points win seeing Hearns pick up his sixth world title, spread over five weight divisions, Hearns should have called it a career. His lethal blend of power, skill and ring IQ now faded, Hearns got by largely on heart and an unquestionable, everlasting love and devotion to his sport, this as he warred until he was, quite amazingly, 47 years of age.
Today, Thomas Hearns turns 66. A living legend, yet as modest as they come, Hearns has the true love of the fans, the fans who saw him do his thing. His two things. We tend to think of Hearns as the fearsome puncher, and with good reason. But Hearns was a pure boxer when he wanted to be, and he showed it by outboxing men such as Leonard, Benitez, Hill, and others.
Today, if he was fighting, if he was boxing or punching in his prime, Hearns would clean up in most of the weights he fought at the back in the 1980s and 1990s. We have good welterweights around today, as we have good light-middleweights, super-middleweights, and light-heavyweights. And it’s fascinating to think how the prime Hearns would have done against the likes of Terence Crawford, Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (the best in today’s, shall we say, less than talent-rich 160-pound division), Canelo Alvarez, and Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
As great as he was, in either incarnation, a Hearns fan could be excused for saying Tommy would have dealt with them all.
Happy birthday, Champ!
Thomas Hearns, one of the special, never to be forgotten, “Four Kings.”
