Insightful and sad comments by Thomas Hearns on his money problems.

That's so sad.

 

And all too familiar.

 

He doesn't mention terrible financial planning. I can't feel sorry for the guy who made 40million and blew it

 

I would tend to blame his accountants or his manager more than anyone, assuming they were provided with the necessary information to filing tax returns annually.

As someone who is an accountant and financial planner, it seems to me that whether or not these funds were taxed personally or via a corporation he should have been filing annually and paying taxes annually. At the very least I would think it would be his business managers responsibility to provide this information to his accountant. His financial planner if he had one, would be responsible for ensuring his invested any excess funds he may have had appropriately. They probably should have bought him an annuity that way he couldn't have touched the funds and would have bought himself a pension. For anyone who can't control their money and makes a lot of it in a brief time period, an annuity is probably the best option.

 

I was thinking about things like this the other day and whether we should feel sorry for boxers that wind up broke or berate them for failing to provide for their futures with the millions some of them earned during their careers

For the record I fall on the side of feeling bad for them

 

wow that is very sad how much did he owe the tax man

 

How on earth has he ended up in money problems..? seriously..? I feel sorry to a certain extent! "Because i'm a good guy"......but seriously..? thats stupid!!

 

Its sad when they get railroaded an get robbed by promoters, but I dont feel sad when a fighter that earned tens upon tens of millions goes broke. He had things that most people will never have, there is blue collar familys struggling to live comfortable. Dont feel bad for somebody that blows that much away. He can still sell his memorabilia an make appearances an make a better living than most people. Tommy will be fine.

 

Hangers' on-The absolute death of fighters who ended up a lot better than they were supposed to be.

Tommy had more leeches than most. And it looks like they drained him dry. And he let them.

Textbook story of how a rich megastar athlete loses it all.

 

Nobody's asking you to. Least of all Hearns.

 

I feel bad in a case like Hearns. It is his fault yes, and I'm the last person to feel sorry for someone who blows their money like that, however I do feel a bit sorry for Tommy. It wasn't like he was spending the money on copius amounts of drugs and buying as much as possible to show off, he thought he was doing good, but in reality he was just feeding leaches.

 

Unfortunately, the biggest leeches are normally family members, and those are the hardest to say no to. I have the same problem with my wifes family.

 

Tommy is a great fighter but obviously not great with his money. Is he actually saying it is his familys fault because he gave them all they wanted and they didn't help him back? He had the control to say no when they ask for more money. Roberto Duran had the IRS problems also. What is with these old boxers? Generosity is one thing but to blow all that money and the opportunity they had to get money most people do not dream of having. Especially guys of the elite level of Hearns and Duran who earned millions. They were the top guys fighting 30 years ago and they blew all their money. I feel sorry for them and then I feel like maybe they should have known better.

 

When you have the money Hearns and Duran had, you have a lot of vultures flying around. Unless you are just a mizer and holding your money in one bank, you are investing in one thing or another. You have financial advisors and such. Most of these guys don't have great educations, and they can be trusting of others with the aspects of life they don't want to deal with, like finances.
He may have been foolish to trust somebody else with his life, and maybe you shouldn't feel sorry for him, but damn, kick rocks with that "he should have known better ****." The guy was a man who care about others. It's not easy to adjust to life out of boxing. People try and fail, and they lose their money. I have succeeded and failed in some of my life ventures, and I take it as a lesson. Yes, I feel bad for the guy because I know the pull of people close to you and the manipulations people will do to get what they want from you. He's human being who provided most of us with electrifying memories. I shudder to think of a guy I admire going through hard times at a point in life where he should be smooth sailing. That's just my opinion.