Thomas Hearns

He was undefeated at light middle in his own era as it was

 

There was still SRR and Kid Gavilan,I don't think he goes undefeated but he'll have a very good record.
Btw your spelling...I don't want to be a grammar nazi but it's painful to look at.

 

Hearns was no doubt a great fighter and could compete in any era because of his bone crushing right hand and incredible boxing ability. He also had tons of heart which was also worked against him at times. I loved Tommy Hearns.

 

What made Tommy great, his warrior spirit, is also why he could lose to the absolutely very best ala Leonard and Hagler. I'm not sure that a better jab and hook off the jab exists at any weight - Tommy's was killer!

What is often undersold due to how heavy a hitter he was, his handspeed was incredible. I'm almost certain that he could throw a shot as quick if not quicker than Leonard could and his arms had longer to travel to target to boot.

It's weird how in many ways, Hearns AND Leonard are likely the closest to SRR that we have but yet so dissimilar from each other.

 

Hearns was such a brilliant fighter. Terrific boxer, amazing one punch hitter but unfortunately he is remembered more for his losses than his victories.

His vicious kos of Pipino Cuevas and Duran were diminished (in some eyes) because Cuevas fell to pieces afterwards and Duran was a lightweight even though he gave Hagler a close fight and later on would floor and outpoint Barkley who beat Hearns twice.

Personally I considered him the greatest light-middleweight ever, I think he would have beaten McCallum or Leonard at that weight.

Wouldn´t be easy but he seemed to have the perfect combination of speed and power.

Norris would have been outboxed and bombed out, Julian Jackson always had the punchers chance but I think he would have been busted and crushed within 8.

Unfortunately after Duran (1984) win there wasn´t that much money at 154 pounds, McCallum didn´t really become a star until 1987 with his 2 great wins over Milton McCrory and Don Curry.

Julian Jackson was an unknown puncher hidden away on Don King cards who had already failed against McCallum in a fight wasn´t only shown on local (Miami) Spanish station.

Shame as a few more wins at the weight would have cemented his 154 pound greatness but the Hagler fight was so damn big. Bigger shame he didn´t he the rematch after destroying James Shuler in 1.

Hagler had slowed a lot since their match but I have a feeling Marvin would always have his number but would have been terrific to have seen.

 

Great posts befitting a great great fighter and a top gentleman

 

Nice call on that hook off the jab — upstairs or down, it was a thing of devastating beauty.

People love Hearns for his power but we all know nobody ever outboxed him (including Ray Leonard and Wilfred Benitez), and even with that I think he’s still underappreciated for his artistry and clinical precision.

 

You nailed that. I saw Julian KO someone in one round on an afternoon undercard in Atlantic City (underneath Azumah Nelson-Lupe Suarez) on a King show.

Similarly saw Simon Brown in an easy win (10-round basically shutout) at about 5 p.m. on a Don King card that went til about midnight — 11 fights including Michael Nunn, Orlin Norris, Oliver McCall, Francesco Damiani, Tim Austin, Leavander Johnson and a few more all fought.

The good and bad of King during that era was he had so many guys under contract and had guarantees of a certain number of fights every year, so he’d have to stack cards with fights from afternoon to night to fulfill all of that. It was great for a fight fan like me — I’d be there from first bell to last — but probably didn’t showcase a lot of guys who could have been showcased … on the other hand, it kept them in the ring and busy and allowed some of them to develop before the spotlight shown on them.

I’ll have to say, I do kind of miss those days. I knew if I went to a King card, there would be a chance to see a bunch of guys I’d heard about but not seen, or had barely seen.