Hit Man - Brian Hughes [103]
Whether Hearns is remembered as one of the greats or regarded as the best of his time is a matter of debate, but it’s beyond dispute that he was hugely watchable, incredibly courageous, and thunderously hard-hitting, and featured in some of the most memorable events in history.
Graham Houston, former editor of Boxing News and Boxing Monthly:
One thing that always struck me about Thomas Hearns was the sense of drama he brought to his fights. When Hearns entered the ring, our sense of expectation was heightened and we were rarely disappointed.
It seems unusual in this day and age, but Hearns’s early fights were not televised even though he was blowing away everyone put in the ring with him. He was much talked-about in the American boxing fraternity but only those able to attend his fights in person had actually seen him.
My first look at Hearns came in his fifteenth fight, when he stopped Clyde Gray, the Commonwealth champion and a three-time world title challenger, in the tenth round at the old Olympia Stadium in Detroit in January 1979. Hearns had never been past four rounds but he showed he could fight at a fast pace and punch just as hard in the later rounds as at the outset of a fight. He not only outpunched the capable veteran Gray but he outboxed him. I realised that night that I had seen a special kind of fighter, and the following years were to show just how special.
Ted Sares, respected boxing historian and author:
For me, Tommy Hearns represented pure malice and danger for his opponents. With a great jab, superb body punching (see the Barkley and Shuler fights for evidence) and one-punch knockout ability in his straight right (as Pipino Cuevas will testify), he was a killing machine.
His unusual body structure gave him that kind of persona. His legacy should include the fact that he brought electricity into the ring every time he stepped into it, because you knew he was capable of wreaking mayhem on his foes, as in the James Shuler demolition and the Roberto Duran icing. Yet, when he needed to box, he could do that as well, as he demonstrated against Virgil Hill and Sugar Ray Leonard. His three rounds of unmitigated fury with Marvelous Marvin Hagler will always remain a part of his legacy as one of the most exciting fighters I have ever seen.
Hank Kaplan, American boxing historian (died December 2007):
Tommy Hearns was always bound for greatness. When I first saw him knocking out his early opponents, I wondered how he would perform against a higher calibre of opponent. He more than answered my early doubts in the following years. A fighter can only beat the best in the era that he is fighting and apart from his fights against Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, he showed he was among the best.
The manner in which he won his first world championship against Pipino Cuevas is a memory I cherish. He had a few blips, but most great fighters go through those setbacks. It is how they recover and come back that sets them aside from the rest. Tommy Hearns proved his courage and belief. He was one of the great ones. His legacy is there in the record books for all to see.
Wayne Wilson, Canadian boxing historian:
Tommy Hearns is quite rightly regarded as one of the greatest punchers of his era. However, it was his stylish boxing that most impressed me. He scored only seven early wins in 163 amateur bouts and as a professional he outboxed Wilfred Benitez and Virgil Hill, two of the classiest stylists of that time. He would also have won a twelve-round decision over Sugar Ray Leonard in their first fight if it had been fought under today’s rules.