Thread: How good was Thomas Hearns

Be greatfull for peoples thoughts on how good the hit man was,my Dad likes him so I bought him a career set of his best fights for Christmas...

Should be pretty evident when you watch the tapes.

He was very good One of the great offensive fighters of all time.

Great great fighter. A master boxer with KO power in both hands. His chin and durability were under-rated, or should I say his vulnerability was over-rated.

He was one of the few pure one punch KO artists. Awe inspiring physical presence in the ring. Known for his right hand but his left hook was massive also. Great handspeed for his size. Pure offensive powerhouse!

His one weakness was his pure offensive mindset. Against most he did great and overwhelmed them but there were a couple who capitalized on it and turned it against him.

He also carried his punching power with him from Welterweight to Cruiserweight.

The old expression states something about with speed comes power, Thomas Hearns had incredible speed. Thomas Hearns had incredible power. The combination of both were chilling at times. Add his sometimes overlooked boxing ability and you had a complete package.

If you came into a Thomas Hearns fight anything less then 100% you were going out on your back. Even if you came in at 100% there was a higer percentage then not you would anyway.

Punchers today in the 147-160lb weight classes like Cotto, Miranda, Pavlik and even Cintron pale in comparison, while all are very good Hearns was frightning. His right hand should have been outlawed in most states.

Great fighter. All time great.

Good enuff to have beaten Floyd Mayweather Jr., probably even knock him out.
So better than any WW out there right now.

Looks like he is a lot better than I thought maybe I will try and watch a few of his fights before I give my dad the dvd set

I don't know how many of Hearns fights you have seen or if you have seen this before but the clip does not even do him justice. It does give an idea on how fierce his right hand was though, also how fast it was coming at a guy. If you didn't know better you would think the clip was sped up for effect. (Notice how he always doubled up on the body, guys today forget how important that is)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kZdLJAYzV9M

What he did to Roberto Duran had fans in awe at the time


http://youtube.com/watch?v=gNFi3ZcM_S4

Thomas Hearns was two different fighters during his career. Early on he was an over-sized welter with a pulverizing right hand and a long left jab. He got beat because his stamina was suspect, he could not withstand body punches and his chin wasn't the best.
Then he hurt his right hand and became, again, the boxer he had been during his amateur days. During this period he developed that wicked left hook to the body, much like Roger Mayweather did when he hurt his right hand. It made him a more complete fighter. But no fighter enough to fight with Hagler. Again, his weak chin and bad legs did him in. I should point out that he lost his legs against DeWitt and Olijiade (check my spelling there, please). He looked great against Hill because Hill wouldn't press him.
Hearns was pretty damn good. But an all time great...Not at 160. Not at 175. And, for sure, not at 147. There were so many good fighters that people forget, like Emile Griffith and Luis Rivera that would have eaten his lunch. Look them up and learn about them.

Punching Princess cheers for the vids will give you a cool click,also thanks for the info everyone else...

Hearns sure does look an exciting fighter to watch.

Originally Posted by greynotsoold

Thomas Hearns was two different fighters during his career. Early on he was an over-sized welter with a pulverizing right hand and a long left jab. He got beat because his stamina was suspect, he could not withstand body punches and his chin wasn't the best.
Then he hurt his right hand and became, again, the boxer he had been during his amateur days. During this period he developed that wicked left hook to the body, much like Roger Mayweather did when he hurt his right hand. It made him a more complete fighter. But no fighter enough to fight with Hagler. Again, his weak chin and bad legs did him in. I should point out that he lost his legs against DeWitt and Olijiade (check my spelling there, please). He looked great against Hill because Hill wouldn't press him.
Hearns was pretty damn good. But an all time great...Not at 160. Not at 175. And, for sure, not at 147. There were so many good fighters that people forget, like Emile Griffith and Luis Rivera that would have eaten his lunch. Look them up and learn about them.

Tommy Hearns would beat Griffith like a gay slave and knock Rivera into next week. Imagine Hearns-Benvenuti . Or Or Hearns-Paret . If you consider them greater due to accomplishment, I'd disagree there as well but it least it's reasonable. But to act like they were a level above in terms of ability is laughable. If anything it's the other way around. He was a more dominant fighter with better wins (and less bad losses) then either of those guys.

Seriously, Hearns-Grffith is one of the worst stylistic mismatches I can think of.

Here's some of his most famous fights that you should check out.

Thomas Hearns vs Marvin Hagler
Thomas Hearns vs Sugar Ray Leonard 1 and 2
Thomas Hearns vs Iran Barkley 1 and 2
Thomas Hearns vs Pipino Cuevas
Thomas Hearns vs Roberto Duran
Thomas Hearns vs Dennis Andries
Thomas Hearns vs James Shuler
Thomas Hearns vs Wilfredo Benitez

Mixture of slugfests, great KO's and one sided beatings a good mixture of fights for you to get started on. Also any early Hearns fights you should check out as well. You should be able to find a lot of Hearns fights on Youtube.

Hearns was so good. He was a fierce puncher and a great athlete, he fought the best that was about at the time, and he was scared of no-one...but what about when Hagler made his legs turn into jelly with one big-ass punch?!?!?!?

Two fights - Duran and Cuevas if you want to know what Tommy was all about.


NOBODY had KO'd Duran like that - and the the year before he'd gone 15 ROUNDS WITH MARVIN HAGLER AT 160 POUNDS. Yet Hearns starched him with one shot.

And Cuevas was never the same again. When you got hit by the Hit Man, very few people were the same again.