Thomas Hearns won numerous world titles in various weight classes, and during his exhilarating and even captivating career in the ring, Tommy appeared in many forms and styles. Early in his career as an almost freakishly towering 147-pounder, Hearns was in full “Hitman” mode, his deadly fists destroying most of the 32 welterweights he encountered. Back then, Hearns, in his delayed teens and early 20s, destroyed good guys like Bruce Finch, Bruce Curry, Saensak Muangsurin, Angel Espada and, of course, winning his first world title, Pipino Cuevas.

Then, after losing an epic battle with Sugar Ray Leonard, a great match in which Hearns showed the world his lovely boxing skills and power, Tommy went into “Motor City Cobra” mode. Great performances by The Sweet Science saw Hearns claim victory over Wilfred Benitez, Murray Sutherland and Luigi Minchillo.

Struggling with hand problems at the time, Hearns underwent surgery and returned armed with the (remember the renowned Ring magazine cover where Hearns was dressed in a murderous gangster outfit) “Hitman” in the summer of 1984 and annihilated another great/legend Roberto Duran in two spine-chilling rounds for arguably the best KO. Hearns then roared against another all-time great, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, in a Hitman and Slugger-style matchup. What followed was the greatest opening round in boxing history and one of the greatest fights ever.

Hearns returned to score another spine-chilling KO worthy of his intimidating nickname, the icing on James Shuler’s cake, while Tommy picked up back-to-back victories against top fighters such as Dennis Andries and Juan Domingo Roldan. Before disaster struck in the fight against “The Blade”, Iran Barkley. Critics insisted that Hearns was done, both as Hitman and as Cobra. Tommy knew better, and after showing another of his great qualities, heart, by defeating James Kinchen in a grueling battle, Hearns finally got Leonard in the rematch he had been waiting for for eight years.

Perhaps in this fight the boxing world Hearns showed and combined his two boxing styles better than ever. Leonard struggled again against Hearns’ boxing and suffered from his power. The verdict didn’t fool anyone, least of all Sugar Ray himself, who said after the war (and still claims) that he and Tommy were now “one.”

Following a vintage “Cobra” performance against favorite Virgil Hill in 1991, this points victory earned Hearns his sixth world title in five weight classes. Hearns should have called it a career. His lethal mix of power, skill and ring IQ has now waned. Hearns thrived largely on his heart and his unquestionable, everlasting love and dedication to his sport, fighting until, surprisingly, he was 47 years elderly.

Today Thomas Hearns turns 66. A living legend, despite his modesty, Hearns has a genuine love for his fans; fans who saw him do his thing. His two things. We tend to think of Hearns as a fearsome hitter, and for good reason. But Hearns was a tidy boxer when he wanted to be, and he showed it by beating the likes of Leonard, Benitez, Hill and others.

Today, if he were fighting, boxing or punching at his best, Hearns would hold his own in most of the weight classes he fought in the 1980s and 1990s. We have good welterweights today, just like we have good welterweights, super middleweights and featherlight heavyweights. It’s fascinating to think how top-ranked Hearns would fare 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, Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol .

As great as he was, in both incarnations of the Hearns fan, you could be excused for saying that Tommy could handle them all.

Elated birthday Master!

Thomas Hearns, one of the unique, unforgettable Four Kings.

AFTER losing to Joe Louis for the world heavyweight title in 1937, Tommy Farr lost his next four fights, all by decision, to James J. Braddock, Max Baer, ​​Lou Nova and Red Burman. Tommy is rightly remembered for his stand against Louis and was revered in the south Wales valleys where he was a boxing hero.

Farr won his next four fights, but in 1940, at the age of 26, with World War raging, Tommy’s career ceased to matter. He started as a professional in 1926, when at the age of 12 he won his first competition at Tonypandy, his birthplace, when, as “Kid Farr”, he overtook Jack Jones from nearby Clydach Vale.

In the 1930s, Tommy was one of the toughest fighters, winning the Welsh lithe heavyweight and heavyweight titles, followed by the British and Imperial heavyweight titles. He boxed in every weight, from flyweight to heavyweight, and the fight with Louis, when he was 23 and had participated in 150 fights, was the highlight of his career. That’s why it was a surprise when in 1950, after 10 years of absence from the ring, he announced that he would return at the age of 36. In those days, 36 was not the age to enter a boxing ring. most fighters retired before the age of 30.

In the United States, Farr’s ancient rival, Joe Louis, retired from the ring himself. He held the world heavyweight title for 11 years and defended it 25 times, the first of which was against Farr. Louis also announced his return to the ring and, like Farr, announced this in August 1950. Joe had tax problems and had to fight again to settle his debts.

TOmmy, on the other hand, wanted to come back because he didn’t rate the current crop of heavyweights, and he still enjoyed the game. Farr regained his license without difficulty and then announced that he would fight under the bill for promoter Albert Davies at Pontypridd in early September. The competition was then postponed three weeks to September 27.

Interestingly, Joe Louis was also supposed to return to the ring that same evening. He was selected to fight current champion Ezzard Charles in a 15-round world heavyweight title bout at Yankee Stadium in Recent York. No other fight would have been enough for Joe, who was one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time, and many thought he would defeat Ezzard without much difficulty.

Tommy’s return was a bit quieter as he faced Jan Klein, an infamous Dutchman with a spotty history. Twenty thousand people turned out outdoors in the rain to watch Tommy flatten Klein in six rounds at Ynysangharad Park in Pontypridd. A few hours later in Recent York, 22,000 fans watched as father time via Ezzard Charles beat the substantial man for 15 rounds.

Many cried when the decision was announced, and Joe should have left the ring for good afterwards. However, like Tommy, Louis continued his activities throughout 1951 and both men suffered brutal knockouts that same year.

In March 1951, Frank Bell, from Barnoldswick, Lancashire, needed just two rounds to demolish Farr in a competition held at the Rhondda Transport Company garage in Porth. This unlikely place was the sorrowful place where Tommy was beaten. For Joe, his defeat was a much more public matter. Rocky Marciano murdered him in eight rounds at Madison Square Garden.

Marciano was on his way to the top at the time and was the hottest figure in boxing. His victory over Louis reminds me a bit of Ali’s death at the hands of Larry Holmes and was equally sorrowful. Louis never fought again, but Tommy continued to fight until 1953, losing his last fight to Don Cockell, who in turn was punched by Rocky Marciano just two years later.

Who is or was the greatest warrior who ever lived? For some, indeed for many, John L. Sullivan is that man. Terror. Beast. A born-to-fight warrior who had an insatiable appetite for fighting, drinking, and more fighting. Sullivan, born on this day in 1858 in Boston, Massachusetts, lived rapid, fought harder than strenuous, and died newborn; at the age of 59.

Over the course of his relatively tiny life, “The Boston Mighty Boy,” all 5’10” and about 190 pounds, did more than enough to fill the mind of a filmmaker who wanted to make not one, but two films dedicated to the man who according to some, he ranks in his own right when it comes to the greatest of the great to ever wear gloves. But of course, as we know, John L. didn’t put on padded gloves until he had reached the end as a player; and at that time, a warrior’s gloves didn’t have much padding.

Well, in John L.’s day it was much, much harder for a boxer, and Sullivan regularly destroyed any man who had no interest in the sport of which he was the king. And when it comes to the simply amazing fights Sullivan was involved in, there are too many that are generally undocumented, at least properly. While the valuable articles covering Sullivan’s superfight have opinions as to who is different, various authors of the time wrote the most correct description of what actually happened in the ring; or on the pitch.

However, in the opinion of most boxing historians, the fight that took place on July 8, 1889, the last bare-knuckle title fight in history, is the most unforgettable battle/war/fight until the end of Sullivan – call it whatever you want.

In what was probably his biggest and most notable fight, Sullivan, to most people the heavyweight champion of the world – the man who said he would “lick every son of a bitch in the house” and did – faced a challenge: Jake Kilrain. Kilrain himself had a claim to the heavyweight title (given to him by the publisher of the then influential newspaper The Police Gazette), and the two were to meet at an undisclosed location to settle their dispute.

Bare-knuckle fighting was illegal in 38 states at the time, and if you wanted to see a Sullivan-Kilrain fight, you had to rely on word of mouth. About 3,000 fans made it to the field in Richburg, Mississippi, where the fight was to take place. The first round was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., with the fight to determine the winner who would take home $10,000 per side, with the winner taking it all. The temperature at that time in the shade was 100 degrees. And, as the saying goes, there wasn’t much shade.

Sullivan’s reputation brought him great results. Sullivan, an extremely ponderous drinker, fought both drunk and sober, mostly with the former. Regularly sipping prescribed amounts of bourbon from a beer mug – yes, a beer mug – Sullivan boasted, rightly so, that no man could drink four rounds with him. Traveling all over the country, taking on everyone, John L. defeated 59 opponents with one bounce. None lasted beyond the fourth round, and most were dealt with in the first round.

However, the prevailing thought in the Kilrain camp was that Sullivan only had good legs for about 20 minutes and that his legs, like the legs of all drunks, would fail him after that point in the fight if he made it that far. Kilrain was extremely prepared and his plan was to take Sullivan into the later rounds and then take control and win. Kilrain was a clever boxer who knew how to box and move.

In the first rounds of that historic day, Kilrain took the lead (a round only ended when a man went down and could therefore last minutes or mere seconds) as he refrained from fighting Sullivan, focusing instead on avoiding the gigantic one…hitting John’s throws L. Furious, Sullivan roared at his rival, “Why don’t you fight! You’re supposed to be a champion, right?”

In round seven, Kilrain landed a ponderous shot to the head that drew blood from Sullivan’s ear. In the next session, Sullivan scored his first knockdown of the fight. Both men were already suffering, the heat and intensity of the battle was punishing. But the fight was just beginning. The fight lasted 30 rounds, the blood of both men flowed, and the fierce heat harmed the naked backs of both fighters.

After the 30th round, it was Kilrain who was tired and slowing down, not Sullivan. It turned out that Sullivan could fight for long periods of time after drinking enormous amounts of alcohol; or was Sullivan “on the wagon” preparing for this fight? In any case, Sullivan was in command now, with more knockdowns and falls. But there was no end to Kilrain and he kept raising the level again and again. Amazingly, but also painfully, there are still over 40 rounds of battle left! Finally, in the 75th round, the doctor informed the Kilrain supporter that if they allowed their man to go out for more, “he would die”. That was the end. The last title fight in the history of bare-knuckle fighting lasted an exhausting, almost unimaginable, 2 hours and 16 minutes.

John L. Sullivan was the king of kings. There was no doubt about it.

Sullivan lost his next fight over three years later, this time fighting Jim Corbett in the first world heavyweight title fight fought under Marquees rules. The great man died in February 1918 at the age of only 59. One of the pallbearers was Jake Kilrain, who lived to be 78 years ancient.

It wasn’t just a great fight – imagine, fight fans, being there live that day – it’s a history lesson.