Thomas Hearns was one of the iconic Four Kings that took boxing by storm throughout the 1980s.
‘The Hitman’ achieved plenty in the sport, including becoming the first boxer in history to win world titles in five divisions when he managed it at welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight.
It was his epic battles against The Four Kings that Hearns is arguably best known for, with the quartet also consisting of Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran.
Hearns met Leonard twice, losing one and drawing the other, whilst ‘The Hitman’ defeated Duran by second round stoppage when they met.
It was the epic clash against Hearns that boxing fans tend to remember most fondly though, with the three-round war regarded as one of the best all-action fights of all time, and ending in a third round TKO win for Hagler.
Despite coming up short in that bout, it seems that ‘The Hitman’ doesn’t rate Hagler as highly as his other Four King rivals, as when once ranking his top ten fighters of all time, he surprisingly placed Hagler behind the others.
“1: Muhammad Ali. 2: Joe Frazier. 3: Thomas Hearns. 4: Roberto Duran. 5: Wilfred Benitez. 6: Sugar Ray Leonard. 7: Mike Tyson. 8: Floyd Mayweather. 9: George Foreman. 10: Marvin Hagler.”
Duran’s achievements included becoming a four-weight world champion, and he was the only one of the Four Kings to claim a victory over Leonard.
Leonard got his revenge by defeating Duran in the next two meetings, whilst wins against Hearns and Hagler meant that Leonard was the only of the quartet to overcome the other three.
Hagler was the long-reigning middleweight champion, managing to defeat Hearns and Duran but coming up short to Leonard, and while ‘The Hitman’ may view Hagler as the worst of the four, many boxing fans may disagree.
