AIR DATE:
EPISODE: Episode 25
“The Fab Four”, and featured on this show is multi-division fighter and title winner Tommy Hearns, originally from Tennessee, but later from Detroit, whose first 17 fights were all wins and all knockouts. Watch The Scoop from Monday to Friday featuring Canadian heavyweight champ Bola Ray, who lends his vast experience in the sport and provides his comments boxing – its history and future – on YouTube and TalkinFight.com/live. @realtommyhearns
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Transcribed:
Hello, there talk and fight fans welcome once again to another episode of the scoop with the champ bola ray on his ongoing exploration of the fab.
Four, are you doing nothing, not the beatles either not the beatles either uh.
Today, we’re going to talk about an incredibly special freak of nature to continue on with my segment with the fab four.
This guy was arguably the greatest lightweight of all time.
No sorry, not lightweight junior welterweight of all time.
My name is bola raymond oluwale, and this is the scoop born october 18.
1958 tommy hearns was the third of nine kids that was raised by one mother.
Let’S just take a second to give her a clap, wow being a champion just ran in his family.
They grew up in grand uh grand junction tennessee at age, five, the family moved to detroit michigan um, now, there’s very little record of his amateur career, um or, more importantly, record of him representing the country internationally, but he did win the 1977 uh golden globe championships.
National golden glove championships in the junior welterweight division.
He turned pro under the tutelage of the legendary coach emanuel stewart that very same year now um his pro career started off.
Nothing shy of blazing uh 17 fights.
17 wins 17 knockouts.
Like emmanuel stewart turned this wiry six foot, one light hitting, but super fast footed amateur to uh, arguably one of the greatest punchers of all time in any weight class.
On his 29th fight, he faced off against pepino uh cuaves for pepino’s wba uh junior welterweight, title of which he held for four years and defended 11 times with 10 knockouts.
So pepino was he was amazing in his own right.
Um knocked him out because that’s what tommy does um he knocked him out in the second round, a positively like he was beyond dominant, like i said in 11 fights, he had 11 wins with 10 knockouts, and then he went up against the absolute freak of nature And crumbled, like a house of cards, he went on to defend his title three more times and in tommy fashion he knocked them all out and well.
This was the prelude to the big dance and that’s when he ran into sugar.
Ray leonard for this fight was for the welterweight supremacy, all the marbles, all the marbles.
I’M going to discuss this fight on a future show next week and we’ll we’ll see for the record tommy one uh tommy lost that fight via 14th round stoppage, an amazing fight.
All the same, now three fights later three fights later he gets the opportunity to fight wilford benitez for the wbc light middleweight strap.
So he had the welterweight on some light.
Middleweight strap.
This fight was nothing shy of amazing tommy made wilford bernina’s look.
Ordinary benitez was easily one of the greats of the era.
He was right there with the fab four except he never went up against uh marvin um, but he did get a 15 round win over duran.
Now how many people can actually put that on their resume, especially in that day but period um? He was a sensational fighter and yeah tommy does what tommy does tommy made him? Look ordinary outbox, the hell out of him.
The name of the game in this contest was tommy’s reach and how he would use his footwork in combination with his reach seminars.
Literal seminars could be done using this fight, as exhibit a bonita, has never found an answer to this combination.
Um round four was the first time around went to benin, benitez um, and that was due to a late latin around the ref deducting a point from tommy because he was holding and hitting tommy even the score, the very next round by knocking benitez down and then In the sixth round he end up beating him like he stole something.
He almost ended: the fight in the sixth round.
I i can’t stress enough: this is wilford benitez.
This doesn’t happen.
Okay, um.
The boxing lesson continued for the next few rounds and in the ninth round benitez grazed tommy, with a shot high up on his on his head top.
But the thing is, it was a grazing shot, as tommy was taking a step back.
He was off balance and stumbles backwards falls into the ropes.
It’S counted to knock down.
I don’t know if tommy was tired or what the scenario was, but the following round.
Tommy changed his strategy and he stood there and he wanted to exchange and that he did it wasn’t.
It was exceptionally entertaining for people watching the fight, but it really wasn’t necessary in my eyes because he already had the blueprint to win this fight easy.
Why take any punishment? I i wasn’t sure whether or not his legs were tired and he just wanted um.
He thought he could take him out but, like i said it was exceptionally an entertaining round a lot of leather was thrown, but the fight went on the last two rounds.
Tommy went back to his original strategy and um.
He danced he stuck that that piston jab out on him and punished him and uh he got the.
He got the win against a future hall of famer 18 months later.
Tommy is staring across the ring at none other than roberto duran.
Who is defending his wbc light? Middleweight strap, okay, light middleweight strap.
I will discuss this fight in detail on a future show, but for the record tommy won by second-round knockout of roberto duran.
It was the first time he had ever been dropped or sorry knocked out.
So yeah this was a precursor for another title fight, uh labeled, the war two fights later the fight was between marvin hagler and tommy hearns.
Many i included deemed this as the greatest three rounds of boxing in boxing history.
I will discuss this fight in detail next week.
Look out for that.
Look out for that post.
This fight ray and ray leonard and marvin hagler fight april 6, um 1987.
leonard, then vacates, the wbc middleweight title, and on november 29th, 1987 tommy hearns fought juan domingo godin for the title and won yet another world title and yet another weight class.
It’S just what tommy does the following june 6 tommy had his first title: defense of the middleweight strap against one iran barclay wow.
Now what a fight from the opening round tommy showed complete and utter boxing superior uh supremacy.
He was stinging him but like out boxing him, but iran was not phased by it per se.
He wasn’t afraid he kept the pressure on him.
Eating punches, losing the round but still game.
A lot of leather was thrown.
The same thing repeats itself in round two.
Another tommy round both rounds to tommy, but then the third starts and tommy goes, is going in amongst different combinations.
Barkley looked like he was on his way out, he could be finished and then out of nowhere.
I ran through a right hand and caught tommy and call me on the counters where this came from one shot.
No idea, iran was almost completely out.
Tommy barely makes the count.
Iran jumps them finishes them in a third round.
It has to be seen as one of the greatest comeback fights of history.
He he was taking a shellacking now in typical tommy hearns fashion.
His next fight is almost five months later to the day november, 4th 1988 and he’s up against james kitchens, but he goes up another weight class and wins the vacant.
Wbo super middleweight title his fourth title in four weight classes.
His next fight is the long-awaited rematch against sugary leonard.
Now i did a show on this fight as one of boxing’s greatest robberies.
Um you could you could check that out, but in essence it was called a draw, some which way, shape or form those three blind mice called it to draw.
It was absurd, even the one that gave the round the fight to tommy, made it so much closer than it ever was tommy knocked him down twice two ten eight rounds and then put a clinic upon him.
It was, it was absurd.
Um rob uh years later, ray actually even admitted tommy won that fight.
I suggest again go into the archives and you’ll find it my uh my show on that, but tommy goes on.
They both had titles.
They both retained their titles.
They went their separate ways.
Tommy goes on to defend his wbo title three more times and then well tommy.
The hitman does what tommy the hitman does june 3rd 19 1991.
He totally outclasses virgil hill for the wba light heavyweight strap.
Now this is the fifth world title in five weight classes that this man has gotten: okay and the story isn’t over yet nine months later, on may or march 12th of march 20th 1992.
He enters the ring against another against well iran barkley.
Yet again now in this contest it was a completely well not completely, but it was a different barkley barkley felt that he had tommy’s number.
He pressured tommy tommy.
He didn’t box as much like there wasn’t the footwork that was present when he fought benitez um.
He stood and tried to exchange, but tommy just wasn’t.
He wasn’t strong enough enough to intimidate barkley barkley was a juggernaut and he came for him.
He even knocked him down one, but that, at the end of the day later on in the fight, barclays started to fade a lot and the fight was a close one, but it went.
It went to uh what you call it.
It went to iran barclay in a decision, so be it april.
10Th 1999 tommy steps into the ring against one nate miller for the vacant international boxing organization, cruiserweight title and won his sixth title in six weight classes.
There’S nothing! This guy couldn’t do um but mind.
You this uh, this rain was short-lived one year almost to the day.
Um april 8, 2000 tommy rolled his ankle in the second round and lost the title to one euray grant tommy went on to fight two more fights which he won by knockout and then you’re retired.
That’S tommy kearns.
What a career! What what an absolute champion! He is one of my all-time favorites.
I’Ve studied him so many times that piston jab is still legendary in any weight class.
I still believe that if he had stayed his natural 140 who would have beaten him 140 pounds, six foot, one with a reach of six foot.
Six who would have who’d have touched him and that disgusting right hand he was the original deontay wilder.
With that right hand, so with that being said, that’s my episode.
If you liked this episode, please smash the like button.
Subscribe, tickle, the notification, it’s it’s your boy baller and that’s the scoop thanks very much.
That’S an amazing story, and although he wasn’t born in detroit, he uh certainly is known to have been raised in detroit and come from detroit, and detroit has given us many great things over the years uh, including very famous football teams, baseball teams, hockey teams, it’s known For his joe lewis, arena named after joe lewis, of course, and but often uh, you know uh.
We also think of uh tommy hitman hearns.
I mean this guy was amazing.
True that hitman hearns he came.
He came out of the cronk gym, one of the originals from chris jim um.
What made cronk trunk, arguably one of the most uh famous and renowned uh training centers in the world.
It’S also tommy is a testament to how great you emanuel stewart genuinely was.
Any coach can go off and take a puncher and make him punch you.
Can he already knows how to punch or you take someone light-footed fast and teach him how to run well? It takes a special coach who can cultivate, who can educate somebody who is naturally one way and flip the script and make him something completely different future shows on emanuel stewart also looking forward to it.
I thought you’re gon na say future shows on magicians, [ Laughter, ].
Well, thanks very much ray.
That was an amazing episode once again, uh we’ll we have one more uh this week coming up tomorrow tomorrow and we’ll see you, then all right cheers.
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