The frightening punch power of Thomas Hearns flattened opponents across multiple weight divisions — but could it ever have carried to heavyweight?
Hearns is rightly remembered as one of the “Four Kings” of the 1980s, alongside Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard. Yet his achievements were not solely defined by those iconic rivalries.
Either side of his memorable battles with fellow boxing royalty, ‘The Hitman’ collected world titles and unleashed his devastating knockout power. Then, in the summer of 1991 — the same year he captured the WBA light-heavyweight title with a superb win over Virgil Hill — Hearns began to flirt with an idea that was equal parts spectacular and alarming: a fight with Mike Tyson.
Even before defeating Hill, there had been talk of Hearns moving up to cruiserweight to challenge Bobby Czyz for the WBA title. But the prospect of Tyson, who was attempting a comeback after losing the undisputed heavyweight championship to James “Buster” Douglas in 1990, captured the imagination far more.
At 32 years of age, Hearns explained his thinking to the media.
“I’m walking around at 182 pounds right now, so I can get near enough to 200 pounds. If Tyson comes down to 200 and trains the way he did for Buster Douglas, I’d fight him in a minute. Everybody wants a piece of him now.”
Tyson had weighed 231lbs for the Douglas defeat but rededicated himself afterwards, trimming down to around 217lbs for his next four victories before his incarceration in March 1992.
Whether Hearns was entirely serious or simply entertaining the idea, he was ultimately talked out of the move by long-time trainer Emanuel Steward. Hearns would go on to fight a further 13 times, finally calling time on his career in February 2006 with a 10-round victory over Shannon Landberg.
