The career of Thomas Hearns is often reduced to the obvious markers: pulverising knockout power, the Kronk Gym pipeline and a résumé built on rivalries with boxing royalty.
But to understand his place in the sport, he must be viewed as part of a rare lineage. A fighter forged in an era when greatness was defined by who you fought, not who you avoided.
In the 1970s, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Ken Norton pushed the heavyweight division into the mainstream through a five-year run of unforgettable clashes between 1971 and 1976.
A decade later, as boxing searched for an identity beyond Ali, a new quartet emerged across the welterweight and middleweight divisions to captivate fans and define the 1980s.
Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran – later immortalised as The Four Kings – met one another repeatedly between 1980 and 1989, producing a series of fights that still serve as the gold standard for elite competition. Their era was celebrated in the documentary The Fabulous Four, a nod to the way each man tested himself relentlessly against the very best.
But how did ‘The Hitman’ himself rank his legendary contemporaries?
The Detroit icon recently offered insight when sharing his top 10 greatest fighters of all time with journalist James Slater. Muhammad Ali topped the list, followed by Joe Frazier, with Hearns placing himself at number three. Roberto Duran came in at four – the Panamanian having been brutally knocked out by Hearns in the second round of their 1984 showdown.
Sugar Ray Leonard was ranked sixth. Their first meeting in 1981 remains one of the most iconic fights in boxing history, Leonard rallying late to stop Hearns in the 14th round after surrendering the early momentum. Their 1989 rematch ended in a draw, a verdict many observers felt short-changed Hearns.
Perhaps most telling was Hearns’ placement of Marvin Hagler at number 10. Despite sharing one of the sport’s most savage encounters – the unforgettable three-round “War” of 1985 – Hearns ranked the former undisputed middleweight champion lowest among his peers.
It is a list shaped by rivalry, rivalry shaped by greatness. And fittingly, Hearns’ own legacy is inseparable from the men he fought. In an era when the best consistently faced the best, “The Hitman” was not just a participant – he was a central figure in boxing’s last truly golden age.
