After Thomas “Hitman” Hearns lost to Sugar Ray Leonard in his attempt to unify the world welterweight title….he did two very distinct things…..1st, he moved up in weight to the light middleweight and middleweight divisions….mainly because at his height of 6’2″, it was easier for him to make weight by putting on pounds rather than taking off pounds…. 2nd, he changed his moniker from”Hitman” to the “Motor City Cobra”…..mainly because Hitman had been “taken-down” by Sugar Ray…..and Motor City Cobra hadn’t even been touched.
As a member of then known The Fantastic Four of the lighter weight divisions ,,,,including in addition to Hearns was Leonard, Duran and Benitez…but in this lil ole Chiweenie Sportsphile’s opinion…..there were many more great lighter weight division boxers during the golden age of boxing (1964 – 1995) like…..Julio Cezar Chavez, Salvador Sanchez, Hector Camacho, Alexis Arguello et al….as all of these that I have named, plus more, all fought during the golden age of boxing….and they all became legends of the ring….which is why the light of boxing never shined brighter than from 1964 to 1995.
In this bout with ex-USA Olympian, Jeff McCracken…..Motor City Cobra was striking his prey from every direction…..and although McCracken put up a good fight…..he was no match for Hearns who was really beginning to come into his own after passing his welterweight years with a record of 39 – 1 with one title, which he retained 3 times. In embarking on his path from light middleweight title holder to light heavyweight title holder…..in another 30 fights, 19 of which were for a title…..that spanned another 22 years of his career…..when he established a record of 25 wins 4 losses 1 draw with 19 KO’s….while winning 7 different world titles.
Simply put, Thomas “Hitman””Motor City Cobra” Hearns was a phenomenal boxer…..well deserving of his legendary status….and worthy of watching any time you get a chance.
