Long before Rohit Sharma arrived in a blaze of sixes to be bestowed with the title of Hitman, an American boxer born in Memphis had made The Hitman his own calling card. Thomas Hearns, also called the Motor City Cobra, charted an unprecedented path during a 29-year boxing career. As if 29 years in top-flight boxing isn’t unprecedented enough.
Such was his versatility and dominance that Hearns was able to move up over 50 pounds in his career, competing in five different weight categories. Not only did he compete, he also became the first pugilist to win world titles in five weight categories – welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight and heavyweight. All that sounds extremely simple, but each of these weight classes come with its own special demands. The lighter classes necessitate speed and agility, power becomes a more pronounced factor the heavier the weight category is. Hearns mastered all the categories, finishing his professional career with an fabulous 61-5 record in 67 bouts – that’s 61 wins and just five losses, apart from one draw. In all, he won 48 of those 61 fights by knockout, testimony both to his ferocity and his street-smartness.
Hearns won his first world title in 1980 by stopping Pipino Cuevas, the Mexican who had held the WBA welterweight title for four years, in the second round. He climbed up the weight categories and won world titles in light middleweight and light heavyweight categories until lining up on this day in 1987 to take on Juan Roldan for the vacant WBC middleweight title.
Roldan, the Argentine, was no pushover, himself a world champion more than once, but Hearns needed just four rounds to drop him to the floor. As the referee lifted his hand to announce the winner, Hearns became the first man to become a four-weight world champion. In November 1988, he made it five by defeating James Kitchen to win the inaugural WBO super middleweight title.
