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#10 Thomas Hearns - Top 10 of Boxing’s Most Terrifying Fighters
I can hardly believe that the “Hitman” Thomas Hearns will turn 61 in October. It just seems like yesterday that he and Sugar Ray Leonard put on a battle for the ages in one of the greatest fights in the history of boxing. That loss to Leonard affected Hearns to the core and in a rematch, the result was a draw. But for Hearns, he had one of the most lethal right hands ever in boxing. If he hit you right, it was lights out…literally. Just ask Roberto Duran who took that right hand to the face in their fight and fell like a ton of bricks in the second round. To this day, it is one of the most shocking knockouts of any big named fighter I have ever witnessed.
No one in Duran’s 119 fight career had put him to sleep although he did suffer three other KOs or TKOs one of which was a result of him quitting in the ring against Leonard. But for the Hitman, he knocked out 48 of 61 fighters he defeated. Roberto Duran was not the only fighter Hearns brutally KO'd. Just ask José “Pipino” Cuevas who took two brutal right hands from Hearns and went down and out.
Then there was the “super fight” with Marvin Hagler. This was probably the greatest three rounds of boxing you will ever see if you love brutality. Hagler and Hearns went toe-to-toe for nearly nine minutes and had the Hitman been fighting anyone else he probably would have won the fight by KO because of the shots he landed on Hagler and because “Marvelous” had a granite chin, he was able to continue and finish Hearns off with a barrage of bombs.
Because he knocked out 72% of his opponents and had the reputation of having one of the most feared right hands in his era, Thomas “Hitman” Hearns earns his way into this list of top 10 most feared fighters.