Boxing’s first five division world champion, Thomas Hearns, had high praise for a heavyweight icon.
Hearns was one quarter of The Four Kings alongside Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard. The 6 ft 1 in power puncher scored 61 wins from 67 fights during his campaign, which lasted from 1977 until 2006.
Under the tutelage of Emanuel Steward, Hearns went undefeated for 32 fights before losing to Leonard. His only other defeats came at the hangs of Hagler, Iran Barkley and Uriah Grant extremely late in his career.
On his all-time great list, as provided to East Side Boxing, Hearns named none other than Muhammad Ali as the number one fighter. Ali was followed by former opponent Joe Frazier and then Hearns himself at number three.
Speaking to Title Boxing it was clear that Hearns’ respect for the heavyweight went further than his skillset.
“I had one person that I idolised and that was Muhammad Ali. Nobody else.”
‘The Hitman’ then reminisced about a sparring session he managed to share with Ali.
“That was a wonderful experience for me. When do you ever get a chance to spar with your idol? I wanted to be just like Muhammad Ali and I got a chance to box him? That had a big effect on my life. A great effect.”
Known simply as ‘The Greatest,’ it is not an unpopular opinion to hold Ali in such high regard. The first fighter to win the heavyweight championship on three seperate occasions, he remains the most recognisable name from the sport to this day.