In 1982, Thomas Hearns won the World Boxing Council’s Super Welterweight crown in a bout over Wilfred Benitez at the Superdome in New Orleans. Hearns had recently moved up weight class to compete for the Super Welterweight title.
Hearns spent two years as Super Welterweight champion and was the first person to KO Roberto Durán in 1984. This feat earned him Ring Magazine’s “Fighter of the Year” award. He was twice named Fighter of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America.
The previous year he suffered the first loss of his professional career to Sugar Ray Leonard over the World Welterweight Championship. The popular match was dubbed “The Showdown” and lasted 14 rounds before the judges awarded the victory to Leonard. Later in his career, Leonard and Hearns would face off in a Super Middleweight bout.
Hearns retied in 2006 with winning record – 61-5, 48 wins by KO. He is the first boxer in history to win world titles in five weight divisions: welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2012.
