Throwback: Thomas Hearns proved he was more than just a puncher by beating the ‘bible of boxing’ with one hand

Thomas Hearns got it done the hard way after suffering an injury on this day in 1982.

There’s a reason that Joe Rogan used Hearns as a reference point when praising a UFC fighter’s excellent combination of range and power.

With 48 pro wins by knockout, the finishing ability of ‘The Hitman’ is what helped him to become one of the legendary ‘four kings’ of boxing.

His first clash with one of his fellow ‘kings’ resulted in the first loss of his career, having been stopped by Sugar Ray Leonard in the 14th round.

Just the following year, he’d look to beat a historic champion that Leonard beat with a similar late stoppage back in 1979.

Thomas Hearns beat Wilfred Benitez despite suffering an injury that forced him to fight with one hand

Sugar Ray Leonard admitted that fighting Thomas Hearns pushed him to the limit despite him being able to hand the knockout artist his first defeat.

After this setback, Hearns rattled off three consecutive wins to put himself back into the title picture in a new weight class.

Wilfred Benitez was already the youngest world champion in the history of boxing before he became the youngest three-division champ in 1981.

After beating Roberto Duran earlier in the year, his second bout of 1982 saw him look to defend his WBC super welterweight title against Hearns at the Louisiana Superdome on December 3.

It was written in The New York Times the day after the fight that Benitez had previously referred to himself as “the bible of boxing”, but that didn’t stop him from being surprised by ‘The Hitman’.

Hearns showed in this fight that he was far more than just an aggressive and destructive puncher, beating the champion by a clear margin on two of the scorecards while the other had the fight a draw.

What made this boxing display from the challenger even more impressive was that he injured his right hand in the final third of the bout but was still able to win the fight while only using his left.

Thomas Hearns defended his titles in his one win over a fellow member of the ‘four kings’

After beating Wilfred Benitez to win the WBC and The Ring light middleweight titles, Thomas Hearns would hold onto them until his iconic loss to Marvin Haggler in 1985.

In that time, he would record his one and only win over one of his fellow ‘four kings’.

His second title defense in June of 1984 saw perhaps the best display of his ability to smell blood and put opponents away when he stopped Roberto Duran in the second round.

The range and power of ‘The Hitman’ saw him drop Duran three times to become the first man to stop the Panamanian legend.