MANCHESTER, NH?Boxing legend Thomas Hearns was an extraordinary big man. He was almost always the tallest guy in his weight class dating back to his brilliant amateur days as a skinny but powerful 139-pounder.
I tried to egg the Motor City Cobra on a bit as we chatted Wednesday night at the Holiday Inn before his unbeaten junior middleweight son Ronald ?The Chosen One? Hearns went into the ring at the Verizon Wireless Arena. I thought I could induce my old friend?who once permitted to live through a three-round exhibition bout in Atlantic City back in 1990?into picking little guy Manny Pacquiao to beat bigger man Oscar de la Hoya.
No sale as Hearns waved his left hand in a completely dismissive way. The Hitman is convinced that Pacman will be the Hurt Man after four or five rounds against Oskie.
?No way Pacquiao can win that fight,? Hearns said. ?Oscar may carry him for a few rounds but he is way too big and too strong for the smaller man. Oscar will win this fight easy.?
I asked Hearns, whose whole career I was fortunate to chronicle, if he had ever faced a bigger, stronger opponent.
The elongated bomber mentioned Iran Barkley and Marcos Geraldo as opponents he remembered as being ?about as big? as he was.
So there is no doubt that Oscar has Hearns in his corner for Dec. 6.
Oh, about the Marley-Hearns exhibition. I wore my Vanilla Ice shirt and ran clutched for two shortened rounds. A gracious Hitman, not wishing to commit a homicide in front of so many witnesses, allowed two tentative jabs and one soft body shot.
?OK, that?s three Marley, don?t push your luck,? Hearns said as I held on to him like he was a naked Halle Berry in heat.
Then he gave me that assassin face look of his.
?Remember that one bad column you wrote about me,? Hearns said. ?Now it?s payback time. I am gonna do you like I did Roberto Duran.?
I barely made it to my corner and was trying to figure out how I could wheeze my way through round three and not leave the ring on a stretcher.
I looked up just before the bell rang and saw a smiling Sugar Ray Leonard standing over me.
?Ray, you know this guy,? I sputtered. ?What should I do next??
?There is only one thing do now, Mike,? Leonard said.
Pray tell, what?
?Quit.?
I didn?t take Leonard?s advice but I lived to tell the tale.
I even have a Leroy Neiman sketch of me, mouth open, in my corner.
If only Hearns knew what I could have done, had I let loose on him.
I?d have turned the Hitman into the Quitman just the way Da Pacman is going to dribble Oscar all across that Las Vegas ring.
