In this series, designed to culminate the week of the May 2nd showdown between Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KO) and World Junior Welterweight champion Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KO), Pacquiao?s previous title claims in five weight divisions were examined. Identified were three lineal titles at Flyweight, Featherweight, and Jr. Lightweight. Against Hatton, Pacquiao goes for overall title for lineal title number four. How historically significant would it be?
In order to answer that question, the page now turns to the other men who have made claims to titles in four, five and six weight divisions, closing looking at how their championship accolades weather the weight of history. Those men are:
Four Division Claimants Roberto Duran – http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=19025 Pernell Whitaker – http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=19117 Roy Jones Jr. & Leo Gamez – http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=19243 Five Division Claimants Sugar Ray Leonard – http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=19317 Thomas Hearns Floyd Mayweather Jr. And the lone Six Division Claimant Oscar De La Hoya
Of the quartet often remembered as the ?Fab Four,? he is often the least celebrated. It?s a shame because Thomas Hearns (61-5-1, 48 KO) was really the heart of the group. More than Leonard, Roberto Duran or Marvin Hagler, Hearns combined size, speed, vulnerability and jaw shattering power in a way that made every one of his fights edge of one?s seat affairs. He was a warrior through and through and, as noted previously, the first man ever to hold titles in five weight divisions. How much acclaim does that warrant though?
The Title Reigns of The Motor City Cobra (a.k.a The Hit Man)
WBA Welterweight ? TKO2 Pipino Cuevas: What must people have thought when Hearns was on his way up the ladder. He looked like a skeleton with skin, stretched out to 6?1 but able to make the Welterweight limit. Yet, when he popped his jab or landed his right, scary things happened. Case in point was his first major title shot at long reigning Mexican favorite Pipino Cuevas. Cuevas hadn?t lost since 1976 and was a terror during his eleven-defense run with all but one bout ending inside the distance. On August 2, 1980, another Cuevas night ended early but with a different hand raised. Hearns crushed Cuevas with a right hand still on many a highlight reel and the drumbeat for a showdown with Ray Leonard began. That showdown of course is what prevents Hearns from full championship acknowledgement at 147. The lineage ran through Ray and stayed with him when Hearns was felled in 1982. Still, at a time when there were only two major sanctioning bodies, the pools were deeper on the road to titles and there was a solid argument that Cuevas was better than the lineal champion for much of his reign, WBC beltholder Carlos Palomino. Forecast: Hazy, but the Cuevas shot had champ written all over it
World Junior Middleweight ? MD15 Wilfred Benitez/TKO2 Duran: As good as the right hand that destroyed Cuevas was, it comes in second behind the best blow Hearns ever landed. The 1984 right hand that turned Duran statue as he headed face first to the floor is one of the greatest punches ever thrown. Duran had one of the great chins of all time and Hearns shredded it. It was the culmination of a strong run at 154 lbs., a weight where many consider Hearns the best of all-time. Originally intended as a unification fight, Duran would end up the challenger for Hearns? WBC belt but at the end the ?World Champion? was clear. It really had been all along. Hearns defeated Benitez in 1982 one fight after Benitez had paint brushed Duran over fifteen in defense of the same. Months after Hearns-Benitez, Duran would defeat Davey Moore for the WBA honors and Ring Magazine took to recognizing Hearns as the true champion on those terms. Pick whatever starting point one will; in the end it all comes out the same. Forecast: Clear, Lineal Claim to the World Title
WBC Middleweight ? KO4 Juan Roldan: The ability of Hearns to slide around the scale means taking some titles out of order. A first foray at Light Heavyweight will be looked at below. For now, we look at Hearns in the aftermath of the permanent and temporary retirements of Hagler and Leonard which opened up 160 lbs. in the late 1980s. Having lost a classic title shot against Hagler in 1985, Hearns was the heir apparent to the throne for most of the masses and in October 1987 scooped up the vacant WBC title with a stoppage of Roldan. His reign would be short lived and there was no lineage yet to claim. His belted time ended in an attempted first defense against Iran Barkley in June 1988. Barkley had already lost a previous title shot (WBA style) versus Sumbu Kalambay prior to the Hearns bout, decreasing the value of the WBC belt. This one files in the nice to win a belt category. Forecast: Hazy, though losing was helpful in getting to the Kalambay-Michael Nunn bout which would restore lineage at 160
WBO Super Middleweight ? MD12 James Kinchen: The lineage at 168 has been covered twice already in this series. Chong-Pal Park had it so Hearns obviously did not. This title is still worth noting as it made Hearns the first man ever to hold major titles in five weight classes. There will be astute readers who argue the WBO was not widely accepted when Hearns narrowly got by Kinchen in late 1988, but it depended then on who was asked. Networks like ABC and Showtime treated them the same as they treated any other title; HBO and Ring did not. Given the men who have held WBO belts over the years, it?s hard to make a case against their titles as any more or less valuable than any others. In Hearns favor, while he did not face or defeat Park, he solidly defeated Ray Leonard at this weight for their 1989 rematch even if he did settle for a draw. That?s a hell of a moral victory. Forecast: Hazy, but a significant statistical footnote
WBC Light Heavyweight ? TKO10 Dennis Andries/WBA Light Heavyweight ? UD12 Virgil Hill: Now we get back to the belts which sandwiched his reigns as a Middleweight and Super Middleweight titlist. Having never fought above Middleweight, Hearns leapt up the scale in 1987, one fight before the Roldan title win, to take on Andries at 175. Andries, while not a great fighter, was a tough out as proved in a memorable rivalry with Jeff Harding. Hearns beat the hell out of him, dropping him repeatedly en route to a tenth round stoppage. The belt was vacated in favor of the Middleweight division but it was solid accomplishment. Hearns would top it in a 1991 title winning effort back at 175 lbs. Written off as cannon fodder for a presumed rising star, Hearns outfoxed Hill in the attempted eleventh defense of the 1984 Olympian?s first title reign going back to a title win in 1987. It may well have been the Hit Man?s finest victory and the resume booster which moved him totally into the realm of the all-time greats. There was no lineage to claim at Light Heavyweight in 1991, but this was as close as Hearns could get without crossing that invisible finish line. Light Heavyweight was in a state of flux in terms of the title picture for over a decade between the reigns of Michael Spinks and the Michalczewski/Jones debate of the late 1990s. Hill would go on to reclaim the WBA title (after Hearns had lost it in a rematch with Barkley and it had then become vacant) and defeat future WBC titlist Fabrice Tiozzo before unifying against IBF titlist Henry Maske in 1996 to firmly plant himself as the lineal champion. As noted previously, sometimes timing plays a crucial role. He may not have claimed the lineage, but Hearns beat the man who arguably was the best Light Heavyweight in the world for the better part of ten years. Forecast: Hazy, but more so at the time then in retrospect
So again, we have a man with lots of belts but solid arguments against the history Pacquiao will attempt to make against Hatton. In Hearns case, only one of his titles was what could be considered, outright, the World Championship of his division but it didn?t stop him from certain entry to the Hall of Fame. Had Hearns stayed out of the ring in 2005 and 06 after exiting the stage in 2000, he would already be there.
In the next installment, the five-division claimants finish up with a very modern man explored…a modern man who probably has some more titles in him whenever his ?retirement? is ended.
To be continued?
