Title/Author:
“Hit Man:
The Thomas Hearns Story” by Damian Hughes and Brian Hughes
Genre:
Non-fiction,
boxing, biography, championship
Published:
May 4, 2011
Length:
272 pages
(Paperback)
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very good)
Review
Thomas
(Tommy) Hearns was considered one of the most ferocious punchers during the heyday
of great welterweight fighters in the 1980’s.
This biography of his life and his career, which focuses more heavily on
the “career” portion, is detailed and well researched. Some of his more epic fights are described
in rich detail.
One of
those which I thoroughly enjoyed, both as a fan of Hearns during his career and
as a reader of this book, is the epic 1985 fight with Marvelous Marvin Hagler
that was billed as simply “The War.”
While it lasted only eight minutes with Hagler knocking out Hearns, it
is still remembered as “the most electrifying eight minutes of mayhem ever seen
in a ring.” Both men were punching with
fearless abandon and no thoughts of defense.
Hagler landed the knockout blow despite having his vision seriously
impaired by the blood flowing from his cuts.
Hearns was impaired by his opponent’s power and will, but it was the
fight that defined his legacy, even more than his accomplishment of winning the
championship in five different weight classes.
Overall, this was a very good book and should be read by anyone who enjoyed boxing’s golden years of the 1980’s or is a fan of the boxer.
No, with
one exception. In the chapter
describing Hearns’s 1983 bout against Roberto Duran, much of the information
the Hughes brothers cited came from Christian Guidance’s biography on Duran,
which I had previously read. Therefore,
I skimmed that part until the recap of the actual fight started.
Did I learn something new?
A few
things I already knew were explained in more detail than I already knew such as
Hearns’s falling out with his longtime trainer Emmanuel Steward. This
and other aspects of Hearns’s life and career are told in good detail.
One very interesting fact that I did not know is that Hearns wanted to be known as the “Motor City Cobra” instead of “Hit Man”, because he was sensitive about the latter tag when Detroit had the highest murder rate in the United States.
Pace of the book:
Good for the most part. I did feel it dragged at times with the stories of Steward and Kronk gym, and also at times I felt that some of the important bouts in Hearns’s career were skimmed too quickly.
The
research was well-done for the most part and the reader is in for a treat if he
or she was a fan of Tommy Hearns. His
psyche and his will to battle in the ring, no matter how badly his hand was
hurting, were legendary and this book illustrates that desire. I also appreciated how the book focused more
on his boxing career and did not delve too deeply into the other aspects of his
life. Many people do like that in
biographies, but I always prefer to read more about the career of an athlete
and this book did that.
Negatives:
There were
some editing errors for both punctuation and grammar in the ebook version. Also, another reviewer at Amazon.com pointed
out an error in the date and TV network of a fight early in Hearns’
career. Upon researching this claim, it
was noted that the reviewer was correct.
This error, along with the editing, was the only major problems with
this book. They are not a reason to
avoid the book, nor were they grave enough to keep me from enjoying it.
Do I recommend?
Yes, for fans
of Tommy Hearns or boxing, especially during the 1980’s.
Book Format Read:
Ebook
(Kindle)
Author links:
www.brianhughesbooks.bravehost.com
(Brian Hughes)www.liquidthinker.com (Damian Hughes)
One of the greatest fights I ever saw. There was another slugfest between two heavyweights that was its equal in ferocity. I just looked up the year, it was 1976, between George Foreman and Ron Lyle. I never saw such an exchange of knockdowns in a major fight.
ReplyDeleteI met Hearns at the 75th anniversary of ring magazine in Atlantic city
That is cool that you got to meet Hearns. I do remember that Foreman-Lyle fight you memtipn. Agree that it was just as vicious.
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