I was in Atlantic City with some friends who were fighting on a PKA (Professional Karate Association) kickboxing card. We had some downtime before the matches, so we wandered through the casinos.
At one point, we passed a conference room with a simple sign out front that read:
Thomas Hearns
That was it. No explanation. Just his name.
Naturally, we peeked inside. Sitting in the middle of the room was a full boxing ringāempty for the moment. Someone walked by and told us there would be a training session starting shortly and that we were welcome to watch.
We needed confirmation. One of my friends asked,
āIs this for Tommy āHit Manā Hearns?ā
The guy replied,
āYeah. Heās fighting in a couple of days.ā
That was all we needed to hear. We grabbed seats right up front, next to the ring.
Only a handful of people ended up showing up to watch. It wasnāt crowded or stagedājust a quiet room with a few spectators. That made it feel like a real privilege: watching an elite, world-class champion of his caliber train just a few feet away from us.
A few minutes later, fighters from Kronk Gym started filing in and warming up. Each one had a different rhythm and styleāshadowboxing, footwork, movement. It was incredible watching an elite pool of fighters go through their paces up close.
Then Thomas Hearns walked into the room with his trainer, Emanuel Steward.
We were in awe. The speed. The power. The precision. I remember all of us thinking the same thing: āAnd Sugar Ray Leonard was somehow even better than this?ā
Side noteāSugar Ray Leonard was a hometown hero to us. We grew up in Maryland and followed his career from the Montreal Olympics all the way through his professional run.
Hearns trained for about an hour, then generously stayed to sign autographs. One of my friends dared me to ask him to write:
āTo John, my friend from Palmer Park, MD.ā
Palmer Park was where Sugar Ray Leonard grew up and still lived at the time.
Normally, Iād take a dumb-but-funny dare like that without hesitation. But after watching Hearns train and spar up closeāseeing that kind of greatness just a few feet away?
I chose respect over the dare.
Hereās the photo Mr. Hearns signed for meāone of my favorite collecting memories.