Thomas Hearns: Hagler Was 'Different Class' but Leonard Did the Most Damage
Thomas Hearns has revisited his iconic battles with the other members of the Four Kings, naming Marvin Hagler as the hardest puncher he faced while saying Sugar Ray Leonard inflicted the most damage in their encounters.
Thomas Hearns on Hagler's punching power
Hearns singled out Marvin Hagler for his raw power, describing Hagler as "different class" when it came to punching strength. He made it clear that, while he battled all three of his Four Kings contemporaries, Hagler stood apart in terms of forceful impact. Hearns pointed to the intense, short-lived middleweight clash they had as evidence that Hagler presented the sternest test in the power department.
Leonard inflicted the most damage, Hearns says
At the same time, Hearns drew a separation between pure punching power and the overall damage taken across a fight. He said his contests with Sugar Ray Leonard did the most damage to him, noting that those longer, tactical meetings left a heavier toll. Hearns emphasized that the length and nature of his bouts with Leonard resulted in more cumulative damage than his shorter showdowns with Hagler or his stoppage of Roberto Duran.
How the Four Kings' fights shaped Hearns' view
Hearns reflected on outcomes across the rivalries to support his assessments. He acknowledged that he halted Roberto Duran while being stopped by both Leonard and Hagler, and that a later rematch with Leonard finished as a contentious draw. One account framed his career as spanning 67 professional fights, while another summarized his long tenure by noting a final record of 61-5-1 and a near 30-year run in the sport. Those differing tallies sit alongside his on-ring verdicts: Hagler as the hardest hitter and Leonard as the opponent who ultimately did him the most damage.
The pair of perspectives offered by Hearns — one focused on single-punch authority and the other on the cumulative effect of prolonged warfare — underscores the distinct challenges posed by each member of the Four Kings. Hearns credited Hagler with delivering the most formidable individual shots, yet he reserved his strongest praise for the significance of his Leonard fights in terms of lasting physical wear.
His comments revisit a celebrated era of rivalry and invite renewed debate about how to measure a fighter's most dangerous opponent: by the hardest single punch landed or by the total damage endured over the course of a fight or career. In Hearns' view, the answers lie in both assessments — Hagler for the force of his blows, Leonard for the cumulative toll.
