Sports
Thomas Hearns
born 1958 · boxer, champion in five weight divisions
The Kronk Gym's most famous product: a lanky Detroit fighter who became the first boxer to win world titles in five weight divisions.
- Born
Grand Junction, Tennessee
age 67- Also known as
- The Hitman · Motor City Cobra · Tommy Hearns
- Detroit years
- 1963–present
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Hearns was five when his family moved from rural Tennessee to Detroit. As a teenager he walked into the basement gym of the Kronk Recreation Center on the west side, where Emanuel Steward was turning neighborhood kids into champions, and he stayed with Steward for most of his career. He turned professional in Detroit in 1977, and on August 2, 1980, at the new Joe Louis Arena, he knocked out Pipino Cuevas in two rounds to become WBA welterweight champion. Wearing Kronk's red and gold, he fought Sugar Ray Leonard in 1981 and Marvin Hagler in 1985 in two of the most famous bouts of the era. In 1987 he stopped Dennis Andries at Cobo Hall to take the WBC light heavyweight belt. Hearns still lives in metro Detroit and has served as a reserve officer with the Detroit Police Department.
Highlights
- First boxer to win world titles in five weight divisions
- Won the WBA welterweight title at Joe Louis Arena in 1980
- Classic fights with Sugar Ray Leonard (1981) and Marvin Hagler (1985)
- Won the WBC light heavyweight title at Cobo Hall in 1987
- Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2012
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Played here · 1970s–2006
Brewster–Wheeler Recreation Center
Demolished · 1921–2006
The basement gym where Emanuel Steward trained him; closed in 2006, gutted by fire in 2017 and demolished by the city in 2018.
Played here · 1980
Joe Louis Arena
Demolished · 1979–2017
Where he knocked out Pipino Cuevas for his first world title in August 1980.
Played here · 1987
Cobo Arena
Scene of his 1987 win over Dennis Andries for the WBC light heavyweight title.