" Hagler, despite a cut to the head and being covered in blood, managed to overpower Hearns in the third round after a glancing right hand followed by two more rights and a left, scoring a decisive knockout.

Pryor, on the other hand, was fearsome, intimidating and, despite possessing great talent and having been a peer of greats Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns, was the recipient of limited media coverage.

On April 15, 1985, Hagler and Thomas Hearns met in what was billed as The Fight ; later it would become known as " The War.

Its first championship fight was for its vacant super middleweight title, between Thomas Hearns and James Kinchen ; Hearns won by decision.

20 minutes after the first of the two co main events was over, it was Hearns ' turn to step into the ring and challenge Benitez.

When the decision was announced, it was a majority decision: two judges had voted for Hearns, ( 144-139 and 146-136, according to KO magazine ) and one for a draw ( 142-142 ), making Hearns the WBC's new world Jr Middleweight champion.

Hearns was named Ring Magazine fighter of the year in 1980 and 1984 and is best known for his fights with Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Durán.

Born in Grand Junction, Tennessee on October 18, 1958, Hearns was the youngest of three children in his mother's first marriage.

On her own, Mrs. Hearns raised Tommy and his siblings in Grand Junction until Tommy was five years old ; then the family moved to Detroit, Michigan.

Hearns was voted " Fighter of the Year " by Ring Magazine in 1980.

Hearns was dazed, totally out of gas and received a count but was saved by the bell.

Hearns was able to stun Hagler soon after the opening bell, but he subsequently broke his right hand in the first round.

" The battle did go back and forth some, but Hearns was unable to capitalize on his early successes against Hagler, and the hand injury ultimately contributed to his undoing.

Hearns beat the count but was totally gone and the referee stopped the fight.

This was Hearns's sixth Superfight, a fight which much of the public believed Hearns won, flooring Leonard in both the 3rd and 11th rounds.

Leonard later admitted that he believed Hearns had beaten him and that he was gifted the draw, stating the fighters were 1-1 in his book.

On June 23, 1997, Hearns appeared on a WWE telecast, performing in a storyline making use of kayfabe, where he was taunted and challenged by professional wrestler Bret " Hitman " Hart.

Hearns " attacked " Jim Neidhart and knocked him down as he was standing in front of Hart.

Due to personal financial issues, Hearns was forced to auction off his possessions at The Auction Block of Detroit, Michigan on April 3, 2010.

Hearns dropped Leonard with a right cross in the third round, but Leonard came back and battered Hearns around the ring in the fifth round.

He fell near the ropes, almost the same way that Sugar Ray Leonard had dropped Thomas Hearns in round thirteen of their 1981 fight.

Hearns started to stick and move, and he started to pile up points again.

Seconds later, however, the two were trading power punches, with Hagler trying to get inside and to pin Hearns to the ropes again.

Hearns tied up Hagler again and tried to slow the pace by boxing rather than trading power punches with Hagler, who was still the aggressor.

In round three, Hearns again tried to set the pace.

He came on strong and put Hearns through the ropes at the end of the round.

By the end of round five, Leonard had a growing swelling under his left eye, and Hearns had built a considerable lead on the scorecards.

He fought during a period when an unusual number of accomplished welterweights were active: Sugar Ray Leonard, Wilfred Benítez, Carlos Palomino, Thomas Hearns, and Roberto Durán, although his reign had nearly come to an end as Leonard, Benítez, Hearns, and Duran emerged as welterweight champions.

Then superstar Thomas Hearns would meet-and defeat-Hill in Las Vegas by decision in June 1991 to end Hill's first reign as champion.

Hagler developed a cut on his forehead, but didn't slow as he pinned Hearns to the ropes and meted out more punishment, eventually hurting Hearns at the end of the round.

By the end of the round, Hagler pinned Hearns to the ropes, successfully landing a volley of punches.

The first round of Hagler v Hearns is often considered to be among the best three minutes in boxing in middleweight history as the two fighters stood toe-to-toe trading blows.

Rounds two and three couldn't live up to the first, as Hearns broke his hand in the first round, but were still very competitive.

After the Hearns-Shuler fight, Shuler, who had lost by knockout in the first round, showed up at Arum's hotel room to thank him for the opportunity to fight Hearns.

Hearns also got up, and won the ninth round.

Hearns, however, knew he needed the next few rounds to secure another world title, and he outboxed Benitez in round twelve using his jab.

In round fifteen, Hearns seemed to think he had the decision secured, and Benitez seemed to imagine he needed a knockout to win, so Hearns proceeded to use his jab for three more minutes and Benitez tried to avoid defeat by throwing quick combinations onto Hearns ' face to see if he could find the punch that would finally lay down The Hitman for good.

In that bout Barkley first knocked Hearns down in the third round and a discombobulated Hearns appeared to be in no shape to continue but Steele let him go on, stating after the fight that a great champion like Hearns should be given the chance to pull himself together.

Hearns ended Cuevas's 4-year reign by beating him by TKO in the second round.

" In this legendary fight, Hearns suffered his first professional defeat when Leonard stopped him in the 14th round.

Hearns started the round boxing and moving, but after staggering Hearns with an overhand right, Leonard pinned Hearns against the ropes.

This tactic worked fairly well, but in the third round a smiling Hearns turned his back on Hagler after an exchange.

Hearns quickly made amends by dispatching undefeated rising star James " Black Gold " Shuler with a devastating first round knockout in 1986.

* August 2-Thomas Hearns defeats Jose Pipino Cuevas by a knockout in round 2 to win boxing's WBA world Welterweight title and Yasutsune Uehara knocks out Samuel Serrano in round six to win the WBA's world Jr. Lightweight title in Detroit

In 1981, Main Events became the promoter of the first bout between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns, won by Leonard by a knockout in round 14.