A rather curious pick featured on Tommy Hearns‘ Instagram post. It had Joe Rogan talking about his famous fighting style. The clip, it seems, had boxing’s first five-division champion walk down memory lane. His career commenced while Muhammad Ali still retained his heavyweight championship. And he carried on till Floyd Mayweather Jr. ruled the sport. Nevertheless, swinging through these luminaries, ‘The Motor City Cobra’ carved out his own space. Hearns joined ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, and collectively the ‘Four Kings’ enthralled boxing fans through the post-Ali era of the mid-80s.

Incidentally, just a week ago, on September 16, Tommy Hearns celebrated the 43rd anniversary of his first fight with Ray Leonard. The bout, though, entered the records as his career first loss. Diehards still remember the fifteen-round bout. It seesawed between two boxers who fought in the most contrasting style unusual to them.

“There’s love and distaste for this style of boxing,” wrote Tommy Hearns as he addressed Joe Rogan’s observations about his fighting style. The JRE host was in conversation with comedian Andrew Santino. The interview is rather an old one, taken from the podcast’s episode number 1293, which dates back to 2019.

The conversation sparked off as the duo started the discussion. Sportspersons across the disciplines played according to their own specific differences. The bottom line: “I don’t think there’s any right way in sports,” as ‘Cheeto’ Santino highlighted. From the way the ‘measles’ cue ball evolved in pool to the detailed attention some of the golfers paid on their gold balls and clubs, the discourse covered baseball shots and jump shots in basketball.

It was time somebody touched base with boxing. Joe Rogan did the honors. Andrew Santino said, “It’s just consistency and their inner balance over, you know, the timing that they have and the release that they have; that’s just that’s got to be the same thing in every sport.”

“For sure in boxing too,” stated Rogan. He added further how in boxing, any trainer worth his salt would first guide his charge to keep the hands up. Protect the head always—every time. However, he pointed out there were exceptions, such as Tommy Hearns. He said, “The way Tommy Hearns used to fight—he used to keep his left low, really low, and his right hand cocked, and he would snap that left hand at you like a f**king Cobra.”

Tommy Hearns: Speak your mind.

So ‘The Hitman’ argued, many would find it running congruent with Rogan and Santino’s conversation. For sure, it would have delighted the sticklers for fundamentals had he, like most boxers, kept a high guard. Adopting the most basic boxing defense would have ensured him taking a lesser number of hits.

But then Hearns asked. Had he stuck with the style, then would he have scored so many knockouts that elevated his game to boxing highs? And to prove his point, the clip further featured some of his most famous knockouts. It included the remarkable second-round knockout of ‘The Hands of Stone’ Duran and the Ray Leonard knockdown during their rematch, alongside many others.

Given what he did for boxing, perhaps Thomas Hearns doesn’t owe an explanation to anyone at all.

Who was your favorite boxer among the ‘Four Kings’?