Boxing and politics have collided once again. Former President of the United States Donald Trump recently hosted a rally in Huntington Place in downtown Detroit, and guess who he invited to join him on stage. It was none other than former five-division champion Thomas ‘The Hitman’ Hearns. 

At first, Trump just took a picture with the boxing legend before taking the stage, but once he was on the stage, Trump quickly spotted Hearns, a long-time Detroit resident, in the audience and invited him on stage. The conversation that the duo had at that moment, quickly made it to social media, and boy, did the fans have things to say. 

Praise from Donald Trump made Thomas Hearns want to fight again

“I won so much money betting on this guy. … Some of the greatest fights in history,” Trump said, as the 66-year-old made his way onto the stage. “One of the greatest fights of all time, and man, I’ll tell you what, he was something special.” While on stage, Hearns seemed in disbelief at first standing next to the presidential candidate. 

“Hearing those nice words coming from you, man, this can’t be real. … Hearing it come from you, I’m very excited. I want to fight now,” Hearns responded playfully. The Boxing Hall of Famer fought professionally from 1977 all the way to 2006, becoming the first boxer to win a world championship in five different weight classes during that time. Dominating the boxing landscape in the 80s and 90s, he was known as one of the Four Kings of Boxing alongside Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, and Marvin Hagler.

He even made history in 1981 alongside Sugar Ray Leonard through their $17 million combined purse bout, which was the largest in the sport’s history at the time. Regardless, when the boxing world discovered this clip shared on X, it quickly started drawing wild responses. 

First Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali; Now, Trump has Hearns 

This is not the first time Trump and Hearns have met. This was perhaps Trump, letting Hearns take his revenge. Back in 1990, Trump had stolen the spotlight from the 66-year-old during a press conference for Hearns’ fight against Michael Olajide at the Taj Mahal casino hotel in Atlantic City. However, Hearns’ appearance didn’t seem to have the same effect on the people.

One user roped in former president Barack Obama, sarcastically suggesting he wouldn’t like this pair-up once he saw the clip. “Obama [is going to] be pissed when he sees this! 🤣,” the user wrote. Notably, the 44th U.S. President has actively voiced his support for Kamala Harris. 

Another user was disappointed to see Hearns and Trump together. “Sellout. They say never meet your heroes,” the user lamented. Safe to say that Hearns is a Republican, unfortunately for this Hearns fan. 

The next user shared a couple of pictures of Trump with other legendary boxers—Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali, claiming Trump now has support from Thomas Hearns as well. “He has Tommy Hearns, Mike Tyson, and Ali on his side. That’s my president,” wrote the user. However, Harris seems to be in a small lead in the national polls. 

While others were focused on Trump and Hearns, this user was more focused on Hearns’ speech. “That cte beating his a** worse than Marvin,” the user wrote. Hearns was struggling to speak while on stage—the user blamed it on Hearns’ CTE, which the user believed was causing him greater suffering than he did in his fight against Marvin Hagler in 1985 (Hearns lost via 3rd round technical knockout). 

The next user had a similar thought. “Yea Tommy has suffered some serious damage,” the user commented. However, the sad reality is that many boxers suffer from the same condition in their later years because of the punches they absorbed to their head over their years in boxing. 

Thomas Hearns’ appearance on stage with Donald Trump caught many by surprise. While some fans enjoyed seeing the boxing legend, others expressed concern over his condition at 66. What about you? What did you think about it?