The Showtime Network’s weekend of boxing began with junior middleweight Ronald Hearns (18-0) taking on Kansan Jose Luis Gonzalez (12-3-1) in the Caribbean splendor of the Grand Cayman Islands. Hearns is the son of the legendary Thomas Hearns.

It is hard not thinking about the father while watching the son.

The Motor City Cobra was in The Chosen One’s corner often taking the advice reins from his son’s trainer. After the fight Thomas had the endearing smile of a proud father. He might have been happier after this fight than he had been for any of his own. It was a touching scene.

Ronald’s lanky body, body shoulder blades, hard punch, easy gait, and facial similarities quickly remind you of Thomas. But sadly Ronald is not the elite level fighter that his father was. Not everyone can be. Ronald disposed of Gonzalez in the 7th when the Kansas fighter’s corner through in the towel after he took in a few rounds worth of pounding blows to the head.

A lot more was expected of Hearns if he was to prove worthy of a middleweight contender. At 29, Ronald isn’t young. When his father was 29 he was 45-2-0, had already beaten Wilfred Benitez and Roberto Duran. The losses, of course, were to Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler.

Is Ronald getting TV time because of his famous name? Maybe, but it doesn’t matter. He’s winning his fights, his offensive skills are entertaining, and the physical similarities he shares with his father elicit a fond nostalgia for a better age. We want to see more of Ronald, at least until his severely lacking defensive prowess is exposed by a more skilled fighter.

Photo Source: Newscom.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Ronald Hearns Opens Showtime Weekend of Boxing

In the mail today I received an advanced copy of George Kimball’s forthcoming book Four Kings. The book profiles the four great middleweights of what the book’s subtitle refers to as “The Last Great Era of Boxing”: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, and Duran. No first names are needed.

I’m usually the first person to dismiss and be angered by baby boomer claims that athletes were different then and that their era of sports was the best. The glorious eighties. Problem is that when I am confronted with their challenge of “well then, whose a great middleweight now?” I can only stammer back with Kelly Pavlik.

I’m not saying The Ghost isn’t as talented as those luminaries but what evidence do I have? I guess Jermain Taylor but his fight two Saturday’s ago against Gary Lockett was so appalling and such a mismatch that I didn’t blog about it. It wasn’t exactly news.

Pavlik’s biggest excuse is that he’s only 26 and still has time. What’s Joe Calzaghe’s excuse? He’s spent his whole career running from the top competition, sequestering himself in the Welsh countryside. Talks continue to fester about him fighting 39-year-old Roy Jones, Jr. and skipping out on Pavlik. “It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that (Pavlik and I) will face each other, but I think Jones is the right fight for me at the moment.” Calzaghe told reporters.

What he’s telling boxing and his fans is that he doesn’t and never has cared about them or the greater context of his sport.

And that’s his priority. It’s his body that he’s putting on the line and his career he has to look after. Is that fair to us as fans? Does it really matter?

All we can hope for is that another talented set of fighters come again and choose to fight each other in their primes. Is that such a crazy concept?

Photo Source: Newscom.com

Post from: EveryJoe

When Will Another Four Kings Ever Return?

Image details: Ronald Hearns v Robert Kamya served by picapp.com

That’s a headline bound to make any fight fan drool. Aaron “The Hawk” Pryor versus Thomas “Hitman” Hearns. Sadly, a professional rematch of Pryor’s 1976 light welterweight Golden Gloves victory over Hearns never happened. That’s not to say we won’t see those two last names on a title fight marquee sometime in the future.

Tonight at the San Manuel Casino in Highland, Calif. the scions of those two greats, Aaron Pryor, Jr. and Ronald “The Chosen One” Hearns, continue their path to boxing stardom. Interestingly, the two 29-year-olds have taken strikingly similar routes: both were initially dissuaded from the sport by their fathers, both took up basketball eventually earning college hoops scholarships, both couldn’t resist the genetic urge of the sweet science, both earnestly asked for their famous father’s blessing, both then trained at Detroit’s Kronk gym, and both are currently still undefeated.

Both are also expected to sail through tonight’s matches and achieve bigger and better things. The 6′3″ light middleweight Hearns (18-0) faces San Manuel casino regular Alan Velasco (8-1) while the 6′4 1/2″ middleweight Pryor (9-0) squares off against Puerto Rican Devin Lopez (7-2).

The San Manuel Casino is also promoting appearances tonight by heavyweight great Joe Frazier as well as Thomas Hearns. No word on the Hawk. Let’s hope that young Pryor and Hearns avoid the career ignominy of Frazier’s son Marvis who is best known for dual first round knockouts at the hands of Mike Tyson and Larry Holmes.

If you’re in the San Bernardino area tonight fight tickets are $50, $75, and $100. Doors open at 6:30.

Post from: EveryJoe

Pryor and Hearns Fight Tonight