By Special to the Daily World
Seven-time World Boxing Champion and current International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns will be the special guest of honor at the Georgia Boxing Championship (GBC) on March 2 at 6:30 p.m. at The Buckhead Theatre, 3110 Roswell Road in Atlanta.
The Georgia Boxing Championship is a Vegas-style professional boxing series held at the beautiful Buckhead facility and features the best professional boxers from Georgia and around the Southeast, while the GBC and The Big Rock Out traditionally honor great champions from the sport of boxing, having previously honored Evander Holyfield, Vernon Forrest and local amateur boxing legends, Buddy & Bo Davis,
Hearns’ professional boxing record (1977-2006) was 61-5-1, with 48 knockouts. He was an instrumental part of a legendary foursome, along with Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran, that elevated the sport through the 1980s with an exhilarating round robin of mega fights in the welterweight through middleweight classes.
Born in Grand Junction, Tenn., Hearns moved to Detroit at the age of 5 and began his boxing career at the age of 8. It wasn’t long before he ended up in Hall of Famer Emanuel Steward’s Kronk Gym. Hearns boasted an amateur record of 155-8 and by the age of 19 had won the National Amateur Athletic Union Light Welterweight Championship and National Golden Gloves Light Welterweight Championship.
At 21, Hearns first became World Boxing Association (WBA) champion on Aug. 2, 1980, and he defended his title three times in 1980-81. In September 1981, he faced (WBC) welterweight champion Sugar Ray Leonard. Hearns lost that first clash, but the two would later meet for yet another one of Hearns’ epic battles.
By 1987, Hearns was the first man to win four world titles in the welterweight, junior middle, middleweight, and light heavyweight divisions. By the time he retired in 2006 he had earned seven world titles.
The GBC is presented by Tecate, Gentleman Jack whiskey, 680 The Fan, Xfinity, CarSmarts and Punch Cigars. For ticket information visit www.GeorgiaBoxingChampionship.com