Hearns’ son follows him into the world of boxing

Thomas “Hitman” Hearns was in Las Vegas to watch his son, Ron Hearns, fight on Saturday’s undercard.

By JOHN BASSETTI

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

LAS VEGAS — You’ve heard of getting into an elevator and, looking down at the feet of the other riders, seeing cloven hooves.

If that’s the case, enjoy the ride that can only be downhill (with no return).

But a ride upward to the 17th floor of the MGM Grand Saturday afternoon produced a different kind of surprise.

After stepping into an elevator with three gentlemen, the door closed.

Immediately, the eyes went downward to the feet of the riders.

What wild, white square-toed shoes were observed.

Upon looking up, the shoes’ owner had a somewhat familiar face.

He turned out to be Thomas “Hitman” Hearns.

The former middleweight boxing champion was in Las Vegas to watch his son, 29-year-old, Ron Hearns, who was 17-0 before his performance on the Pavlik-Taylor undercard, fighting against Juan Astorga of Kansas in a super-welterweight bout.

When Thomas Hearns was his son’s current age, he was already champion of the world.

“Three-time world champion,” Hearns emphasized.

“Hitman” said his son started his boxing career late because he went to college first, starting at the University of Illinois, then American University in D.C. where he played basketball at first.

He stressed to his son that he had to have something to fall back on.

“Get your education first, then come back and do whatever you want to do,” the elder Hearns said.

“When he finished school he said, ‘Dad, I’m ready to box,’ so he’s been doing that ever since,” Hearns said of Ron when he was 24-years old.

“After he got out of school he decided he didn’t want to play basketball, so he started boxing,” Thomas said. “That’s what he did. Now, he has an education and it can take him very far and he can box, too.”

Hearns is now 49, still lives in the Detroit area and is a big supporter of the Kronk gym where he trained during his heyday.

“It’s something that will always be part of me,” he said.

Thomas Hearns said he’s trying to get into the entertainment business.

“I’m doing music [promotion] and boxing at the same time.”

However, Thomas Hearns won’t try singing.

“I’ve done enough entertaining over the years,” he said.

bassetti@vindy.com