Thomas ‘The Hitman’ Hearns made no mistake in naming the strongest opponent of his illustrious professional boxing career.

The Tennessee-native rose to stardom during the 1980s where he became a member of ‘The Four Kings’ alongside former rivals Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran.

‘The Hitman’ cemented his place in the boxing history books back in 1988 when he defeated James Kinchen to capture the WBO super-middleweight champion and become the first fighter to win world titles in five weight classes.

Perhaps the best victory of Hearns’ career came when he stopped Panamanian icon Duran in the 2nd round of their 1984 clash to retain his WBC light-middleweight title for the second time.

Speaking to The Ring Magazine, Hearns spoke highly of former rival Marvin Hagler as he claims his countryman was undoubtedly the strongest fighter that he ever crossed paths with.

“I hit him with everything but the kitchen sink. He continued and kept coming forward. I moved him but he just kept coming forward.”

Hearns and Hagler locked horns for the undisputed middleweight championship in April of 1985, producing one of the most action-packed contests of all time and arguably the greatest opening round the sport has ever seen.

Hagler got the better of Hearns on the night, stopping him in the third round of their bout at Caesars Palace in what would prove to be the penultimate defence of his middleweight crown which he would eventually surrender to Sugar Ray Leonard just two years later.