ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 27, 1996 TAG: 9611270048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
THOMAS HEARNS, who fights Karl "The Scorpion" Willis Friday night at the Roanoke Civic Center, took time out to meet with Roanoke high school students.
Thomas Hearns has had to answer a lot of questions while preparing to return to the boxing ring after a 14-month absence.
First, he had to answer to his friends back in Detroit.
"I had a lot of questions coming at me," he told an auditorium of high school students in Roanoke on Tuesday. "Why are you going to Roanoke? Where is Roanoke? The next question: Spell Roanoke?"
"You know what I said to them? I said, 'Look, don't knock Roanoke.'''
"The people here are very friendly."
He's been invited into people's homes and shown all sorts of hospitality. "We don't do that in Detroit. We do not invite strangers to our homes to fix them a meal. I have had the most wonderful time here I've had in my whole career."
Hearns took a break from training Tuesday to talk to students at William Fleming and Patrick Henry high schools.
At Patrick Henry, he gave a brief speech and then opened things up to the students. After an initial hesitancy, the students (and a few teachers) peppered him with lots of questions, some important, some not so serious, some of a purely practical nature.
Such as: When and where is your fight?
After teasing the local fight promoter Rick Hawkins for not doing enough to get the word out, Hearns explained that his fight against Karl "The Scorpion" Willis is Friday night at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Another question: How much are you getting paid for the fight?
"I'm not going to make very much because Rick is not doing his job," Hearns said, continuing his teasing.
Pressed about his paycheck, Hearns kept bobbing and weaving: "Rick doesn't want me to discuss that - he doesn't want anyone to know how much he's paying me."
"You getting a 'G'?" a student asked, using a slang term for $1,000.
"A 'G'?" Hearns said. "I'm not going to take a 'G' to fight, no."
What about injuries? Ever had any?
Yes, Hearns said. He's broken his hands punching people in the head. "Some guys have very hard heads."
Hearns pointed to another student.
"Have you ever smoked weed?" the student asked.
The auditorium filled with chatter and laughter. Hearns said he couldn't hear the question.
"Have you ever smoked marijuana?" the student said, more boldly this time.
"No," Hearns said. "I have never, ever, done drugs. I have never smoked."
The 38-year-old boxer explained: "I feel that my body is my tool, my business, my profession."
He said he understands many kids are exposed to all sorts of temptations - drugs, alcohol and more. "You cannot be a leader by following, doing something somebody else is doing," he told them.
The questions turned back to boxing.
What was your toughest match?
Hearns said some people might think it was the 1985 title bout when Marvin Hagler knocked him out.
Actually, Hearns said, his hardest fight was in 1987 against Juan Roldan.
"He hit me so hard, I was seeing things." Hearns said he "just held on, held on" to Roldan, tying him up in clinches, until his head cleared. Then Hearns let loose a flurry of punches and won the fight. A fourth-round knockout.
Wasn't holding onto your opponent cheating?
"You must do what you have to to win," Hearns said.
How does it feel to get knocked out?
"That's a bad question." Hearns laughed, shook his head and took a step back. "It's really not a feeling. Because when you get hit, you just get hit. You get hit hard."
It's the "punches you don't see" that are the worst.
Have you ever been in a street fight?
Never.
"I ran a lot," Hearns said.
When he was a kid, "nobody would ever fight fair." If you got in a fight with someone, "there was always his buddies sitting around" ready to jump in. Hearns had long, lanky legs and if, say, somebody tried to take his bus pass, he'd turn and run home and sit on his front porch.
Hearns stepped to the edge of the stage and sat down, as if he were back on the front steps of his childhood home.
"People would call me chicken," he said, "but they never could say 'Tommy Hearns got beat up.'''
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. 1. Thomas Hearns poses with fansby CNBTalethia Stanley and Revonda Barber at William Fleming High School.
color. 2. Boxer Thomas Hearns encouraged William Fleming students to
get involved in the city's programs at the new Victory Gym.