Tommy “Hitman” Hearns May Have Been Exploited, Kidnapped
Charlie LeDuff's reporting revealed that Hearns had lost his Southfield home, and a probate court has now appointed his eldest son as sole guardian
Tommy Hearns, the former boxing champion, is now under conservatorship and guardianship according to local news sources, which calls into question whether those tasked with taking care of one of the biggest names in boxing were up to no good.
Michigan Enjoyer’s Charlie LeDuff reported on Hearns’s whereabouts in December last year based on concerns from Hearns’s daughter, Natasha Hearns-Barnes. She said her father was not doing well.
Hearns’s Southfield home was pulled out from under him, LeDuff reported. It was foreclosed on in April and he was served an eviction notice in November.
Thomas Hearns Jr. supposedly handled his father’s money, and he may have had a hand in how the elderly man who won over $40 million in prize money lost a home that he owned outright.
After LeDuff reported the story about the sad state of Hearns’s finances and the financial mystery behind how he lost his 8,700 square-foot property, Tommy Hearns Jr. invited him to speak with the boxing legend to prove everything is A-OK.
At one point, the son told LeDuff to issue an apology for trying to help Hearns get his house back, or at least the funds he is entitled to from the sale of it.
“I think it’s just that you issue an apology,” Hearns Jr. said. “I don’t think you gave us a fair shake. I think you went off of one person’s word and didn’t allow us to even speak to you.”
LeDuff called him three times. No apology needed.
According to WXYZ, Junior has been relieved of duty by the court, which appointed his oldest son Ronald Hearns as sole guardian and conservator for the elder Tommy Hearns. The station reported Adult Protective Services testified that they are looking into whether Hearns was exploited and kidnapped.
Typically, an old man’s welfare is a private family matter and not the business of journalists, but LeDuff and Enjoyer felt like it was important to intervene on behalf of a local icon who seemed to have experienced more than just bad luck in recent years.
In it all, Hearns Sr. has held his head up.
“I’m fine. I want the world to know I’m doing fine. I feel good,” Hearns told WXYZ.
Hearns was in good spirits when he spoke with LeDuff in December. But that doesn’t change the fact that his money is gone, and now his house is, too.
If no one had questioned his whereabouts and made the financial aspect of his situation public, there’s no telling where “The Hitman” would find himself today.
Even fighters need someone in their corner.
