Thomas Hearns Holds An Auction In Detroit: Autographed Boxing Memorabilia Unloaded To Pay Irs Debt

If you are like me and love the sport of boxing, autographed boxing memorabilia can be cherished prizes for a purist. I was born in 1970, and I was a little kid when Muhammad Ali was fighting in the mid to late 70's. Any autograph from ‘The Greatest' would be considered gold to any boxing fan. There are also some other great fighters that have an abundance of autographed boxing memorabilia in the marketplace. Sugar Ray Leonard is a fighter that comes to mind. Mike Tyson autographed items are very valuable. If you are lucky enough to have anything signed from greats like Sugar Ray Robinson, Jake LaMotta, Joe Louis, Larry Holmes, Aaron Pryor, Alexis Arguello, and Marvin Hagler, you are definitely a happy fan. Autographed boxing memorabilia is like gold to a true boxing fan.

This brings me to my point.  I read on internet yesterday that the great Thomas Hearns has unloaded some of his personal boxing possessions at an auction in his hometown of Detroit. Hearns, an eight time world champion (61-5-1), didn't duck the challenge of paying a debt. The Associated Press reported that 51 year old Thomas ‘Hit Man' Hearns held the auction to help pay off a $448,000 debt to the Internal Revenue Service. Hearns said it ‘went well' and people were ‘very kind' to come out to the event billed as the "Battle of His Life". The report did not go into detail how Hearns acquired the debt, but nonetheless, he had to do what he had to in order to pay the debt. Reportedly, these items were not officially autographed boxing memorabilia. However, they were his personal items like a 1957 Chevy, three boats, a three wheeled motorcycle, and general boxing memorabilia. Again, it wasn't stated whether the memorabilia was actually autographed boxing memorabilia -but one would have to assume it would be autographed in order to get more value. The IRS was on hand to collect its money. It was not determined how much money was raised. The outpouring of support for Hearns' ordeal was admirable - or was it.
I think many people wanted to help Thomas Hearns, but at the end of the day, people wanted to get their hands on some of that autographed sports memorabilia and Hearns' personal items. This is the nature of the business. Let's hope Thomas Hearns overcomes his financial trouble and can hopefully keep the remainder of his prized personal possessions - if there are any left.

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