Boxing: Motor City Cobra in Dire Need of Pet Rescue

Perhaps the saddest sporting sight of the weekend was of one of the legends of boxing, Tommy Hearns, getting back into the ring after a five-year absence for a paid fight at the age of 46.

For the record, the "Hitman" won. But the fighter in the opposite corner, a journeyman named John Long, would not have been fit to be employed even as a sparring partner when Hearns was in his prime.

I am assured that Hearns, who earned a fortune fighting men such as Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran in the 80s, is not short of money.

Perhaps it is more that he envies his son Ronald, who is now a professional fighter and was appearing on the same bill in Detroit. But Tommy, who has held genuine world title belts at every weight from welterweight through to light-heavyweight, is deluding himself if he thinks he can be a title contender once again.

The old champion's former trainer, Emanuel Steward, chose to stay away as the man he groomed for greatness at the Kronk Gym looked a shadow of his old self, according to ringside observers.

Hearns had to absorb heavy head shots before flooring Long in the sixth round and eventually finishing him in the eighth. Steward's argument is that Hearns is free to do what he wants, it is just that Steward would prefer not to watch.

What Emanuel knows, and Tommy should be told, is that Hearns is a shot fighter. I remember commentating on his only British appearance six years ago when he fought like a man sleepwalking. Yes, he won the fight against Nate Miller, but it was like watching a slow-motion replay of the fighter who was once known as the Motor City Cobra.

Hearns never was the most articulate of men, but he now slurs his speech alarmingly and would seem to be playing Russian roulette with his health if he persists in a comeback that seems certain to come to a painful end.

It is utterly inconceivable that our British Boxing Board of Control would ever allow him to fight in this country, and the state of Michigan, who sanctioned this latest abomination, should be ashamed of themselves for a decision that drags boxing's name into the gutter.