THOMAS ‘Hitman’ Hearns admits he was humbled by the response of the public as he followed former rivals Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran by paying a visit to the Stirk House boxing gym in Gisburn.

Hearns – the first boxer in history to win world titles in five different weight divisions - is currently touring England and became the latest in an incredible list of names to visit Stirk House.

The 56-year-old’s former opponents Leonard and Duran have also travelled to the East Lancashire venue in previous years along with Mike Tyson, Marco Antonio Barrera, Roy Jones Junior, Joe Calzaghe and Carl Froch, while David Haye is due to visit for a dinner on February 21.

Hearns met a number of local boxers at Stirk House including Qasim Niaz, Luke Blackledge, Ali Shah and AJ Faizy, wishing them luck for their bouts at King George’s Hall in Blackburn on Saturday and even enquiring whether his schedule would allow him to be there.

Other commitments mean that will not be possible but Hearns was gracious with his time in East Lancashire as he also had pictures taken with a large number of local boxing fans who had travelled to meet him.

Hearns, who is from Detroit in the United States, feels privileged to have earned such respect halfway around the world.

“It’s a wonderful thing because I’m from the States and I come to another country and get a great response from the people,” he told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“It’s awesome and it’s something that I guess everyone would love to experience.

“I’m proud, I’m very proud, but I worked hard for that - to get known and to be recognised all over the world.

“It’s something that I was looking forward to happening and now it’s here I’m very proud of it.

“I boxed for the people who came to see me, but knowing that these people in the gym here feel the same, you don’t really recognise it until you think about it.”

Hearns was named Fighter Of The Year in 1980 and 1984 – the second award coming after he knocked out Duran inside two rounds.

He twice faced Leonard and perhaps most famously featured in a ferocious duel with Marvin Hagler.

It ended in a knockout victory for Hagler, but is renowned as one of the best fights in history.

“It depends on who’s looking at it, when I’m looking at it it’s not one of the best fights of all time!” Hearns joked.

“The Marvin Hagler fight is the one I’m not too fond of, other than that fight I have a lot of great memories.

“There were just so many highlights, I can’t really pick out one that I like the most. Whatever people like, I like!

“It was the greatest era of boxing. With the people I fought then, we still talk to each other, we respect each other, it’s not like that we’re still mad at each other. We do respect at each other, at least I do.

“That was when boxing was boxing and people got a chance to see all the fights that everyone wanted to see.

“People didn’t duck and dodge no-one. They wanted to take on everybody, whoever stepped up, it was ‘Let’s go’.

“I would love to see that happen in boxing again.”