Note: I was originally going to use this story in my book but I couldn't really find a place for it. So here you go
Clearing The Hitman:
It's been almost a full twenty-one years and I think now might be a good time to clear the name of Tommy "Hitman" Hearns who might have been accused somewhere down the line of who knows what stemming from a trip to Las Vegas in November of 1989 that he didn't actually take.
What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas according to some people but I think the statute of limitations is up on this one.
We were out in Las Vegas for my stable mate Troy Wortham's scheduled WBA title fight with then-champion Julian Jackson (The title fight actually got canceled after we got there because of a detached retina suffered by Julian and Troy ended up fighting future 154 pound champion Julio Caesar Vazquez instead). The camp consisted of myself, Troy, our manager F. Mac Buckley, Hartford trainer Johnny Duke and Troy's second sparring partner, middleweight Michael "Knock Em' Out" Bell.
So it wasn't long after we touched down in Vegas that we were eating somewhere or something, I forget exactly what, and someone mentioned to us how Michael looked like Tommy Hearns and the more we all looked at him the more we realized that the guy was right (you see where this is going, right?).
What ensued after that was a full week or more of Tommy Hearns sighting all over Vegas that were bolstered more often than not by me yelling out to Michael in crowded casinos and restaurants ("Tommy, wait up, man!")
One night we were at Caesars Palace for dinner and when we came in someone at the front of the restaurant mentioned how nice it was to have Tommy there for his meal that night. Well, I heard that and it was all I needed. We are sitting at the table eating and I am seeing people out of the corner of my eye as they kind of lean in and tilt their heads slightly to get a better listen of our conversation. I did not disappoint them, either.
"Tommy, now listen, when we sit down with Sugar Ray and everybody tomorrow I'm telling you. If they want a third fight (Tommy and Ray had just fought their 12 round draw five months earlier out in the parking lot of this same hotel) then they're gonna' have to pay up. You gotta' get twelve million and not a penny less. OK??"
Michael just sat there shaking his head up and down, trying as hard as he could to look serious and not to laugh.
When dinner was over we weren't able to leave the restaurant until the cook and some of the other employees could come out and meet Tommy Hearns.
Another night saw the two of us in the hotel lobby playing slot machines when I found myself in a conversation with one of the waitresses who asked what brought me to Vegas.
"Oh, well, I'm here negotiating the next Tommy Hearns-Sugar Ray Leonard fight. We're going for twelve million or there's no fight. The meeting is tomorrow. Tommy's right over there, wanna' meet him?"
I had to call out to him three or four times, loudly, before Michael finally realized I was yelling to him.
Another time, without getting into too much detail, (use your imagination) Michael met a young lady in line at the McDonald's right near the Stratosphere who was more than thrilled to meet the Motor City Cobra
Our trip also ended on a high note in the airport as we got ready to head back to Connecticut the day after the fight as numerous members of that crack squad of airport security they have out there found themselves extremely excited when I informed them that the unusual image that was showing up on their X-ray machine was the WBC middleweight championship belt belonging to the man standing right next to me, Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns (if they had bothered to open the case they would have seen it was actually the ESPN welterweight championship belt belonging to Troy "Schoolboy" Wortham, who was also standing right next to me).
If that wasn't funny enough it got even better just moments later when I noticed a curious audience of guys in the mens room who were too shy to speak up (maybe because the Hitman and I were both standing in front urinals at the time). I finished first and before I exited the room I said something like "OK, Tommy, I'll see you out at the gate."
That was it.
As I was leaving I caught a glimpse of a bathroom full of grown men offering up their well wishes (and hands to shake) to the Motor City Cobra himself. One relentless guy even chased Michael down the hallway with a newly bought Sports Illustrated for him to sign. More drama and excitement was added to the mix when I had Tommy Hearns paged to our gate several times before Michael actually strolled up.
When we got back home one of our local newspapers found out all about our Las Vegas prank and did an interview with Michael to get his take on it all.
The final question of the interview was "And what would you do if the real Tommy Hearns came up to you out there that week?"
"That would be no problem. I would just say to him 'How are you doing, Tommy? I'm Michael Bell,'" he wisely said.
ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY
Clearing The Hitman:
It's been almost a full twenty-one years and I think now might be a good time to clear the name of Tommy "Hitman" Hearns who might have been accused somewhere down the line of who knows what stemming from a trip to Las Vegas in November of 1989 that he didn't actually take.
What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas according to some people but I think the statute of limitations is up on this one.
We were out in Las Vegas for my stable mate Troy Wortham's scheduled WBA title fight with then-champion Julian Jackson (The title fight actually got canceled after we got there because of a detached retina suffered by Julian and Troy ended up fighting future 154 pound champion Julio Caesar Vazquez instead). The camp consisted of myself, Troy, our manager F. Mac Buckley, Hartford trainer Johnny Duke and Troy's second sparring partner, middleweight Michael "Knock Em' Out" Bell.
So it wasn't long after we touched down in Vegas that we were eating somewhere or something, I forget exactly what, and someone mentioned to us how Michael looked like Tommy Hearns and the more we all looked at him the more we realized that the guy was right (you see where this is going, right?).
What ensued after that was a full week or more of Tommy Hearns sighting all over Vegas that were bolstered more often than not by me yelling out to Michael in crowded casinos and restaurants ("Tommy, wait up, man!")
One night we were at Caesars Palace for dinner and when we came in someone at the front of the restaurant mentioned how nice it was to have Tommy there for his meal that night. Well, I heard that and it was all I needed. We are sitting at the table eating and I am seeing people out of the corner of my eye as they kind of lean in and tilt their heads slightly to get a better listen of our conversation. I did not disappoint them, either.
"Tommy, now listen, when we sit down with Sugar Ray and everybody tomorrow I'm telling you. If they want a third fight (Tommy and Ray had just fought their 12 round draw five months earlier out in the parking lot of this same hotel) then they're gonna' have to pay up. You gotta' get twelve million and not a penny less. OK??"
Michael just sat there shaking his head up and down, trying as hard as he could to look serious and not to laugh.
When dinner was over we weren't able to leave the restaurant until the cook and some of the other employees could come out and meet Tommy Hearns.
Another night saw the two of us in the hotel lobby playing slot machines when I found myself in a conversation with one of the waitresses who asked what brought me to Vegas.
"Oh, well, I'm here negotiating the next Tommy Hearns-Sugar Ray Leonard fight. We're going for twelve million or there's no fight. The meeting is tomorrow. Tommy's right over there, wanna' meet him?"
I had to call out to him three or four times, loudly, before Michael finally realized I was yelling to him.
Another time, without getting into too much detail, (use your imagination) Michael met a young lady in line at the McDonald's right near the Stratosphere who was more than thrilled to meet the Motor City Cobra
Our trip also ended on a high note in the airport as we got ready to head back to Connecticut the day after the fight as numerous members of that crack squad of airport security they have out there found themselves extremely excited when I informed them that the unusual image that was showing up on their X-ray machine was the WBC middleweight championship belt belonging to the man standing right next to me, Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns (if they had bothered to open the case they would have seen it was actually the ESPN welterweight championship belt belonging to Troy "Schoolboy" Wortham, who was also standing right next to me).
If that wasn't funny enough it got even better just moments later when I noticed a curious audience of guys in the mens room who were too shy to speak up (maybe because the Hitman and I were both standing in front urinals at the time). I finished first and before I exited the room I said something like "OK, Tommy, I'll see you out at the gate."
That was it.
As I was leaving I caught a glimpse of a bathroom full of grown men offering up their well wishes (and hands to shake) to the Motor City Cobra himself. One relentless guy even chased Michael down the hallway with a newly bought Sports Illustrated for him to sign. More drama and excitement was added to the mix when I had Tommy Hearns paged to our gate several times before Michael actually strolled up.
When we got back home one of our local newspapers found out all about our Las Vegas prank and did an interview with Michael to get his take on it all.
The final question of the interview was "And what would you do if the real Tommy Hearns came up to you out there that week?"
"That would be no problem. I would just say to him 'How are you doing, Tommy? I'm Michael Bell,'" he wisely said.
ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY
Btw, do you have any pics of Michael Bell?
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