With the race for the Whitehouse rapidly coming to an end, with Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton seemingly neck and neck for the Presidency in 2017, members of the boxing world have given their opinion on the Republican nominee. Promoter and former Bobby Kennedy lawyer Bob Arum is absolutely no fan of Trump, angered over the 69-year-old’s comments about the Mexican people. But Arum hasn’t gone as far as challenging Trump to a fight. One boxing legend has: Roberto Duran.
Duran, born in Panama of course, has been offended, as have many millions of people, by Trump’s comments about the Hispanic community, many of whom he says he will have deported from the US when he becomes President. Trump has said, amongst other things: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best.” “They’re sending people that have lots of problems, they’re bringing those problems with us.” They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
Well, when he was recently asked who he would most like to fight if he was boxing today, the legendary four-weight king known as “Hands of Stone” did not reply with any active fighter’s name, he replied how he would “like to step into the ring with Donald Trump to see how may Latin people, how many Latinos he’s going to deport and to see how strong he really is.”
Duran was talking on a Q and A with Edgar Ramirez, the actor who plays him in the soon to be released movie of his life that also stars Robert De Niro (as his great trainer Ray Arcel) and its unlikely Duran was merely trying to hype up the flick. Trump is a phenomenon: a man, a politician, who has as many supporters as he has detractors (if that‘s a strong enough word.) Trump has, his critics claim, used hate as a way of generating votes. Even Don King has taken a step away from Trump.
Duran is 65 now yet he has clearly lost none of the fighting spirit that made him a hero to millions. Is Donald Trump a hero? Not in the boxing world he isn’t.
