05.05.08 – By Anthony Coleman: I’ve been watching Boxing all of my life and for the last six years, it has probably been my favorite sport, and in that time, I’ve come to immerse myself in the history of this great sport. As a result, I’ve amassed a lot of knowledge which challenged or changed what I thought I knew about Boxing. I learned that Boxing doesn’t begin and end with Muhammad Ali, no matter how many times ESPN will try to convince you otherwise. I learned of the greatness of Henry Armstrong, the man responsible for the sport’s greatest achievement: Holding three world titles, in three different weight classes at the same time. But the most surprising thing that I discovered during my research was the deep reverence of one boxer: Roberto Duran.
For years my image of Duran had been very negative and it all stems from one night and fight. That night was of course November 25th, 1980 in the New Orleans Superdome in his rematch with Sugar Ray Leonard.. Five months earlier in Montreal Olympic Stadium, Duran would hand Leonard his first career loss and win his Welterweight crown in the process, but in New Orleans it would be a different story as Leonard would frustrate and humiliate Duran in the 7th round (which included the famous Bolo punch fake into a left jab). And as a reply Duran, who became so infuriated by the taunting, decided to do the inexplicable: quitting in the middle of a fight. He wasn’t hurt, he was just pissed off. And that is the supreme image I had of the man. I knew he was one of the few men to win four world titles in four different weight classes, but besides that I, like seemingly every other sports fan, considered him a quitter who was anonymous outside of the Leonard fights and not on the level of Hagler, Hearns, Roy Jones Jr. and of course the aforementioned Leonard.
Yet imagine my surprise when I read the Ring Magazine list of the greatest fighters of the last 80 years and discovered that Duran was listed inside of the top five. I was bewildered. I couldn’t believe he was that high, and ahead of Leonard; the man who embarrassed him. For a while I thought the people who ran the Ring must have been out of their damn minds and I sought a second opinion while cruising on the internet. Yet from every online boxing site I found the same result: Duran was listed amongst the likes of Ali, Robinson, Louis, Armstrong and Pep among the top tier greatest fighters and as the best Lightweight whoever lived. Again it was knowledge that went against my expectations.
However, I still was skeptical. I’m not a person to blindly accept the word of an expert or historian, no matter how highly regarded they might be. However, I wasn’t simply going to deny that the historians, and yes fans, might know something that I don’t know. So I decided to do my own independent research, and I soon realized that the experts, historians, and fans were telling the truth: that Duran was truly awesome.
It must be said that my perspective on Duran was built on the fact that I knew nothing about him, before the Leonard fights. Sadly that is the same image that virtually all sports fans have developed. If you ask any random person about his career before he fought Leonard, 96 percent of them will probably give you a blank stare. Another two percent will probably tell you that he was the Lightweight Champion. Most people simply don’t realize how dominant Duran was in the seventies or how he absolutely ruled the Lightweight division.
Duran started out the seventies as a Featherweight, and judging by the fact that he was able to stop future Featherweight champion Earnesto Marcel (the man to defeat Alexis Arguello in his first title shot), it could be argued that Duran could have given Willie Pep (or Sandy Saddler or Salvador Sanchez judging by your preference) a run for his money as the greatest Featherweight who ever lived had he stayed at the weight. But instead Duran moved up to Lightweight in mid 1970 and built the bulk of his legacy.
What is impressive to me about Duran was the fact that even at a young age he had the poise of a veteran. Remember he was only 21 years old when he defeated a borderline great fighter in Ken Buchanan for the Lightweight title. In his first title fight, Duran showed the cool, patience of a champion as he was able to dominate the fight until 13 round stoppage (of course the stoppage was questionable seeing that Duran may have hit him below the belt). Most fighters that young, irregardless of how many fights the participated in, would not be prepared to take that step forward and challenge a vastly more experienced champion like Buchanan. That Duran was able to accomplish this feat so early in his career is truly impressive and it was just the beginning of his historic Lightweight run.
As his “Manos De Piedras” moniker suggested, Duran was a great puncher. On any given night he was capable of blasting opponents out, much like he did to Pedro Mendoza, Bernardo Diaz and Alvaro Rojas. But power wasn’t his only virtue. He was a devastating combination puncher to the head and body and would attack from every conceivable angle. And even when his opponent wasn’t blown out early Duran was still so heavy handed, threw every punch in combination, and his stamina was so extraordinary that he was able to take his man out late (like he did against Guts Ishimatsu in 1973). At Lightweight Duran established a peak run of 72 wins, 1 loss and in his victories 56 ended by knockout and in title fights when he was at his most devastating. In his 12 title defenses, 11 ended by KO (including highlight reel KOs against Lou Bizzaro, Ray Lampkin, and Alvaro Rojas). Yet Duran wasn’t just a fearsome puncher. As his title reign progressed, Duran established himself as perhaps the most versatile fighter since Sugar Ray Robinson.
Certain fighters, even the greats usually were effective at fighting in one style. Ali was only comfortable fighting behind his jab and using the ring. Pep was best effective when he forced his man to come to him which allowed him to slip and then counter with his own punches. And fighters like Julio Cesar Chavez, Henry Armstrong and even Joe Louis was most effective moving forward. Duran was special because he had a little bit of everything in his arsenal.
People tend to think of Duran as a brawler who fought with constant fury and was able to cut off the ring with tons of pressure and threw bombs at his opponent. But truthfully, while Duran always fought with passion, Duran was more composed than a straight ahead pressure fighter. He was highly effective as a classic ring general and used the ring to his advantage because he knew how to work behind a jab. And most impressively, no matter if he was putting constant pressure on his man or fighting from a distance, Duran was always a great defensive fighter.
Duran’s upper body movement was so great, and his arms were always placed in order to parry punches that he was able to befuddle his man who thought he was constantly open to a power shot, when in fact they were swinging at air. The legendary trainer Angelo Dundee was quoted in a January edition of Sports Illustrated saying, “One gets the impression of Duran is that he’s a tough, rough brawler who just wades in and ducks nothing. But all you have to do is look at his face to see that is nonsense. He’s not marked up. He does a lot of cute things in there.”
In his third fight with Dejesus and most specifically his pre-title winning fight with Hiroshi Kobayashi, Duran showed the ability to slip, bob, weave and then counter his man at will. Even late in his career, like in his Middleweight title winning effort against Iran Barkley, Duran was still an excellent defensive fighter.
The highlight of Duran’s Lightweight run was his trilogy against another borderline great fighter; the late Esteban De Jesus. In their first match, a non-title effort in 1972 De Jesus would hand the newly crowned champion his first defeat and dropped him in the first round with a short left hook. It would be his first loss, and he wouldn’t lose again until another 8 years. In 1974, in his backyard of Panama City, Panama; the Duran would suffer another early knockdown and an early points lead by De Jesus to take control of the fight late and stop him in the 11th round. It was a great victory, but perhaps the most difficult win of his championship reign.
However, in their rubbermatch in 1978, Duran would turn in perhaps his greatest performance when he dominated De Jesus and KO’d him again in the 12th round. In the fight Duran displayed all of the traits that marked him as an all-time great: power, ring intelligence, defensive prowess and true grit. One could make the case that his first fight with Leonard was his shining hour or his demolition of Davey Moore in 1983, but judging by his dominance in the fight and the caliber of the opponent; this may have been his finest achievement.
The third De Jesus fight was also the 12th and final defense of his Lightweight Title. His 12 title defenses are still the division record. After the victory he would move up to Welterweight and defeat former Welterweight champion Carlos Palomino and close out the decade as still at the very height of his career.
Final Assessment:
In my opinion there are three fighters who I consider to be the fighters of the decade: Duran, Carlos Monzon, and Muhammad Ali. Ali isn’t my number one, despite beating a handful of excellent fighters in his second act as the Heavyweight champ because by the end of his reign he was clearly a spent bullet and his third win against Ken Norton was highly questionable. So it is down to both Duran and Monzon. Monzon upset Nino Benvenuti for the Middleweight Championship, and he then went on and made twelve defenses of his title, but seeing that he retired in 1977, I chose Duran as the best fighter of the decade.
Duran started out the decade as a rising star at Featherweight, then moved up in weight and won the Lightweight title and made the same number of defenses as Monzon and at the end of 1979 was still considered perhaps the best fighter in the sport.
When judging Lightweights, I have no doubt in saying that he is the best Lightweight who has ever lived. He dominated the division for nearly 6 years and made 12 title defenses. In my opinion, only Benny Leonard is the only guy you could make a strong case for being the greatest Lightweight other than Duran. With his historic run at Lightweight and his Welterweight title winning effort against Sugar Ray Leonard, for those 10 years you have a fighter who is almost certainly an inner circle all time great.
Yet it still remains: How much has Duran’s legacy should be tarnished by quitting in his rematch with Leonard? Afterall if there is one thing that can ever be considered a sin in Professional Boxing it is quitting. And unlike fighters who have been thoroughly beaten up, he really has no excuse because he was in perfect condition to keep on fighting and was only down by two and one points on the judge’s cards, but he quit out of frustration. Should his one mistake eliminate all of the amazing feats he accomplished before and afterwards? After the Leonard defeat he did comeback to win the Jr. Middleweight title by destroying Davey Moore, nearly defeated a prime Marvin Hagler for the Middleweight title and shocked Iran Barkley for the Middleweight title in ’89. In my opinion, yes it should to an extant.
I can’t see other great fighters, like an Ali or Robinson, quitting just out of pure anger and frustration at an opponent. That is why I rank them ahead of Duran. However, his accomplishments were so amazing I can’t conceivably wipe out what he did before and after the “No Mas” fight. His twelve defenses of the Lightweight title, and winning world titles in 3 other weight classes are feats that must rank up their with the very best fighters of all time. At his very best, Duran was a legitimate, Boxing God, and despite his moment of disgrace against Ray Leonard, his standing among Boxing’s Mount Olympus is etched in stone.