Robert Duran: The "Hands of Stone" Hammers Out His Legend

Looking back on that day of June 16th, 1951, it must have seemed like Roberto Duran was born to be a fighter. Born in the little Pacific town of Guararé, Panama, Duran had a limited amateur background, and little or no technical training when he became a prize fighter at the age of 16. That mattered very little in those early days, though. Fighting in mostly Panama as a teenager at bantamweight and featherweight (118-126lbs), young Duran displayed the psychological traits that would characterize his entire career: relentless aggression, machismo, and will to win. Largely on the basis of energy, grit, and unrefined talent, Duran drew crowds and racked up a 21-0 record, most of those wins coming by knockout. It was at this point that Duran attracted the attention of a wealthy local landowner, Carlos Eleta. Eleta bought Duran's professional contract for a mere $300, and engaged the services of trainers Ray Arcel and Freddie Brown. Soon Duran's punches were shortened, he learned deceptively simple-but-effective defensive techniques, and overall complemented his fierce aggression with sound technique. Duran was getting ready for the big time.

Under the guidance of Eleta, Arcel, and Brown, Duran began a campaign for a world championship. His first major opponent was former 130lbs champion Hiroshi Kobayashi of Japan, who Duran disposed of with left-right combination to the head, knocking Kobayashi out in the 7th. By June 1972, Duran was ready to challenge Ken Buchannan for the WBA lightweight (135lbs) title at Madison Square Garden. Buchanan was an established British Commonwealth and European lightweight champion, making the third defense of his world title. It was a very dirty bout, with Duran still showing a lot of his rough and tumble experience in fighing Panamanian smokers. He fouled Buchanan with head butts and low blows, although he was only warned for the low blows and that only once. He hit Buchanan with a low blow in the 14th, which Buchanan did not recover from. The result was a Duran victory by TKO in the 14th Round, although strictly speaking Duran should have been disqualified for his dirty tactics.

Rivalry with Esteban de Jesus

In a pattern that would characterize Duran's career as a lightweight, he went back to Panama after winning the WBA title and fought two non-title bouts at above the 135lbs limit, before adoring hometown crowds. He then returned to America to fight Esteban de Jesus, also in a non-title bout. That distinction was important for the future of Duran's career. Still only partly polished, in de Jesus he met a young, formidable 32-1 fighter who would go on to win a world lightweight title of his own. Before an excited crowd of 10,000 at Madison Square Garden, de Jesus opened the fight by smashing Duran with a left hook that knocked him right onto his butt. Duran never really recovered, his vaunted machismo having left him, and de Jesus controlled the rest of the bout, handing Duran his first defeat on points.

However, because the fight had been fought at 138lbs, Duran's title was not at stake, so he remained the reigning WBA champion. However, after winning the title in a foul-fest, and losing to de Jesus, Duran's career was in shaky condition. He ran a 10 fight winning streak, including 3 defenses of his title (the rest were non-title bouts), including a 10th Round knockout of future world champion Guts Ishimatsu, before seeking a rematch with Esteban de Jesus in March 1974. This time the pair meet on Duran's home turf in Panama, with Duran's world title on the line. The bout began much as the first, with Duran getting knocked down. However, this time Duran kept his nerve and fought back, pushing the action hard in Rounds 2-5. De Jesus began to tire in the blistering equatorial heat after that, backing away from Duran and letting him assert control. In the 7th, Duran nailed de Jesus with a short 1-2, the right landing behind the ear, knocking de Jesus down. He got back up by the 8 count, and then fought for his survival as Duran moved in to finish him. De Jesus survived, but the effort spend what remained of his stamina. He absorbed left hooks to the body and right uppercuts from Duran in a relentless assault through Rounds 8, 9, and 10. In the 11th, lands another left hook-right hand combination, and knocks de Jesus out. Roberto Duran got his revenge.

Lightweight Legend

Roberto Duran began that part of his reign as lightweight champion that defined his fame. Between the rematch with Esteban de Jesus, he fought 20 times, winning most of those bouts by knockout. That included 7 title defenses: a 1st Round knockout of Japanese lightweight champion Masataka Takayama; a 15th Round knockout of Mexican lightweight champ Leoncio Ortiz; and a 14th Round knockout of undefeated American Lou Bizzarro. Roberto "The Hands of Stone" Duran was steadily cleaning out the lightweight division.

In the meantime, Duran's rival Esteban de Jesus had captured the WBC lightweight title. De Jesus had won the other half of the crown from Guts Ishimatsu in 1975, and defended it 3 times. Given their 1-1 record, neither man could claim to be the king of the lightweight division, and interest in a rubber match grew apace. In January 1978, they met in the ring for the third and final time, with the winner walking away as the Undisputed World Lightweight Champion. While de Jesus was still a dangerous fighter, by now Duran had come into his own as the perfect blend of boxer and puncher. His defense and his chin were solid enough that it was impossible to land a momentum-changing shot on him; his handspeed, footwork, and combination punching so outstanding that he throwing punches meant catching return leather through the gaps opened in an opponent's guard. Duran had become a punching master; any shot he threw from any angle or position could be deadly. There is a famous story that when Duran was 14, someone bet him $50 and a bottle of whiskey that he couldn't knock out a horse. Duran famously did exactly that, and it was this Duran that had now been brought to the peak of technical perfection. He stopped de Jesus in the 12th Round.

Duran had won the undisputed championship, but he had very little use for it. Having disposed of his rival de Jesus in the rubber match, there were no substantial challenges remaining for him in the lightweight division. He vacated his lightweight titles in January 1979, setting out to seek greater glory as a welterweight. As a lightweight champion, however, he is widely considered one of the best ever. Boxing historian Herb Goldman declared Robert Duran the #3 lightweight of all-time.

"I Don't Want to Fight this Clown"

It would be something of a misnomer to say Duran moved up to welterweight (147lbs) after defeating de Jesus, as he had been making non-title bouts at around 140lbs for some time. However, now he moved up and never went back. In July 1979, he met his first real challenge in his new division, taking on skilled boxer and former WBC welterweight champion Carlos Palomino. He won a lopsided points decision against Palomino, and this plus his string of wins against lesser opponents set the stage for him to challenge superstar Sugar Ray Leonard for his WBC title a year later.

The fight was set for the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, the same place where Leonard won his Gold at the 1976 Olympics, making it a showpiece for the charismatic, handsome, flashy American boxer. Duran was furious about this, and also that he was only getting 1/5 the money that was being paid to Duran, a humiliating situation given Duran's record and proven box office drawing power. Duran insulted Leonard at every opportunity, even walking up to Leonard and his wife on a public street and threatening them both. In his crude, macho, thuggish fashion, Duran won the war of the wills: Leonard was so worked up by Duran's taunts and threats that he fought Duran's fight, trying to out-brawl the stone-handed brawler from Panama. Leonard took the worst of it in an exercise of flat-footed trench warfare waged in the corners and the ropes, losing a close-but-clear decision.

Duran was now the WBC welterweight champion. The "Brawl in Montreal" as it was being called generated so much public interest that anything but an immediate rematch was out of the question. Five months later, Leonard vs. Duran II took place at the New Orleans Superdome. This time, Leonard got control of himself and turned the psychological tables on his rival. He used his speed, footwork, and agility to frustrate Duran, taunting him at every opportunity. In the 8th Round Duran threw his hands up in disgust and said (in Spanish) "I don't want to fight with this clown." When the referee asked him what he meant, Duran responded with the words that have become famous in sports history: "No mas, no mas" (no more, no more). Duran quit and lost his title.

The "no mas" conclusion has since become controversial, and in a way that does not reflect well on Duran. He has at different times claimed that he hurt his shoulder, or had stomach cramps from over-eating after the weigh in the previous day. Given the inconsistencies, neither story rings true, and sources close to Duran have gone on the record that Duran told them he wanted out because he was frustrated with his inability to get to Leonard.

Sources: boxrec.com; old fight footage on You Tube; Official Roberto Duran web site; New York Times (11/25/80)