CLINTON ST. QUARTERLY Duran’s behalf were centered around the man’s tremendous pride, his impatience, that he would be unwilling to stand and force Leonard to bring the fight to him. By round three it was becoming obvious that Leonard was not going to operate on a C.O.D. basis. Duran started to go for him. And Leonard ran. It was the third round when Leonard tripped and fell in the corner — Duran backed off immediately — Leonard recovered quickly. 1 called that an even round. Rounds four, five and six found Leonard circling, running, a flying tap and then evasion, an occasional tight moment when Duran trapped him and delivered the summons. At the bell for the seventh a flurry from the officials revealed that there was a broken board under the ring near Duran’s corner. The referee announced that it was not too severely damaged to continue and that there were men beneath the ring at that moment repairing it. Round seven was a shocker. Not because of any blows delivered but because Leonard was evidently feeling so totally in control that he could afford to “ Hot Dog,” the jeering, taunting horseplay of the schoolyard. It was the old “ You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man” routine. Ali invented the style but not in this petty form. I’d always figured Leonard for more class than that. It’s an interesting effect, to stand off at a safe distance and sneer. It makes you look better than you are. It might even make the judges think that you’ve been more effective than you actually have. I thought at the time that Duran handled it well. It scared me at first. 1 thought Duran might lose his temper, go roaring in wildly, but he didn’t. He stayed calm and tight. He’s a pro and he’s seen all that before. But my buddy Poontar says, “ Duran should have walked to the ropes at that point, leaned on them as thought he were going to order a drink, and then beckoned Leonard over, invited him to come and join him for a bit of fighting.” And I think Poontar is right. That would have made it clear exactly what value should be placed on a gingerbread boxer. But Duran has never been a showman. His attention has always been on the ring and what happens there. He knew what Leonard was doing. He knew that Leonard knew, and for Duran that’s what counts. He has never played for the crowd. But 1 see that as the turning point. There’s a lot of talk about Duran being humiliated by Leonard, about his pride being so lascera ted by Leonard’s disrespect that he couldn’t take it. But that’s not how it looks to me. Seven ended and eight began, and eight went on in the same longdistance style as all the rest. A few furries, a jab, a lot of dance, some taunting. Duran trapped Leonard briefly and used the momentary contact effectively before Leonard was gone again. It was two minutes and forty-four seconds into the eighth round when Duran suddenly waved his right arm at the challenger and walked away. Nobody knew what was happening. Leonard looked confused, jumped forward and landed a couple of blows, notably (though I haven’t seen or heard anybody mention this) a left to Duran’s back in the kidney area. The referee separated them. Duran waved again, and once more walked away. A stunned second later Leonard realized that the unimaginable had happened. Roberto Duran had quit — in the middle of the round. If you’d offered outrageous odds before the fight that precisely this would be the result, you would have been laughed out of any bar in the world. If you could say anything with certainty in the flaming, unThe media wanted to pain t it as a disgrace ... but Duran sang and partied immediately afterwards. His trainer, Freddy Brown, growled, “You’d think he ’d won the fight.” predictable welter of personalities that make up the world of boxing, you would have sworn that Roberto Duran has guts, he’s a stayer, he has heart, and he’s a fighter. Poet- Aficionado Tom Smario says, “ A dog is a dog from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail, just so is Roberto Duran a fighter.” What could possibly make this man quit? The judges score cards at that point in the match show Leonard just slightly ahead. There was no apparent injury or disability in either fighter right up to the final moment. Duran seemed to be functioning normally. He was not cut. He did not appear tired. Though the T.V. camera focused primarily on Leonard after the fight, the brief glimpses of Duran showed him alert and with unimpaired movement. The audience, the officials, the announcers, and Leonard himself were confused and shocked by what had happened. Heavyweight Champion Larry Holmes was at ringside with promoter Don King and the announcer. Holmes said, “ A fighter may not answer the bell — but he finishes the round. You don’t quit in the middle of the round. I can’t believe it. But I wasn’t up there. I can’t know what was happening to Duran or what pain he might have been in.” To his credit, Don King refused to speculate about a re-match but he did talk immediately about Duran’s pride — what the nature of Leonard’s tactics might have done to him — perhaps frustrating him to the point of throwing it away. Then word came from Duran’s dressing room that he had been paralyzed by cramps in the stomach, upper torso, and left arm. Duran’s people say that the pain began in the fifth round and became disabling by the eighth. So there it is, Duran says he had cramps. And very few people believe him. The doubts are partly the result of Duran’s reputation. He’s fought all his life, from a tough childhood in the slums of Panama City through seventy-four professional bouts. His will and power are legendary. His only loss before Tuesday night was to Esteban De Jesus, and it made him so angry that he vowed never to lose again. He did, in fact, beat De Jesus decisively in their re-match. Duran hates to lose and everybody knows it. And then there’s the nature of the sport itself. Boxing is one of the most anarchistic sports in the world. Every boxer is an individual contractor, dealing through his manager with promoters, and other boxers and managers. The World Boxing Association and the World Boxing Commission are loosely federated organizations with state and community boxing commissions usually, but by no means always, adhering to their standards. It is a licensed sport because it was originally illegal, and there is a constant awareness that public opinion must be mollified by 44 Illustration by Stephen Leflar
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