CLINTON ST. QUARTERLY Duran was supposed to be.” A lot of people are enjoying the feel of the word “ Disgrace” on their honorable tongues. The IRS is suddenly sensitive about all the good American money this foreigner has siphoned off to Panama. A lot of people feel insulted by what Duran did. They don’t think he did it for an extra packet of bucks. It takes us a while to understand these things. This is the un-cola world — we’re a long way from the barrios that produced Duran. But the knowledge is seeping up to us that Duran threw something in our teeth that night. 1 keep seeing Leonard leaping to the top of the corner post in a burst of amazed joy at a victory so sudden — so effortless — so much less painful than he could have anticipated. And then there is Leonard in the frenzy of the moment rushing over and hugging Duran. Duran, who definitely does not like him. It’s a strange thing. Leonard is a very fine boxer. The Leonard/Benitez match must have been one of the most technically beautiful bouts imaginable. And today Sugar Ray Leonard is once again the WBC Welterweight Champion. Roberto Duran turned and walked away from him in "I JUST WON EIGHTY BUCKS ON LEONARD AND I'M ASHAMED! ASHAMED! ALL HE DID WAS RUN ALL NIGHT!" the eighth round of the fight. But people go on asking Leonard what happened. Leonard says, “ I beat Duran. I beat the legend. Why can’t you just accept the fact that 1 beat him? How come no one can accept that I beat Roberto Duran?” And the only honest answer Leonard will get is that he didn’t beat Duran, he disgusted him. Maybe Duran looked at Leonard and saw that this was what fighting had become. He saw that heart and hype have got so tangled up in each other that you can no longer tell one from the other. Duran has been pretty consistent all his life. And, in my opinion, he walked out of this bout for exactly the same reason that he stuck so fiercely through all those others. Because he loves a good fight.® rulings to prevent permanent injuries or fatalities or risk having the sport itself legislated out of existence. And it has that reputation for involvement with organized crime. It is easier to fix the results of a boxing match than almost any other sport. Only one man needs to know, the fighter who takes the dive. But why would Duran throw this fight? Common sense says an eighth round walk-out is altogether too obvious to be a dive. But then I ’d be willing to give Duran credit for having all to wit necessary to make it so obvious that a dive would be ruled out as ridiculous. But nothing comes to mind that would be worth a dive to Duran. Maybe Angelo Dundee had Duran’s wife and kids kidnapped and was holding them hostage? Money? Duran’s got plenty and doesn’t seem too concerned about it. The big bucks of a possible third match with Leonard? With this fight ending as it did a re-match looks very unlikely. Besides, Duran has announced that he is officially retired as of Tuesday night. He had planned to retire even if he retained the championship and this is one retirement I’m willing to believe. Duran says, “ I don’t want to fight anymore. 1 have been fighting for a long time. I have gotten tired of the sport. It is time to retire.” There were a lot of shocked fans at the Paramount. The guy behind me stomped off yelling, “ I would never again pay so much as a nickel to see Duran fight!” And after the recent Holmes / Ali fiasco humiliated so many viewers you can’t help being depressed. But let’s put this on the record, too. A group of Leonard fans milling in the lobby; “ I just won eighty bucks on Leonard and I ’m ashamed! Ashamed! All he did was run all night!” Poontar says he’s got it figured now, ‘‘I’ll start running and take boogaloo lessons. I’ll be able to beat any boxer in the world just by staying away from him.” They had to tighten up the rules governing karate matches. It’s now required that a certain number of kicks be thrown in each round. The matches had become too distant, like dancing boxing matches with no contact. And maybe something like that will have to happen with boxing. It’s such a subjective sport to judge anyway. Do you give more points for being aggressive? Or do you score high for evading and frustrating your opponent? Do you gain for direct contact? Or do you demonstrate the value of not fighting? What actually happened in the ring on Tuesday night is being swallowed up by that one act of Duran’s. He’s been fined $7,500 for ‘‘Unsatisfactory Performance.” Angelo Dundee (the author of the famous Holmes/ Ali classic) is making nasty remarks about what a “ Macho tough guy SEC________ tOW ________ SEAT UPPER BALCONY * 2 0 . 0 0 P A RAM O UN T THEATRE TUESDAY 6:00 P.M. NOV'BR 25, 1980 . DURAN »»■ LEONARD 45
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