Roberto Duran: The Twilight Years

Roberto Duran: The Twilight Years

Roberto Duran fought on way too long. He was 50 when he finally hung the gloves up in 2001. There were too many sad defeats against fighters who wouldn’t have touched him in his prime. But Duran’s decline still had a couple of gems. Little reminders of the phenomenal fighter he once was.

The wins over Davey Moore in 1983 and Iran Barkley six years later earned him two more world titles and somewhere near boxing immortality. A four-weight world champion, 119 fights, most of the 16 defeats that mask his resume were when some of the fire had long left his belly and father time became a fight even Duran couldn’t win. But those minor blemishes shouldn’t hide what a phenomenal fighter Duran was. Make no mistake, the Panamanian can rightly be considered one of the greatest fighters that ever lived.

The night he beat Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980 was Duran at his peak. And Leonard also. A fight where you had the feeling that no matter what Leonard did, Duran wouldn’t have been denied. But that famous night in Montreal was followed by the infamous ‘No Mas’ rematch where Duran waved his hands in surrender. The rampaging fighter we saw in Canada was replaced by one who had lost his hunger in the months of excess after his famous win over Leonard. Just maybe, his best-ever win.

The long process for redemption began the following year with a couple of nondescript wins, but when Wilfred Benitez outpointed Duran in a failed attempt to win the WBC light-middleweight title, the future looked far from certain for the former world lightweight and welterweight champion.

That narrative was only strengthened in the very next fight when the supposed British no-hoper Kirkland Laing upset Duran in Detroit. That fight should have been the catalyst for one fighter to move on to bigger and better things. It did, but not in the way most imagined. The flamboyant and extremely talented but erratic Laing went missing for a year and got knocked out when he did return. But against all odds, it was Duran who found a boxing miracle or two to save his career.

But it took time, an uninspiring win over another British fighter Jimmy Batten two months after the loss to Laing didn’t offer too much hope. But the following year, Duran showed some semblance of the old fire by stopping the former world welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas in a world title eliminator, and that victory earned Duran a chance at redemption against the unbeaten Davey Moore for the WBA light-middleweight title.

In a seething red-hot atmosphere at the iconic Madison Square Garden, Duran butchered Moore to his first defeat. It was a savage brutal fight, and Moore was never ever the same again. Duran had gotten back most of what he had lost in New Orleans against Leonard. The Panamanian was once again a hero in his native land.

The win over Moore in 1983 landed Duran an opportunity to fight Marvelous Marvin Hagler for the undisputed world middleweight title. Hagler had always craved the big fight against an opponent worthy of his time, in Duran, he had what he had been looking for. And he nearly blew it. Only a desperate late rally in the closing rounds saved his title. Duran used all his experience, to frustrate Hagler. Despite losing, it was still one of Duran’s finest nights.

But it looked over the following year when a rejuvenated Thomas Hearns returned to his ‘Hit Man’ moniker to blast out Duran in two rounds in 1984. Duran had never been stopped before. And the fighting obituaries were being written. On the evidence, they had a point.

Duran returned in 1986 with a couple of low-key stoppage victories, but he lost a decision to Hagler’s half-brother Robbie Sims in Las Vegas on the night Barry McGuigan lost his world featherweight title to Steve Cruz. Yet again, it appeared Duran had reached the end of the road.

But Duran persevered, kept going and got enough wins to earn a shot at middleweight glory once more, this time against the big-punching Iran Barkley. The American had destroyed Hearns in 1988 in three rounds to win the WBC world middleweight title and was expected to do the same to Duran. At 37, the old warrior was given little chance but gave his last great performance to sensationally beat Duran on points to become a four-weight world champion.

The win over Barkley was in many ways the final memory of the old rampaging warrior. Duran rode out his trilogy with Sugar Ray Leonard with little fire. A strange night, a boring fight. Leonard ended the series with his hand raised in victory, but the boos couldn’t be hidden and many fled the arena long before the final bell. Their rivalry deserved a better ending. After the drama and ferocity of Montreal, the Las Vegas finale was beyond sad.

Duran lost his next fight against Pat Lawlor and kept fighting until 2001, when Hector Camacho repeated a previous victory. Make no mistake even in his forties Duran was still a decent enough fighter, and the little glimpses he showed in those twilight years served as a little reminder of the peak. When he was 47, Duran was fed to William Joppy in a shameless WBA title fight and was stopped in three pitiful rounds. The memories of the old Duran were replaced by the awful sight of an old Duran being stopped and embarrassed by a fighter who once wouldn’t have touched him. Duran owed money all over the place, the need to fight obvious to all. Boxing is littered with such stories.

A car crash in Argentina nearly claimed Duran’s life, and his resulting injuries prompted the decision to call time on his career. It should have come earlier, and we had far too many sad nights that we didn’t have to see. Duran used to fight for the love of fighting, but in those final years, he had to fight for something else.

My old line is always to remember the prime and not the decline of a once great fighter. That peak gave us one of the greatest fighters in boxing history, but the decline still had its moments. The win and the manner of it against Davey Moore was good as anything you are likely to see in boxing. A special night that all these years on hasn’t lost its significance or importance. The New York faithful came to party. Duran just came to fight. The Garden rocked with noise and emotion as Duran battered the young unbeaten champion into submission. It wasn’t pretty in many ways, but it was the night that Duran got his redemption and so much more.