A Boxing Memory: Roberto Duran vs. Kirkland Laing

A Boxing Memory: Roberto Duran vs. Kirkland Laing

Dave Anderson, in a piece for the New York Times, cruelly said of the perceived British no-hoper Kirkland Laing, that he was ‘a household name only in his own household.’ It was, in some ways, a point that was made in exaggeration, but in America, it did have some validity. Laing was viewed as a journeyman and nothing more.

The eccentric, frustrating but incredibly talented Laing went to Detroit with little fanfare and even less hope. He was the supposed lamb to the slaughter for a Panamanian legend who was on the comeback trail and on a mission to redeem his reputation after waving the hand of surrender to Sugar Ray Leonard in their infamous ‘No Mas’ rematch in 1980. Roberto Duran was chasing a return to his glory days, but after losing to Wilfred Benitez in a fight for the world light-middleweight title in his previous fight, a victory over the unheralded British import was paramount, and in truth, it was all but guaranteed. Make no mistake, Laing was there for a reason. He was brought into lose. But as ever, Laing had a different script to everyone else.

Duran had a guaranteed date with a Texan who was rampaging through the light-middleweight ranks. Tony Ayala Jr. Ayala was under treatment for substance abuse but was given permission to leave the Care Unit Hospital in Orange, California, to be ringside for his supposed next opponent. The unbeaten Ayala had a $650,000 payday secured to fight Duran on NBC on November 9th, 1982, just two months away. All Duran had to do was beat the hand-picked British no-hoper. Ayala was on a time curfew to return to the hospital, and he didn’t witness the last two rounds when that big payday was taken away from him. Ayala would very soon be facing far more serious problems.

Laing was 28 and came to America with a 23-3-1 resume, two stoppage defeats to Colin Jones in fights for the British welterweight title, and hardly inspired confidence for an upset win over someone like Duran. But Duran would meet Laing on perhaps his best-ever night. Physically and mentally, this was a peak Laing. He was never better.

The loss to Benitez in the early part of 1982 had promoted calls for Duran to retire, with the old fire looking long gone, there seemed no way back for a fighter who was once almost certainly the best fighter on the planet and had inflicted the first defeat on the record of Leonard only two years earlier. Duran was still only 31, but his best days seemed behind him. The hope was a fight with Ayala would reignite the fire.

You could certainly push the narrative that Duran was poor against Laing at the Cobo Arena. And by his standards, he was. Frustrated by the delays in getting a date for the fight, Duran reportedly stopped training and returned to his party ways, ballooning up in weight in the process. But equally, the brilliance of the performance from Laing shouldn’t be lost. Or forgotten. After a slow start, although there were signs of trouble for Duran in the opening round as his timing seemed a long way off, Laing found what he needed. A slower Duran was in the wrong place at the wrong time against an inspired British fighter. Once Laing stopped the early negative tactics of moving more than he was throwing, he would prove to be too sharp for a Duran who looked soft and nowhere near the fighter he once was. In 77 fights, Duran had only lost 3 fights, and he was a two-weight world champion. But as the fight progressed, it looked like one fight too many for Duran.

Mickey Duff, in Laing’s corner, told his fighter, “that he was boxing like the welterweight champion of the world, and he was making Duran look more stupid than Leonard did.” Laing didn’t just dance his way to victory. He held his ground and fought him. He stood up to some of Duran’s big punches, especially in the 8th round, where he absorbed a couple of solid right-hands. Laing removed any doubt by dominating the final two rounds. But the scorecards were a little too close for comfort. Two judges scored it for Laing 96-94, while the remaining judge had Duran winning 96-95, a scorecard which looked nowhere near reality.  

The career of Roberto Duran looked over, but he had other ideas. Any thoughts of winning further world titles would have been deemed ones of pure fantasy. But Duran fought back and saved his career with some unforgettable nights that only enhanced his legend further. Duran beat Davey Moore and Iran Barkley to win world titles at light-middleweight and middleweight and came very close to beating Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

The win over Duran should have catapulted Laing to another level. But the enigmatic Jamaican-born fighter went missing for a year, and genuine offers to fight for a world title were lost. Laing eventually returned and was knocked unconscious by Fred Hutchings in Atlantic City and spent several days in an American hospital. The golden ticket he had earned by beating a living legend had now expired. As with much of the career of Kirkland Laing, a story of what could have been.