JEFF POWELL’S GREATEST FIGHTS
In the latest of a 12-fight series, our Boxing Correspondent recalls when a hard man could take no more
THE first two of the three fights between the Sugar Man and Hands of Stone raised the curtain on what is considered the golden age of boxing in the classic middling weights, with Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler engaging each other in some of the ring’s epic battles. Leonard had defeated Wilfred Benitez to win the world welterweight title, but in his second defence was contentiously outpointed by Duran in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. So confused was the scoring that the result was first announced as a majority decision. That was changed to unanimous in Duran’s favour after one judge was found to have totalled his score incorrectly and his card was altered from a draw to 148-147. There was more uproar when that judge was revealed to have marked just three rounds in favour of Duran and only two for Leonard — with 10 even. That was described as ‘a monument to indecision’. Come the inevitable rematch eight months later, in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans on November 25, 1980, controversy was to be replaced by disbelief. Leonard had gambled in the first fight by making the macho decision to take on the Panamanian hard man in a mano-a-mano slug-out. Second time around he wisely chose to use his exceptional ability, especially his speed and movement. ‘The whole fight I was moving,’ said Leonard. ‘Moving. Then voom, I’d snap his head back with a jab. Voom, I’d snap it back again. He’d try to get me on the ropes. I’d pivot, spin off and pow, come under with a punch.’ So it went for more than seven rounds, with Duran becoming increasingly frustrated. In the eighth Leonard cranked up the psychological pressure by waving his right arm in circles and then planting a left flush in Duran’s face. There had been a moment earlier when Leonard appeared to pat him playfully on the backside. Just before the bell Duran turned his back and walked to his corner, waving his arms to indicate he was finished and famously telling the referee ‘No mas’ — Spanish for ‘no more’. The watching world was stunned. Here was one of the most heroic warriors in boxing history quitting in the most embarrassing manner possible. Clearly he felt humiliated. Sensing the reaction, Duran claimed he had stomach cramps caused by eating too heavily after the morning weigh-in. But his manager Carlos Eleta said: ‘He always eats like that before a fight. He quit because he was embarrassed.’ Duran had been a national icon in Panama and there was anger on the streets at his action. It took three years for Duran to restore his reputation when on June 16, 1983, his 32nd birthday, he knocked out Davey Moore in Las Vegas to win the world light-middleweight title. Leonard would win their third fight in 1989 by a points landslide to keep the world super-middleweight title. But Sugar Ray took most pride from the trilogy in forcing Duran to say ‘no mas.’ He said: ‘To me, making Roberto Duran quit was better than knocking him out.’