Beating Buchanan was the greatest night of my fighting life, says Duran
THREE times he went to war with Sugar Ray Leonard, while the world watched on in wonder and dread.
In between, he managed to squeeze in attritional, sensational,
mano a mano contests against Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns.
Legend has it that Roberto Duran even knocked out a horse. Once. Drink was involved. Drink and gambling.
Yet the great, the legendary, the occasionally terrifying — and the surprisingly funny — Panamanian talks only of one name when asked to cite the most important fight of his career. ‘Ken Buchanan,’ Duran tells
Sportsmail with some translation help from son Robin.
When your correspondent points out that the Scottish great still feels a dull ache in a man’s most delicate region whenever he thinks about the infamous low blow Duran dished out during that controversial WBA World Lightweight title bout almost 45 years ago, there is a loud cackle somewhere down the line.
‘No, no, no,’ he says. ‘I never did hit him in the b***s. Honestly, Kenny and I are good friends now. We like to joke about it.’
Good-natured joshing and time-heals-all-wounds camaraderie aside, Duran has reason to recall that Buchanan fight as a defining moment in a career that saw him fight in five different decades, competing in 119 professional bouts — and winning world titles at four weights.
‘That was the most important fight of my career, against Ken,’ he declares of that Madison Square Garden sell-out in the summer of ’72.
‘It was my first fight for a world title, so it meant everything to me.
‘I remember that Ken was a great champion. I trained so hard and I wanted it so badly. With that victory, I was able to buy a house for my mother, which meant everything to me.
‘Back in Panama, I had this great welcome. My first world title fight, I was so happy to have won.
‘That Buchanan fight is my favourite memory in all of boxing. It means that much to me.’
Throwing a Scotsman into the conversation is guaranteed to go down well with fans gathering in Glasgow for a special ‘Hands of Stone’ lunch with Duran this Sunday — where Buchanan is scheduled to be a guest of honour, four-and-a-half decades on from his most painful moment in the ring.
Duran is currently in the UK on a speaking tour, finding himself bowled over by the welcome from fans who recall him with great affection. Amazing how perceptions can change, isn’t it?
Those of us old enough to have revelled in every moment of his rivalry with Leonard, in particular, haven’t quite forgotten that he was usually cast as the villain when up against the golden boy of American boxing.
This was all happening at the tail-end of Muhammad Ali’s all-consuming greatness as a champion, remember. Boxing was looking for heroes and guys willing to wear the black hat.
Between them, the quartet of Leonard, Duran, Hagler and Hearns provided a fresh bout of explosive drama on a regular basis; there were only nine fights between the four of them, but, at the time, you would have sworn they faced each other every other weekend.
Duran has never given Leonard a satisfactory answer to questions about his infamous
‘No mas’ retiral in their incredible 1980 rematch — former Olympic champion Sugar Ray avenging his unanimous points loss of just five months earlier. Yet, he remains widely regarded as easily among the best five or ten fighters ever to pull on gloves.
This is a guy who emerged triumphant from the Brawl in Montreal by battering Leonard to a standstill. Who fought with a broken hand and still took Hagler 15 rounds.
Inevitably, just as tennis fans will forever ask how many Grand Slam titles Andy Murray might have won had he been born a few years earlier, boxing aficionados can’t help but ponder how Duran would have cleaned up in a different age.
Especially in the current era, where it has become acceptable for fighters to duck the toughest challenges while padding out their records.
All on pay-per-view TV with its purse-busting revenue streams.
‘God put me in boxing at this time,’ is how Duran puts it. ‘So that time was right — and it was enough for me. Looking back on some of those great fights and rivalries, some of the things we did, I wouldn’t change it for anything.
‘But, if you are talking about money, maybe I would have liked to have fought in this era.
‘The Four Kings, we never thought of saying no to a fight against each other. It’s totally true that everybody would just fight each other to find out who was the best in the division.
‘Now, there is so much money involved and everyone seems to avoid each other. Boxing nowadays is not the same. If I was to pick out one fighter that I really like, I would be lying.’
His question-and-answer sessions during these tours are unlikely to be short of material, given the sheer breadth of Duran’s career. From that first officially sanctioned professional fight in 1968 until he bowed out in 2001, he fought ’em all.
To give you an idea of the eras he spanned, consider this. Over the duration, Duran — now 65 — fought both Buchanan, very much a boxer of the 1970s and Hector Camacho, undoubtedly a 21st Century man.
Given the short duration of sporting lives, that is the pugilistic equivalent of shaking the hand of the guy who shook the hand of, well, if not Moses, then certainly Abraham Lincoln.
Now he gets the chance to recount some of those favourite tales for an adoring audience, admitting: ‘I didn’t ever think I would be remembered by so many people, that I would feel so loved. This makes me very happy, obviously.
‘The fans all over the world want to know the same things. They want to speak about the era of the Four Kings, my life.
‘They ask about all my fights, not just the famous ones. I find it very interesting to tell some of the old stories again.’
TO book your tickets for Lunch With A Legend: ‘Hands of Stone Roberto Duran’, call Claire at Ignite Promotions on 07715683448. Follow Ignite on Facebook or on Twitter @Ignitepromofit.
No, no, no, I never did hit him in the b***s. We are good friends