Sugar Ray Leonard

[Captain Hook]

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/sport-news/b ... -23777431/

[Poncey]

Where the fornicate is that place?!

[Captain Hook]

North Wales mate, if you fancy joining me :)

[teddy007]

I think ray was one of the best fighters of all time but I dont like his personality outside the ring.

[Poncey]

North Wales mate, if you fancy joining me :)

Think I migfht have to. When you buying a ticket?

Sam can put me up for the night.

[Wales]

North Wales mate, if you fancy joining me :)

Think I migfht have to. When you buying a ticket?

Sam can put me up for the night.

Course I will sunshine.

Any chance of free-bees mart? Or will we have to pay?

[Captain Hook]

Bloody hell we'll be lucky in this place mate.....

[bennie]

I think ray was one of the best fighters of all time but I dont like his personality outside the ring.

Ray had time for everyone when he came over to Newcastle a couple of years ago with the Contender Team. He willingly signed autographs, chatted to fans, shook hands, posed for photos...
He showed a lot of class.

[teddy007]

I think ray was one of the best fighters of all time but I dont like his personality outside the ring.

Ray had time for everyone when he came over to Newcastle a couple of years ago with the ContenderTeam. He willingly signed autographs, chatted to fans, shook hands, posed for photos...
He showed a lot of class.

Fair enough.

[big lennox]

bennie, did you ever see Leonard box live? If so, how good did he look? His legacy certainly stands up.

[bennie]

bennie, did you ever see Leonard box live? If so, how good did he look? His legacy certainly stands up.

No, I never saw him 'live' but I watched all his big fights 'live' in cinemas (the old Closed Circuit thing) and Leonard-Hearns in 1981 is only surpassed by Pryor-Arguello a year later as the greatest fight of the entire 1980s, in my opinion. It was so good, people were fainting at ringside.
His legacy is unquestionable.


My top ten greatest fighters ever

1] SUGAR RAY ROBINSON
2] MUHAMMAD ALI
3] JOE LOUIS
4] HENRY ARMSTRONG
5] WILLIE PEP
6] ARCHIE MOORE
7] SUGAR RAY LEONARD
8] MARVIN HAGLER
9] ROBERTO DURAN
10] BENNY LEONARD

[big lennox]

Every time I watch the first Leoanrd-Hearns fight I find it quite extraordinary how goosd they were -what a fight!! Ive only ever seen the ending of the Aguello-Pryor I fight. Will get a copy and watch it.

Incidently, I see you put Duran on your list at No.9, I saw an interview this week, where Freddie Roach was asked who would win out of Pacman and Duran.He went with Duran, and said he is the greatest lightweight he has ever seen.

[Poncey]

Bloody hell we'll be lucky in this place mate.....

So are you going or not?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[bennie]

Duran's challengers at lightweight didn't even come to win (Hector Thompson and Ray Lampkin apart, who both paid the price of a knockout). They came to survive.


"In March of 1973, Roberto Duran, Lightweight Champion of the World, came to Los Angeles to fight Mexican champ Javiar Ayala in a ten round non-title fight. The match was on the same card with the WBC Lightweight Championship bout between title holder Rudolfo Gonzales and challenger Ruben Navarro.

Navarro and I were stablemates and would often spar together. However, for this match Ruben had a group of sparring partners whose styles were more like Gonzales than mine. Two years previous, Ruben came close to upsetting then lightweight champ Ken Buchanan but lost a close decision. This would be another opportunity to win a version of the world title and he was taking no chances.

One day I arrived at the Main Street Gym shortly after Duran and Navarro had completed their workouts. I talked to Ruben in the dressing room as I laced up my boxing shoes. That day, Navarro had sparred with Duran and he seemed a little different than usual.

"This guy hits harder than anybody", Navarro said. "He hit me high on the forehead with a spent jab and it shook me all the way down my back to my toes". I had known Ruben for quite a few years and never heard him express respect for another fighter as he was Duran. It was almost as if he was intimidated, not in a cowardly sense, but in a way that caught me off guard. Navarro had fought and beaten some of the best lightweights and Jr. lightweights in the world during his career, so I had to believe what he was saying.

A few days later, I was in the gym at the same time as Duran and it was fascinating watching him train. He skipped rope like nobody I'd ever seen, including the great Sugar Ray Robinson. Duran could do things with a jump rope that made for quite a show. However, the most entertaining of all (aside from his sparring) was watching Roberto hit the speed bag with his head. I don't mean just banging it back and forth, Duran could make the bag dance with his head as well as most boxers do with their hands.

However, watching Duran spar was the real show. In fact, Duran didn't just spar, he fought all out regardless of who he was in the ring with and it was common for a sparring partner to hit the canvas and be out cold. When Roberto would launch a body attack he'd fire vicious shots that would land with a thud. He'd let out a "yelp" as the punch was delivered. The high pitched noise coming from Duran's mouth would punctuate each blow and had an eerie effect. I was impressed, to say the least, and privately thought to myself, "Glad I'm a featherweight and won't have to fight this guy".

Little did I know that my manager had been talking with Duran's trainer, Freddie Brown, and had agreed to let me spar with Duran. It wasn't something I had a great desire to do, but a fighter doesn't show his feelings so when I got the news I just acted like it was no big deal. I was told that the only reason I'd be working with the larger Duran was for speed. I had fast hands and would provide quickness for Duran. Brown had assured my manager, Johnny Flores, that Duran would work lightly and not cut down on me.

Somebody must have forgot to tell Roberto the plan and about midway thru the opening round I found myself sitting on the canvas. I got up quickly and was OK but it occurred to me that I might be fighting for life. When the sparring resumed I understood what Navarro had meant when describing Duran's power. It was awesome, and even punches that most would consider average shots had something I'd never felt before. It was like being hit with baseball bat. Duran had 16 ounce training gloves on that looked to be padded, but it didn't feel like they were. This was before Roberto had been tagged "Manos de Piedra" or "Hands of Stone" in English. I can personally verify that this is more than just a nick name, it's a fact!

Duran is a guy who considers the ring his personal domain and anybody who stepped in with him was treated as if they were caught breaking into his home. He'd establish this immediately with anybody who entered, including me.

After the three rounds of torture with Duran, I punched the heavy bag. The champ finished sparring with two other boxers, a lightweight and a welterweight who was beaten so badly he left the ring trembling. After Duran stepped out of the ring Freddie Brown untied the champs gloves and pulled them off. I was resting between rounds on the heavy bag and moved closer to Duran to get a look at his hands. There had to be something harder than a fist inside the gloves and I wanted to see what it was.

Brown glanced over at me and said something to Duran in Spanish and the two began to laugh. I asked Brown "What did you say to him"? Brown just looked at me with a smile and answered, "I told him you were looking for the horseshoe". I had to laugh, but honestly, that's exactly what I was doing. However, The only thing I found in Duran's gloves were his fists. Or as they would later be known, "Hands of Stone".

About a week later, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, my friend and stablemate Ruben Navarro was stopped by Rudolfo Gonzalez in his last attempt to win a world title. In the fight before the title match, the real lightweight king Roberto Duran floored and outscored Javiar Ayala savagely and won a unanimous ten round decision.

With the feel of those rock hard fists still fresh in my mind, I knew that Javiar Ayala discovered the same thing that Navarro and I had just days before. The horseshoe had nothing on "Hands of Stone"."

By Rick Farris.

[TerribleTerry]

The press conference trick on Hagler showed a lack of class, or maybe a touch of the arrogance needed to be the best, depends on perspective.

I think he lost the Hagler fight, but you have to admire the performance he put in, David Copperfield had nothing on the real Golden Boy.

People knock Leonard for his arrogance and ring persona but his talent was unquestionable IMO.

Just a fantastic fighter - one of the very best.

To deal with Hagler in the manner he did after such a long break and no competitive warm up fights was nothing short of sensational.

[bennie]

The press conference trick on Hagler showed a lack of class, or maybe a touch of the arrogance needed to be the best, depends on perspective.

I think he lost the Hagler fight, but you have to admire the performance he put in, David Copperfield had nothing on the real Golden Boy.

I thought Hagler showed a real lack of class by refusing to shake Duran's hand in the first conference to announce the fight. I can remember the public in attendance booing Hagler for just giving the thumbs-up sign when Duran offered his hand. Duran was fat and friendly and just shrugged but he didn't forget. Duran made him look bad and snarled at him at the final bell. He was also saying to Sugar Ray Leonard (at ringside doing commentary), "you'd beat him."

[bennie]

The press conference trick on Hagler showed a lack of class, or maybe a touch of the arrogance needed to be the best, depends on perspective.

I think he lost the Hagler fight, but you have to admire the performance he put in, David Copperfield had nothing on the real Golden Boy.

I thought Hagler showed a real lack of class by refusing to shake Duran's hand in the first conference to announce the fight. I can remember the public in attendance booing Hagler for just giving the thumbs-up sign when Duran offered his hand. Duran was fat and friendly and just shrugged but he didn't forget. Duran made him look bad and snarled at him at the final bell. He was also saying to Sugar Ray Leonard (at ringside doing commentary), "you'd beat him."

Yeah, got the blinkers on. To be fair Hagler was said to be a huge Duran fan, he went to meet him for a TV show, both men were being interviewed on the show, Hagler walked up to shake Duran's hand, Duran looks him up and down and says (in broken English):

"You are not Big! I could fight you!"

Hagler growls, takes his hand back. The pair have a strong contender for fight of the year, in the days when they had 15-rounds to play with.

God, I am nostalgic for an era that took place when I was a little kid. That is a bad sign.

It wasn't a classic fight, Terry, but Duran had the balls to show that Hagler was not the monster his previous defences over Fully Obel, Sibbo and Wilford Scypion had made him out to be.
Mullan wrote: "It was Hager's fight but Duran's night."

[bennie]

Duran's challengers at lightweight didn't even come to win (Hector Thompson and Ray Lampkin apart, who both paid the price of a knockout). They came to survive.


"In March of 1973, Roberto Duran, Lightweight Champion of the World, came to Los Angeles to fight Mexican champ Javiar Ayala in a ten round non-title fight. The match was on the same card with the WBC Lightweight Championship bout between title holder Rudolfo Gonzales and challenger Ruben Navarro.

Navarro and I were stablemates and would often spar together. However, for this match Ruben had a group of sparring partners whose styles were more like Gonzales than mine. Two years previous, Ruben came close to upsetting then lightweight champ Ken Buchanan but lost a close decision. This would be another opportunity to win a version of the world title and he was taking no chances.

One day I arrived at the Main Street Gym shortly after Duran and Navarro had completed their workouts. I talked to Ruben in the dressing room as I laced up my boxing shoes. That day, Navarro had sparred with Duran and he seemed a little different than usual.

"This guy hits harder than anybody", Navarro said. "He hit me high on the forehead with a spent jab and it shook me all the way down my back to my toes". I had known Ruben for quite a few years and never heard him express respect for another fighter as he was Duran. It was almost as if he was intimidated, not in a cowardly sense, but in a way that caught me off guard. Navarro had fought and beaten some of the best lightweights and Jr. lightweights in the world during his career, so I had to believe what he was saying.

A few days later, I was in the gym at the same time as Duran and it was fascinating watching him train. He skipped rope like nobody I'd ever seen, including the great Sugar Ray Robinson. Duran could do things with a jump rope that made for quite a show. However, the most entertaining of all (aside from his sparring) was watching Roberto hit the speed bag with his head. I don't mean just banging it back and forth, Duran could make the bag dance with his head as well as most boxers do with their hands.

However, watching Duran spar was the real show. In fact, Duran didn't just spar, he fought all out regardless of who he was in the ring with and it was common for a sparring partner to hit the canvas and be out cold. When Roberto would launch a body attack he'd fire vicious shots that would land with a thud. He'd let out a "yelp" as the punch was delivered. The high pitched noise coming from Duran's mouth would punctuate each blow and had an eerie effect. I was impressed, to say the least, and privately thought to myself, "Glad I'm a featherweight and won't have to fight this guy".

Little did I know that my manager had been talking with Duran's trainer, Freddie Brown, and had agreed to let me spar with Duran. It wasn't something I had a great desire to do, but a fighter doesn't show his feelings so when I got the news I just acted like it was no big deal. I was told that the only reason I'd be working with the larger Duran was for speed. I had fast hands and would provide quickness for Duran. Brown had assured my manager, Johnny Flores, that Duran would work lightly and not cut down on me.

Somebody must have forgot to tell Roberto the plan and about midway thru the opening round I found myself sitting on the canvas. I got up quickly and was OK but it occurred to me that I might be fighting for life. When the sparring resumed I understood what Navarro had meant when describing Duran's power. It was awesome, and even punches that most would consider average shots had something I'd never felt before. It was like being hit with baseball bat. Duran had 16 ounce training gloves on that looked to be padded, but it didn't feel like they were. This was before Roberto had been tagged "Manos de Piedra" or "Hands of Stone" in English. I can personally verify that this is more than just a nick name, it's a fact!

Duran is a guy who considers the ring his personal domain and anybody who stepped in with him was treated as if they were caught breaking into his home. He'd establish this immediately with anybody who entered, including me.

After the three rounds of torture with Duran, I punched the heavy bag. The champ finished sparring with two other boxers, a lightweight and a welterweight who was beaten so badly he left the ring trembling. After Duran stepped out of the ring Freddie Brown untied the champs gloves and pulled them off. I was resting between rounds on the heavy bag and moved closer to Duran to get a look at his hands. There had to be something harder than a fist inside the gloves and I wanted to see what it was.

Brown glanced over at me and said something to Duran in Spanish and the two began to laugh. I asked Brown "What did you say to him"? Brown just looked at me with a smile and answered, "I told him you were looking for the horseshoe". I had to laugh, but honestly, that's exactly what I was doing. However, The only thing I found in Duran's gloves were his fists. Or as they would later be known, "Hands of Stone".

About a week later, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, my friend and stablemate Ruben Navarro was stopped by Rudolfo Gonzalez in his last attempt to win a world title. In the fight before the title match, the real lightweight king Roberto Duran floored and outscored Javiar Ayala savagely and won a unanimous ten round decision.

With the feel of those rock hard fists still fresh in my mind, I knew that Javiar Ayala discovered the same thing that Navarro and I had just days before. The horseshoe had nothing on "Hands of Stone"."

By Rick Farris.

Duran drops Ayala.

[teddy007]

bennie, did you ever see Leonard box live? If so, how good did he look? His legacy certainly stands up.

No, I never saw him 'live' but I watched all his big fights 'live' in cinemas (the old Closed Circuit thing) and Leonard-Hearns in 1981 is only surpassed by Pryor-Arguello a year later as the greatest fight of the entire 1980s, in my opinion. It was so good, people were fainting at ringside.
His legacy is unquestionable.


My top ten greatest fighters ever

1] SUGAR RAY ROBINSON
2] MUHAMMAD ALI
3] JOE LOUIS
4] HENRY ARMSTRONG
5] WILLIE PEP
6] ARCHIE MOORE
7] SUGAR RAY LEONARD
8] MARVIN HAGLER
9] ROBERTO DURAN
10] BENNY LEONARD

Simply awesome

[teddy007]

Duran's challengers at lightweight didn't even come to win (Hector Thompson and Ray Lampkin apart, who both paid the price of a knockout). They came to survive.


"In March of 1973, Roberto Duran, Lightweight Champion of the World, came to Los Angeles to fight Mexican champ Javiar Ayala in a ten round non-title fight. The match was on the same card with the WBC Lightweight Championship bout between title holder Rudolfo Gonzales and challenger Ruben Navarro.

Navarro and I were stablemates and would often spar together. However, for this match Ruben had a group of sparring partners whose styles were more like Gonzales than mine. Two years previous, Ruben came close to upsetting then lightweight champ Ken Buchanan but lost a close decision. This would be another opportunity to win a version of the world title and he was taking no chances.

One day I arrived at the Main Street Gym shortly after Duran and Navarro had completed their workouts. I talked to Ruben in the dressing room as I laced up my boxing shoes. That day, Navarro had sparred with Duran and he seemed a little different than usual.

"This guy hits harder than anybody", Navarro said. "He hit me high on the forehead with a spent jab and it shook me all the way down my back to my toes". I had known Ruben for quite a few years and never heard him express respect for another fighter as he was Duran. It was almost as if he was intimidated, not in a cowardly sense, but in a way that caught me off guard. Navarro had fought and beaten some of the best lightweights and Jr. lightweights in the world during his career, so I had to believe what he was saying.

A few days later, I was in the gym at the same time as Duran and it was fascinating watching him train. He skipped rope like nobody I'd ever seen, including the great Sugar Ray Robinson. Duran could do things with a jump rope that made for quite a show. However, the most entertaining of all (aside from his sparring) was watching Roberto hit the speed bag with his head. I don't mean just banging it back and forth, Duran could make the bag dance with his head as well as most boxers do with their hands.

However, watching Duran spar was the real show. In fact, Duran didn't just spar, he fought all out regardless of who he was in the ring with and it was common for a sparring partner to hit the canvas and be out cold. When Roberto would launch a body attack he'd fire vicious shots that would land with a thud. He'd let out a "yelp" as the punch was delivered. The high pitched noise coming from Duran's mouth would punctuate each blow and had an eerie effect. I was impressed, to say the least, and privately thought to myself, "Glad I'm a featherweight and won't have to fight this guy".

Little did I know that my manager had been talking with Duran's trainer, Freddie Brown, and had agreed to let me spar with Duran. It wasn't something I had a great desire to do, but a fighter doesn't show his feelings so when I got the news I just acted like it was no big deal. I was told that the only reason I'd be working with the larger Duran was for speed. I had fast hands and would provide quickness for Duran. Brown had assured my manager, Johnny Flores, that Duran would work lightly and not cut down on me.

Somebody must have forgot to tell Roberto the plan and about midway thru the opening round I found myself sitting on the canvas. I got up quickly and was OK but it occurred to me that I might be fighting for life. When the sparring resumed I understood what Navarro had meant when describing Duran's power. It was awesome, and even punches that most would consider average shots had something I'd never felt before. It was like being hit with baseball bat. Duran had 16 ounce training gloves on that looked to be padded, but it didn't feel like they were. This was before Roberto had been tagged "Manos de Piedra" or "Hands of Stone" in English. I can personally verify that this is more than just a nick name, it's a fact!

Duran is a guy who considers the ring his personal domain and anybody who stepped in with him was treated as if they were caught breaking into his home. He'd establish this immediately with anybody who entered, including me.

After the three rounds of torture with Duran, I punched the heavy bag. The champ finished sparring with two other boxers, a lightweight and a welterweight who was beaten so badly he left the ring trembling. After Duran stepped out of the ring Freddie Brown untied the champs gloves and pulled them off. I was resting between rounds on the heavy bag and moved closer to Duran to get a look at his hands. There had to be something harder than a fist inside the gloves and I wanted to see what it was.

Brown glanced over at me and said something to Duran in Spanish and the two began to laugh. I asked Brown "What did you say to him"? Brown just looked at me with a smile and answered, "I told him you were looking for the horseshoe". I had to laugh, but honestly, that's exactly what I was doing. However, The only thing I found in Duran's gloves were his fists. Or as they would later be known, "Hands of Stone".

About a week later, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, my friend and stablemate Ruben Navarro was stopped by Rudolfo Gonzalez in his last attempt to win a world title. In the fight before the title match, the real lightweight king Roberto Duran floored and outscored Javiar Ayala savagely and won a unanimous ten round decision.

With the feel of those rock hard fists still fresh in my mind, I knew that Javiar Ayala discovered the same thing that Navarro and I had just days before. The horseshoe had nothing on "Hands of Stone"."

By Rick Farris.

Wow, simply brilliant. My favorite fighter by a country mile. What about this Duran Vs Khan at lightweight and all the other champions in a night or over a weekend. Who could survive?

[big lennox]

Bennie,

Once again, thanks for that info. I ahve seen footage of durna's skipping, and I think Mayweather is the only person to come close to it.

Who would you tip in a Mayweather-Duran fight, out of interest?

[bennie]

Bennie,

Once again, thanks for that info. I ahve seen footage of durna's skipping, and I think Mayweather is the only person to come close to it.

Who would you tip in a Mayweather-Duran fight, out of interest?

The Duran who entered the first Leonard fight at 71-1, aged 29, was right in his prime and would have caught up with Mayweather.
At lightweight Duran would have also done him in the late rounds.

[bennie]

Duran's challengers at lightweight didn't even come to win (Hector Thompson and Ray Lampkin apart, who both paid the price of a knockout). They came to survive.


"In March of 1973, Roberto Duran, Lightweight Champion of the World, came to Los Angeles to fight Mexican champ Javiar Ayala in a ten round non-title fight. The match was on the same card with the WBC Lightweight Championship bout between title holder Rudolfo Gonzales and challenger Ruben Navarro.

Navarro and I were stablemates and would often spar together. However, for this match Ruben had a group of sparring partners whose styles were more like Gonzales than mine. Two years previous, Ruben came close to upsetting then lightweight champ Ken Buchanan but lost a close decision. This would be another opportunity to win a version of the world title and he was taking no chances.

One day I arrived at the Main Street Gym shortly after Duran and Navarro had completed their workouts. I talked to Ruben in the dressing room as I laced up my boxing shoes. That day, Navarro had sparred with Duran and he seemed a little different than usual.

"This guy hits harder than anybody", Navarro said. "He hit me high on the forehead with a spent jab and it shook me all the way down my back to my toes". I had known Ruben for quite a few years and never heard him express respect for another fighter as he was Duran. It was almost as if he was intimidated, not in a cowardly sense, but in a way that caught me off guard. Navarro had fought and beaten some of the best lightweights and Jr. lightweights in the world during his career, so I had to believe what he was saying.

A few days later, I was in the gym at the same time as Duran and it was fascinating watching him train. He skipped rope like nobody I'd ever seen, including the great Sugar Ray Robinson. Duran could do things with a jump rope that made for quite a show. However, the most entertaining of all (aside from his sparring) was watching Roberto hit the speed bag with his head. I don't mean just banging it back and forth, Duran could make the bag dance with his head as well as most boxers do with their hands.

However, watching Duran spar was the real show. In fact, Duran didn't just spar, he fought all out regardless of who he was in the ring with and it was common for a sparring partner to hit the canvas and be out cold. When Roberto would launch a body attack he'd fire vicious shots that would land with a thud. He'd let out a "yelp" as the punch was delivered. The high pitched noise coming from Duran's mouth would punctuate each blow and had an eerie effect. I was impressed, to say the least, and privately thought to myself, "Glad I'm a featherweight and won't have to fight this guy".

Little did I know that my manager had been talking with Duran's trainer, Freddie Brown, and had agreed to let me spar with Duran. It wasn't something I had a great desire to do, but a fighter doesn't show his feelings so when I got the news I just acted like it was no big deal. I was told that the only reason I'd be working with the larger Duran was for speed. I had fast hands and would provide quickness for Duran. Brown had assured my manager, Johnny Flores, that Duran would work lightly and not cut down on me.

Somebody must have forgot to tell Roberto the plan and about midway thru the opening round I found myself sitting on the canvas. I got up quickly and was OK but it occurred to me that I might be fighting for life. When the sparring resumed I understood what Navarro had meant when describing Duran's power. It was awesome, and even punches that most would consider average shots had something I'd never felt before. It was like being hit with baseball bat. Duran had 16 ounce training gloves on that looked to be padded, but it didn't feel like they were. This was before Roberto had been tagged "Manos de Piedra" or "Hands of Stone" in English. I can personally verify that this is more than just a nick name, it's a fact!

Duran is a guy who considers the ring his personal domain and anybody who stepped in with him was treated as if they were caught breaking into his home. He'd establish this immediately with anybody who entered, including me.

After the three rounds of torture with Duran, I punched the heavy bag. The champ finished sparring with two other boxers, a lightweight and a welterweight who was beaten so badly he left the ring trembling. After Duran stepped out of the ring Freddie Brown untied the champs gloves and pulled them off. I was resting between rounds on the heavy bag and moved closer to Duran to get a look at his hands. There had to be something harder than a fist inside the gloves and I wanted to see what it was.

Brown glanced over at me and said something to Duran in Spanish and the two began to laugh. I asked Brown "What did you say to him"? Brown just looked at me with a smile and answered, "I told him you were looking for the horseshoe". I had to laugh, but honestly, that's exactly what I was doing. However, The only thing I found in Duran's gloves were his fists. Or as they would later be known, "Hands of Stone".

About a week later, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, my friend and stablemate Ruben Navarro was stopped by Rudolfo Gonzalez in his last attempt to win a world title. In the fight before the title match, the real lightweight king Roberto Duran floored and outscored Javiar Ayala savagely and won a unanimous ten round decision.

With the feel of those rock hard fists still fresh in my mind, I knew that Javiar Ayala discovered the same thing that Navarro and I had just days before. The horseshoe had nothing on "Hands of Stone"."

By Rick Farris.

Wow, simply brilliant. My favorite fighter by a country mile. What about this Duran Vs Khan at lightweight and all the other champions in a night or over a weekend. Who could survive?

Duran beat world champs in non-title fights (Marcel, Kobayashi, Mamby, etc), so he was always likely to be Last Man Standing. Duran-Khan? Duran was a fast starter and a great finisher. Khan's chin is questionable, of course, but I think Duran's quick, vicious body shots would have done Khan in the first three rounds. Khan would have been totally winded.

[teddy007]

Duran's challengers at lightweight didn't even come to win (Hector Thompson and Ray Lampkin apart, who both paid the price of a knockout). They came to survive.


"In March of 1973, Roberto Duran, Lightweight Champion of the World, came to Los Angeles to fight Mexican champ Javiar Ayala in a ten round non-title fight. The match was on the same card with the WBC Lightweight Championship bout between title holder Rudolfo Gonzales and challenger Ruben Navarro.

Navarro and I were stablemates and would often spar together. However, for this match Ruben had a group of sparring partners whose styles were more like Gonzales than mine. Two years previous, Ruben came close to upsetting then lightweight champ Ken Buchanan but lost a close decision. This would be another opportunity to win a version of the world title and he was taking no chances.

One day I arrived at the Main Street Gym shortly after Duran and Navarro had completed their workouts. I talked to Ruben in the dressing room as I laced up my boxing shoes. That day, Navarro had sparred with Duran and he seemed a little different than usual.

"This guy hits harder than anybody", Navarro said. "He hit me high on the forehead with a spent jab and it shook me all the way down my back to my toes". I had known Ruben for quite a few years and never heard him express respect for another fighter as he was Duran. It was almost as if he was intimidated, not in a cowardly sense, but in a way that caught me off guard. Navarro had fought and beaten some of the best lightweights and Jr. lightweights in the world during his career, so I had to believe what he was saying.

A few days later, I was in the gym at the same time as Duran and it was fascinating watching him train. He skipped rope like nobody I'd ever seen, including the great Sugar Ray Robinson. Duran could do things with a jump rope that made for quite a show. However, the most entertaining of all (aside from his sparring) was watching Roberto hit the speed bag with his head. I don't mean just banging it back and forth, Duran could make the bag dance with his head as well as most boxers do with their hands.

However, watching Duran spar was the real show. In fact, Duran didn't just spar, he fought all out regardless of who he was in the ring with and it was common for a sparring partner to hit the canvas and be out cold. When Roberto would launch a body attack he'd fire vicious shots that would land with a thud. He'd let out a "yelp" as the punch was delivered. The high pitched noise coming from Duran's mouth would punctuate each blow and had an eerie effect. I was impressed, to say the least, and privately thought to myself, "Glad I'm a featherweight and won't have to fight this guy".

Little did I know that my manager had been talking with Duran's trainer, Freddie Brown, and had agreed to let me spar with Duran. It wasn't something I had a great desire to do, but a fighter doesn't show his feelings so when I got the news I just acted like it was no big deal. I was told that the only reason I'd be working with the larger Duran was for speed. I had fast hands and would provide quickness for Duran. Brown had assured my manager, Johnny Flores, that Duran would work lightly and not cut down on me.

Somebody must have forgot to tell Roberto the plan and about midway thru the opening round I found myself sitting on the canvas. I got up quickly and was OK but it occurred to me that I might be fighting for life. When the sparring resumed I understood what Navarro had meant when describing Duran's power. It was awesome, and even punches that most would consider average shots had something I'd never felt before. It was like being hit with baseball bat. Duran had 16 ounce training gloves on that looked to be padded, but it didn't feel like they were. This was before Roberto had been tagged "Manos de Piedra" or "Hands of Stone" in English. I can personally verify that this is more than just a nick name, it's a fact!

Duran is a guy who considers the ring his personal domain and anybody who stepped in with him was treated as if they were caught breaking into his home. He'd establish this immediately with anybody who entered, including me.

After the three rounds of torture with Duran, I punched the heavy bag. The champ finished sparring with two other boxers, a lightweight and a welterweight who was beaten so badly he left the ring trembling. After Duran stepped out of the ring Freddie Brown untied the champs gloves and pulled them off. I was resting between rounds on the heavy bag and moved closer to Duran to get a look at his hands. There had to be something harder than a fist inside the gloves and I wanted to see what it was.

Brown glanced over at me and said something to Duran in Spanish and the two began to laugh. I asked Brown "What did you say to him"? Brown just looked at me with a smile and answered, "I told him you were looking for the horseshoe". I had to laugh, but honestly, that's exactly what I was doing. However, The only thing I found in Duran's gloves were his fists. Or as they would later be known, "Hands of Stone".

About a week later, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, my friend and stablemate Ruben Navarro was stopped by Rudolfo Gonzalez in his last attempt to win a world title. In the fight before the title match, the real lightweight king Roberto Duran floored and outscored Javiar Ayala savagely and won a unanimous ten round decision.

With the feel of those rock hard fists still fresh in my mind, I knew that Javiar Ayala discovered the same thing that Navarro and I had just days before. The horseshoe had nothing on "Hands of Stone"."

By Rick Farris.

Wow, simply brilliant. My favorite fighter by a country mile. What about this Duran Vs Khan at lightweight and all the other champions in a night or over a weekend. Who could survive?

Duran beat world champs in non-title fights (Marcel, Kobayashi, Mamby, etc), so he was always likely to be Last Man Standing. Duran-Khan? Duran was a fast starter and a great finisher. Khan's chin is questionable, of course, but I think Duran's quick, vicious body shots would have done Khan in the first three rounds. Khan would have been totally winded.

what about the rest over the course of the same night or weekend?, even on a duran bad night Khan would not last past 3 rnds imo

[bennie]

Not every single fight can be a big one, Teddy, even for superfighters. Duran would have a big fight, several weeks off, then a couple of warm-ups to help lose the weight he would have piled on and to help regain the sharpness, then another big fight.
That's how it worked with him.

Comparing Duran to Khan, by the way, is a bit like comparing Mork to Mindy. "Nanu nanu..."