LIGHTWEIGHTS 136 lbs: p1 Roberto Duran p3 Henry Armstrong p4 Benny Leonard p5 Manny Pacquiao p7 Julio Cesar p8 Joe Gans p8 Tony Canzoneri p9 Ike Williams p10 Packey McFarland p11 Carlos Ortiz p12 Gervonta Davis
[9.0] ROBERTO DURAN 119-104(69)-16-0 [Super-Middleweight & Middleweight & Light-Middleweight & Welterweight & Lightweight]: Pete Axthelm - Bert Randolph Sugar - Bob Arum - Roberto Duran: Legends of Boxing TV - Roberto Duran - Hugh McIlvanney - Daily Telegraph - No Mas 2013 - I Am Duran 2019 - The Kings TV -
What terrible past had produced this furious machine of destruction? Pete Axthelm
The Americans didn’t invent the word ‘mashismo’ ... You know how big a hero he is going to be. Bert Randolph Sugar
Roberto Duran after the ‘no-mas’ fight became a pariah. Bob Arum, promoter
Then the rematch [with Leonard]. It ended curiously with Duran saying No mas. Roberto Duran: Legends of Boxing
His unceasing charity: that does not make the news. ibid.
There’s only one legend. That’s me. Roberto Duran
Getting hit motivates me. It makes me punish the guy more. A fighter takes a punch, hits back with three punches. Roberto Duran
I am not an animal in my personal life. But in the ring there is an animal inside me. Sometimes it roars when the first bell rights. Sometimes it springs out later in a fight. But I can always feel it there, driving me and pushing me forward. It is what makes me win. It makes me enjoy fighting. Roberto Duran
Duran’s had always been a primitive spirit whose excesses were allowed to pour forth unfiltered by the merest hint of sophistication, sometimes without even the most basic of civilising restraints. The deprived and abused Hispanic minorities in the US had identified fiercely with the macho rawness of their champion while he ruled the world’s lightweights as imperiously as any fighter in history, even more vehemently when he moved up a division to beat the relentlessly glamorised Leonard for the World Boxing Council welterweight title in the summer of 1980 in Montreal. Hugh McIlvanney, The Magic Touch
Nor were they likely to be impressed by evidence that Roberto was training perfunctorily for the quick return. What happened in New Orleans was a disillusionment so brutal that they turned against him with the hostility that might have blighted his entire life, let alone his career. ibid.
Roberto Duran is one of the greatest boxers ever to have climbed into a ring. He has some virtues and some vices, but his biggest problem is that he does not know when to stop. When to stop fighting, when to stop partying, when to stop spending …
He was to dominate the lightweight scene for almost a decade, unifying the titles before moving up to welterweight to take on his nemesis, Sugar Ray Leonard. Duran won their first contest but was out of shape for the second. Struggling with his fitness and tormented by his teasing opponent, Duran quit the ring. The bravest man in the sport had committed boxing’s most unforgivable sin, and even he is at a loss to explain why.
The only way back was the only thing he knew. So Duran fought fresh challenges, winning the light-middleweight title before taking on the marquee names ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler and Thomas ‘The Hitman’ Hearns. By the time he beat Iran Barkley to win the WBC middleweight title in 1989, Duran’s rehabilitation was complete. But of course he didn’t know when to stop, and was still fighting for titles in 2001, nearly 35 years after his professional debut. Daily Telegraph article 1st February 2007 Andrew Baker
In 1980 the world seemed to stop to watch Duran and Leonard. No Mas, ESPN 2013
One of the ultimate rivalries in boxing. ibid.
I think the world wants to know what the hell happened that night in the ring in New Orleans – the No Mas fight. ibid. Leonard
Leonard spearheaded a resurgence of boxing in America … Leonard was a gigantic superstar. ibid. Boxing writer
His brawling style earned him a reputation as the meanest man in boxing. ibid.
The Brawl in Montreal: the richest bout in boxing history. ibid.
What is he [Leonard] doing? That’s not the way he fights. ibid. Bob Arum
It was close to death. ibid. Leonard
He’s [Leonard] just a pitbull with a pretty face. ibid. Mike Tyson,
Leonard v Duran II: Ray Leonard was giving him a boxing lesson. ibid. writer
And then it happened: No Mas. ibid.
I think it’s disgraceful. ibid. Emanuel Steward
Hands of stone turned into hands of mush. ibid. Sal Marchiano
At the end of the fifth round I started getting cramps in my stomach and it kept getting worse and worse. ibid. Duran
Did Roberto Duran have a weight problem? ibid. Cosell
I was born a fighter and I will die a fighter. I Am Duran, 2019
It’s frightening to see his upbringing and how he has survived that. ibid. Leonard
I was never angry. I was always happy even though I was a poor boy. I was happy: I cleaned shoes, I sold newspapers, I never had any ambitions. I truly never had any ambitions of anything. ibid. Duran
I went for eight years undefeated as world champion. ibid.
TV interviewer: Scared?
Leonard: Just a little. ibid.
I didn’t foresee any problem until he hit me. ibid. Leonard
It’s almost like he [Duran] moved to Sodom & Gomorrah. He just indulged. ibid.
I saw something in his eyes. I saw that he was not there. ibid. Leonard
As much as I love boxing, I hate it. And as much as I hate it, I love it. The Kings I: From Ghetto to Glory to Gold ***** Budd Schulberg, DiscoveryPlus 2021
Boxing is always an opening act to everything else that is happening in the world … You knew on some level you were seeing history. ibid. Teddy Atlas
You have four great fighters: Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran Marvin Hagler who were fighting each other, and it was enthralling. ibid. Thomas Hauser
Their fights meant so much. The four kings gave us unique personalities, unique fighters who all fought each other to their credit and created a time in boxing that was maybe the greatest period in the history of the sport. ibid. Steve Farhood
Leonard v Duran: We believe that this event will be the highest grossing boxing match in the history of the sport. ibid. Bob Arum
Roberto Hands of Stone Duran: From the moment he hit centre stage he was an anti-hero. He was thought of as the bad boy of boxing. ibid. Al Bernstein
Roberto Duran – he got inside my head. He would talk trash, he would curse me, curse my wife, and I said I’m going to beat him at his own game. And that’s where I went wrong. He got under my skin. He hit me with so many punches, so many times, so many places, it’s like a Tasmanian Devil. ibid. Sugar Ray
Roberto Duran was a folk hero in Panama even before he became the welterweight champion of the world. The Panamanians love him. The Kings s1e2: Flesh and Blood, news report
New Orleans: Leonard v Duran II: The Super Fight 25th November 1980: And I glance over at Duran. Man, you are in trouble. This is America, baby. ibid.
Ray had humiliated this street kid. And something in him popped. ibid. Larry Merchant
June 16 1983 New York City: Moore v Duran: He beat Davey Moore down. That was Roberto as Roberto. And when that happened Roberto was back. All was forgiven. The Kings III: The Will to Win, Thomas Hauser
November 10 1983 Las Vegas: Hagler v Duran. ibid.
After 13 rounds, Duran is ahead on the cards. ibid. Steve Barhood