HUGOBOX

I knew you would appreciate this story as much as I did When Roberto told it to me back in 82, I'm really surprise no one has actually made a movie about his life, his is truly incredible ,did you know that he almost drowned once , him and some friends were stealing mangos from a private propherty across a river, they almost got caught as they ran, the bigger kids dropped every thing and swam across , not Roberto he reffused to leave behind a sack full of mangoes and began sinking as he tried to swim back as the other kids saw this two of them jumped in and help pull him ashore, one of the kids commented that Roberto had to be the most stubborn kid he ever met, he almost drowned but he never let go of that dam sack of mangoes.........

marlon

Thank you again HUGOBOX!!!! It's interesting that you actually met him. How did this happen? What was he like? Was he training at the time or was he overweight? Actually, there is a new film about Roberto called 'Fists of the nation'. However I don't know anything more about the film.

HUGOBOX

I met him back the year Arguello fought Pryor he was training as the head liner of that card against a guy named Pat Lawlor I belive,
It turned out into a walk out fight as most fans never heard of Lawlor and it seemed Duran was not inspired against this guy and was quite flat on this night he got the deceition but it was a very forgetable fight, I was training in a small rinky dinky gym in a lower income section of miami and he was there training, he seemed very moody at times and some days he couldn't stop making jokes, to the crowd , I pretty much didn't bother him thinking it would be best to leave him alone, then one day as I was doing some curls he walked up to me and said do em like this it builds your forearm ,he grabed a barbell and motioned like trowing a jab , I said thank you and introduced myself and struck up a conversation, I asked him if I could accompanied him during his morning runs but he decline and said that he prefered to run alone I did not insist,one day there was this kid named Juan Arrollo he fought Camacho once he had this huge radio and was playing it loud Duran told him tolower the volume but Juan just ignored him, I walked up to him and told him hey man Duran said shut that **** down ,he looked at me and said you don't have to jump just cause he saids so, at the time I thought to my self damm this kid is got some balls but I guess he had a point finnally the head trainer in the gym this large cuban black man named Caron came over and turned the radio off himself and told Juan you either keep that **** down or your out of here, the kid got all piss off and took off. Duran seemed to be a very emotional person in the sense that he was always in a different mood, some of his close friends were some what protectant of him possibly knowing what bother the man, his Manager at the time a guy named Luis DeCubas was a total asshole ,how he ever got hook up with Duran I'll never know, he seemed like a real slime ball at the time I wanted to print some T shirts with Durans face and the four titles he had but wanted permission before doing it this guy Cubas wanted half the profits, I guest he tought I was going to sell a million of them ,at the time I didn't have two dimes to my name so I gave the idea up, I never said anything to Duran thinking he probably had better things to worry about and didn't want to seem like an opportunist with the same interest as every body around him it was pathetic at times how many hanger ons he had ..

marlon

Thank you for your wonderful stories. You are a fountain of insight and information! I live in Australia, you know, the arse end of the world, so I feel especially lucky to be reading your posts. Can I ask you a couple of things?

Did Duran really thumb Davy Moore? As I watch the fight, I don't see anything to distinguish the thumbing from any other punch Duran threw. I can't imagine it was deliberate. You could easily injure or even break your thumb by doing such things.

What do you think of the first Leonard fight? I think Duran's performance was legendary and the most brilliant in boxing history. Duran didn't need whatever Panama Lewis was feeding Pryor. He was feeding inspiration from the hand of the gods.

What about Duran's physical build and structure? I always think of Duran as the little guy fighting the big guys. But he must been as strong as an ox and built, as we say in Australia, like a brick shithouse.

HUGOBOX

Hi marlon I'm happy to share them with you Up to now I had never actually told these things except my old man , like my self he loves boxing,and not all the members here showed that much interest, some of them would simply turn it into an instant debate, to me Roberto (MANOS DE PIEDRA) Duran is the greatest latin american champion that ever was or ever will be, no man his size has ever displayed his guts or bravery, I mean the man is only 5ft 7inches tall yet he gave Hagler and barkley, moore hell and had the audacity to get in the ring with the towering Hearns , his handlers should've never allowed that fight to happen Roberto was simply way overmatched, but they were blind and tought Duran was indestructible, any wasy as far as the thumb to Moores Eye, Yes it was, It was defetnetly not intentional but it happen it seems it was meant to be a jab and Moore moved his head into it, they way Duran fought some times blows strayed off course like the Buchanan low blow it was simply the heat of the battle, it had to be Moores eye swelled right away, but I was glad Duran sort off redeamed himself for the 2nd leonard fiasco.

HUGOBOX

as far as the first SRL fight it had to be one of Durans best performance ,at the time he still had the team who had nourtured him to the chmpionship Ray Arcel and his partner a mr BROWN something i cant rmember and his original manager Rey Eleta, but after that fight similar to the Mike Tyson story they were betrayed by his ignorance, don't get me wrong in the ring Duran was the best but outside of it his personality left much to be desired, simply put after seeing the money he got paid for the SRL fight he went nuts and all the wrong people had his ear , but what could you expect he barely had 2 years of school and came from the worst poverty we can imagine , he felt he had the right to enjoy his money any way he felt like it , he could not see that his Manager a man that loved him like a son was securing his future he simply could not see that far ahead and went without a manger for a while and eventually to that other idiot I mentioned Luis De Cubas, it was truly a sad shame cause Mr eleta truly had Roberto's best interest at heart the man was a very sucessful business man and knew Roberto since he was a kid, he was truly heart broken and dissapointed when Duran demanded all of his Money at once , he could have tie him up in the legal process but as proof that he was an honest man he chose to give Duran All his Money and severe all ties to him ,they never reconciliated as Roberto was too proud and arrogant to admit his terrible mistake , at the time he felt on top of the world ( which he was ) and wanted to share his joy with all the poor people of panama, perhaps most of us would judge this action as foolish and poor business and all thoug it was defenetly not the wise thing to do perhaps it was meant to be that way and it gave Roberto the fullfillment he felt he deserved.

HUGOBOX

regarding Robertos physicallity like Mike Tyson he was a phenom with unusual strengh for his size he had the gift of heavy hands hense the name hands of stone and no bad habits at that time . the reason I say this and just to be clear they were rumors I heard that he dabble in a little cocaine, the stuff was all over the place at that time ,but who really knows I never saw him doing it and he might have been one of those persons who tried it once and never messed with it again, he defenetly partied quite a bit and if he did in fact indulged on that poison he would'nt have been able to last as long as he did otherwise no? he reached the weight of 200 lbs once.

marlon

HUGOBOX you have been incredibly generous with your time and with the amount of detail you have put into your posts. I genuinely appreciate it. I have read and reread your posts many times. I feel I owe you a beer at least!!! I now have a better understanding of this remarkably complex man. So yet again I want to thank you very much.

Yes I know Duran divides opinion, but that is only because people are jealous of him, of his titles, envious of his greatness, skills and macho image. Roberto was the MAN, in fact he was a man's man. Never a doubt about that. I believe there are some racist elements at work here as well. Never trust an Anglo Saxon/white American 'expert' to rank a Latino boxer, never!!!!! They'll not rank him as high as he should be. DURAN IS AT LEAST TOP THREE OF ALL TIME, if not the greatest ever. He is the only lightweight to win the middleweight crown. This achievement ranks with Sir Edmund Hillary's, of being the first man to climb Mount Everest. I mean, he is a timeless hero for all future ages. It's against the laws of nature that Duran ever knocked down Barkley, with a magnificent series of precise combos, and then won that fight and the middleweight crown. Awesome, simply awesome.

Can I ask you another question? Is it true that Duran became lazy at training and didn't prepare well for many fights? I constantly hear about how his weight went up and down and that he partied too much.

HUGOBOX

Yes it is true as with many great athletes with great achivements came the great egos, Duran was no different and in his simple mind he belived his own hype and there were fights that simply did not inspire him, some of which you might have seen.
But he knew when to get serious especially with the big names in welter , jr middle weight and middle weight, After the DAvey Moore fight it bacame customary to spend time celebrating first in NY then in Panama it was like a training preparation, the parties lasted the same and some times longer then the training camps and he loved the adoring crowds the man simply could not refuse or say no to any of his friends and yes he loved to eat, like I mentioned once he balloned to 200 pounds and thats more or less his walking weight now a days. I just like to say to you Marlon tha you dont have to thank me , I feel as grateful to you for taking the time to read it and yes I agree with you that he was a mans man I don't know if you remember but Gil Clancy said that during the Barkley fight when Barkley spunned Roberto around with a left hook but could not follow thru he said ( my god what a man Roberto is )or some thing close to it he should defenetly be one of the top three boxers of all time I don't know about you but I never bought that crap about Ali being the greatest not to me any how he got lucky that Geroge Foreman foolishly spended himself in that one

marlon

One thing I've never really understood about Duran is his relationship with Ray Arcel. Arcel couldn't speak Spanish and Duran couldn't speak English, so how on earth did their relationship work so effectively over the course of many successful years? So often I see Arcel in Duran's corner giving him instruction and yet I wonder how or what is happening. It's incredible really, when you think about it.

I can't help but to think that Ray Arcel is the best thing that ever happened to young Roberto. Arcel was already a legend well before he ever met Duran. When I looked at Arcel's record I was truly in awe of this wise old man. He trained so many legendary fighters and world champions, including Benny Leonard and Jimmy Braddock. Arcel had over half a century of experience before he met that wild and crazy little boy from Panama!!!! Do you know how Arcel discovered Duran? How about Arcel's training programme and general guidance for the young Duran? I heard somewhere Duran excited Arcel so much he brought him out of retirement. Is this true? The Duran and Arcel relationship is absolutely fascinating and of the deepest interest. Arcel must've loved and cared for the young gun like a son. I mean, he picked up a poor boy from the slums of Panama City and made him champion of the world. I was really moved and touched when I learned from you that Duran bought his mother a home they could call thier own , once he started to earn money. There should be a book written about the Duran-Arcel relationship.

It's to the credit of Ray Arcel that he focused Duran and turned him into such an educated and intelligent fighter. What a team Arcel and Duran were. Both are legends. Will we ever see this kind of thing again?