Roberto Duran insists Sugar Ray Leonard never truly beat him - and he knows it

September 2020 · 5 minute read

ALMOST 40 years after the most painful night of his life, Roberto Duran insists the mystery around his ‘no mas’ loss to Sugar Ray Leonard is over.

The greatest lightweight in history, a four-weight world champ and national icon, had his incredible career tarnished by the events of November 25 1980.

Just five months earlier, Panama’s hero stunned the world by jumping up to welterweight and pummelling unbeaten American golden boy Leonard over 15 magnificent rounds.

The Brawl in Montreal triumph sparked three weeks of partying back home.

But, while Duran sank champagne and gorged on food to make up for his starving childhood, his greedy manager agreed to a rapid rematch in New Orleans.

It ended in mockery for the champ, who was mercilessly taunted by Leonard.

The American wound up his right hand bolo style, then smacked Duran with a left. He stood in front of his bewildered opponent, stuck out his chin, then danced away.

After eight rounds the end came as Duran infamously said ‘no mas’ — ‘no more’ in Spanish — to the referee.

To this day the 67-year-old declares he pulled out with crippling stomach pains after shredding almost three stone to make the fight.

And, in the brilliant new film ‘I Am Duran’, Leonard admits he had no plans to clown around until he saw Duran was a shell of the man who stunned him months before.

Duran, nicknamed Hands of Stones, feels Leonard’s statement sets in concrete his belief that the American will meet his maker knowing he never really beat his old enemy.

Duran, who lost a third bout with Leonard in 1989 up at super- ­middleweight when both were past their prime, told SunSport: “These comments settle it. When I lost with Leonard I had lost a lot of weight, I felt weak and tired. I could not move or do anything.

“Leonard’s comments in this film acknowledge it. He acknowledges that he did not defeat a Roberto Duran in good shape.

“And many people, including Americans, have told him ‘You have not defeated Duran’. He knows it. He will go to his grave knowing that.”

The 90-minute movie ends four decades of speculation around halfway, when Leonard concedes he beat a ghost of his great nemesis.

Duran’s menacing black eyes were almost as fearsome as the granite fists that KO’d 70 of 119 opponents.

But Leonard, now 63, conceded: “Those eyes that used to stare at someone and break them down were now just lost.

He knows he didn't beat me. He will go to his grave knowing that.

Roberto Duran on his loss to Sugar Ray Leonard

“You would never think about sticking your chin out at Roberto Duran, trust me.

“It just happened instinctively and it worked because I saw in his eyes that he was not there.”

In the making of the film, British director Mat Hodgson came face-to-face with deposed dictator General Manuel Noriega and watched Mike Tyson well up when discussing Duran’s influence on his career.

But it was the narrative-flipping admission from Leonard that most shocked him, Hodgson said: “I was absolutely astonished when Leonard said that in the interview.

“When you watch the fight you assume it’s a canny tactic he planned from the start.

“But to switch it up that late, in a world title fight with Roberto Duran, to that effect, it was a revelation.”

The movie examines Duran’s career alongside Panama’s volatile relationship with the neighbouring USA and the December 1989 invasion to depose tyrant Noriega, who died in prison two years ago.

Duran’s gym in his impoverished home district of El Chorrillo, close to Noriega’s Panama City headquarters, was destroyed and hundreds of Panamanians were reportedly killed.

But the veteran fighter refuses to trade on his hardships and instead tells another tale from his barnstorming back catalogue.

He said: “I was at Chorrillo and noticed that Panamanian police were running around in tanks, as well as Americans showing up.

“My friend said the invasion was imminent but I told him ‘Don’t worry, nothing will happen’.

“I was drinking whiskey when my wife passed by and said ‘The Americans are starting to invade, please come home’.

“But I thought she was lying because she did not want me to spend money and drink.

“I left very drunk and saw red, white and other coloured lights in the sky, I thought they were fireworks and saw this beautiful lighting.

“I had a machine gun that I had bought recently and I said ‘I’m going out to help Noriega’. So they tied me to the leg of the bed where I slept until the next morning!”

most read in boxing

Stories like that winter evening are as legendary as the later bouts with Davey Moore, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Iran Barkley, as Duran defied sporting logic by ­winning further world titles at light-middle and middleweight.

The 5ft 7in superhero inspired a downtrodden nation and redefined what it meant to be a fighter.

And the great man’s trainer, Franklin Bedoya, explained why he and the rest of the nation have given up trying to unearth another Duran.

At the Master Gomez sweatbox in the heart of El Chorrillo, Bedoya said: “God anointed us with only one Roberto Duran. We did try to create another but it’s impossible.

“What he achieved, the fights he had and how he behaved toward his people, can never be done again. We have stopped looking now and just enjoy what Roberto Duran gave us.”

‘I am Duran’ is available now on digital download.

Joshua vs Ruiz Jr rematch clause TRIGGERED for November-December, confirms AJ’s promoter, Eddie Hearn

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErKynZpOke7a3jqynqKqkZK%2BwxMinnmhxYmeAd4SWaKmompWnwbB5w66pmqZdqMKordFmqZqxXaGysLrAq5tmmpWWwW60yKZkpKafrMButdNo