I Am Durán (2019) - full transcript
The story of five time World Champion Panamanian boxer Roberto Duràn; A one man wrecking-ball who took on the world, transcended his sport and helped inspire a nation to rise up against its CIA funded dictator to achieve independence. From his days shining shoes on the street, to packing out arenas across the world, this is the story of modern Panama and its most celebrated child.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER
LARRY MERCHANT:
When the bell rang in a Roberto Durén fight
you felt something's going to happen.
To be able to be in the ring
119 times over 40 years
it's unparalleled. He did it.
He was absolutely ferocious, he was fearless.
The greatest lightweight in boxing history.
He always pressed the action.
He always brought that charisma, that anger.
ROBERT DE NIRO:
Roberto was a great fighter
and he's an interesting character.
Flamboyant, flashy.
It's frightening to see his upbringings
and how he has survived that.
A young man from Panama
who brought the people together.
He was a catalyst for hope, aspiration.
He kept it all alive.
CROWD CHEERS
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
REPORTER: The continents of North America
and South America are connected
by a narrow link of land, Central America.
As explorers and traders learnt more
about Central America
they found that the shortest path
from ocean to ocean
was across the area known today
as the Republic of Panama.
SPORTSCASTER:
There ’s the fiery Panamanian Dura’n
right on Buchanan again.
REPORTER: The United States
built a great Panama Canal
controlling the trade routes
from north to south and east to west.
We should and those negotiations
and tell the General:
”We bought it, we paid for it, we built it
and we intend to keep it”.
INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER
REPORTER:
Shipping through the Panama Canal
and the nearly 10,000 American troops
guarding it
were not affected by the unrest.
REPORTER 2: The canal would be
a prime target for an aggressor
seeking to disrupt peace and security.
REPORTER 3: The US Senate declared it would
always respect Panamanian sovereignty.
REPORTER 4:
Preparing for the crackdown
the government had ordered the closure
of banks, schools and government offices.
THEY CHANT:
USA!
SPORTSCASTER:
A tremendous right hand by Duran.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
SPORTSCASTER:
Dura’n just cannot be beaten or intimidated.
Last night, / ordered
US military forces to Panama.
GEORGE BUSH: And we will not be
intimated by the bullying tactics
brutal though they may be,
of the dictator, Noriega.
GUNSHOTS
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
LARRY MERCHANT:
He found an order in a disorderly universe
when he was a child,
in learning how to fight.
Not just to fight, but howto fight.
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
Duran was a product of want.
Duran was a product of poverty.
You have a natural fighter here.
You have someone who's driven
by vivid memories of going to bed hungry
and dirt floors
and barrels lit on fire for heat.
ROBIN DURAN:
He didn't have a family, a proper family.
He was abandoned by his father
and he had to rough it out on the streets.
He had to make a living since very young,
selling newspapers, shining shoes
on the streets and trying to support
his family while being a five—year—old kid.
So, it was hard for him.
IN SPANISH:
Well, the Canal Zone
is not a colonial possession.
It is not a long—term lease.
It is sovereign United States territory.
Where do prize fighters come?
They come from desperate, poor circumstance.
In the sport of boxing
it requires such emotional strength,
determination
the experience of being
in very difficult situations daily.
Pain, living with pain every day.
It's not a stretch to walk into a boxing gym.
CROWD ROARS
SPORTSCASTER: Dynamite in both hands
and he ’3 showing it tonight.
LARRY MERCHANT:
There has to be some inner fire
that wants to escape from where he came
and from what he'd seen
and some desire just to...
beat other people up.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
JUAN CARLOS TAPIA IN SPANISH:
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
Ray Arcel had 20 world champions.
Now, keep in mind this is not 20 belt holders
or a few world champions and belt holders.
These are legitimate true champions,
divisional kings
and Ray Arcel had 20 of them.
He wasn't the typical trainer
that you would think of.
He was more like, as somebody described him,
"He dressed like a banker."
He was very much a gentleman.
He was very elegant
and he cared for his fighters very much.
/ always felt that there was no one
could beat him.
/ told him one time, / said:
”/f you fought the heavyweight champion
of the world, you could win. ”
ROBERT DE NIRO:
Roberto was his last fighter
and he was, at that time, close to 80
and he was not wanting to go back into it.
He did because Roberto was so special.
This kind of like a father—son relationship
which I think that they had.
Every trainer has a different work ethic.
Every trainer has
a different way of instilling
in their fighter a fighting style.
Ray Arcel called him a natural fighter.
In other words,
they clearly didn't have to teach him much.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
MARVIN HAGLER: All these guys learn a lot
of stuff from the streets and whatever
and they bring it into the ring.
Being a champion is something that
you gotta learn and you gotta learn it
the hard way.
And the most of us,
we had nothing to start out with.
So, we ain't got nothing to lose.
HE CHUCKLES
SPORTSCASTER: He ’3 gone!
There is no getting up from that.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
APPLAUSE
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
Ken Buchanan was the favourite.
He was very good, if not a great fighter.
Well, I was a boxer
and Roberto was a fighter.
I knew what I was up against, like.
Roberto, you seem very confident
that this is going to be a knockout.
Now, let’s go a step further
and tell me the round.
IN SPANISH:
LARRY MERCHANT: Duran had
this absolute certainty that he would win.
I remember thinking:
"What does he know that we don't know?"
STEVE LOTT:
When the bell rang for round one
it was like Duran's coming out
to end the fight
like you just stole something from him.
He fought Ken Buchanan
as if Ken Buchanan mugged his mother.
SPORTSCASTER:
Oh, he really hurt him that time!
He just had the guts to keep going
throwing punches at me
and hoping they were going to land.
He had just turned 21 years old
ten days earlier.
He combined his aggression
with being elusive.
And for Buchanan,
to withstand that for round after round
it was a tremendous effort.
Duran was fighting for a nation.
REPORTER: The trouble began when a group
of American high school pupils
flew an American flag
without the Panamanian flag by its side.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
REPORTER:
And before the Panamanian National Guard
the police and US troops
brought the rioters under control
more than a score were dead,
including four US soldiers.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
GUILLERMO COCHEZ:
The Panamanians cannot talk politics.
Cannot talk in the papers,
because we don't have freedom of speech.
Duran came as a symbol of opportunity
to express ourselves
as a country of oppression.
SPORTSCASTER: / don ’t think Buchanan
has ever been in this much trouble.
Duran knew how to pace himself naturally.
He also had a lot of stamina,
he kept on going.
He was just relentless
going after him with his head
as well as his fists
and eventually, he just broke him down.
BELL RINGS
KEN BUCHANAN:
He hit me low and that was it.
Like, the referee...
He just stopped the fight.
SPORTSCASTER: And the winner
and new lightweight champion of the world
21—year—old Roberto Duran of Panama.
SPRINGS TOLEDO: That moment announced
Duran on the world stage without a doubt.
A fighter arises from their midst
who became one of the all—time greats.
Something personal driving him.
I'm not sure if Duran even understood what it
was but there was something that was primal.
JUAN CARLOS TAPIA IN SPANISH:
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
SPORTCASTER CHATTERS IN SPANISH
He was naturally aggressive,
but he could also box.
MIKE TYSON:
Ferocity and savage punching, speed...
People never know him as fast,
but he's very fast.
He has a great anticipation of punching.
He's just an all—around marvel in the ring.
"Manos de Piedra" as a tag
is so perfect for him
because it feels like...
His hands feel like freaking bricks.
I've talked to fighters that have fought him
and everyone underestimates him.
They think they can win
until they're in the ring with him.
IN SPANISH:
HE CHUCKLES
I actually have been in the ring
in a fashion, with Roberto.
He was in Rocky ll.
He's supposedly Rocky's sparring partner.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
At first, I thought,
this will be pretty interesting
because, you know,
I was a few pounds heavier, a little taller
and then I realised the difference
between amateur and consummate pro.
The way he could move
his head just an inch...
It's impossible to hit him.
This man would demolish me in...
Put it this way: if it was a fight, the fight
would be 11 seconds including the count.
SPORTSCASTER SPEAKS SPANISH
JOHN DINGES:
Every county is more than just its politics.
Cultural heroes are particularly important
in times of political unrest.
CROWD ROARS
The Panamanian people always
identified themselves with Duran
especially during his fights.
I mean, you know, it was a national fever.
He won, we won.
ROBERTO DIAZ HERRERA IN SPANISH:
IN SPANISH:
REPORTER: The demonstration was organised by
Panama ’3 strongman, General Omar Torrijos.
DON KING: He was remarkable.
He was strong, he was firm
to promote the upward mobility
of the Panamanian people.
REPORTER: The presence of 50,000 Americans
here at the Canal Zone
have always been emotional issues
in Panama
and Torrijos has demanded
Panamanian sovereignty over the zone.
JOHN DINGES:
You could call him a military strongman
but that doesn't really capture who he was.
He was a populist.
He was somebody who identified down,
identified with the people.
WOMAN: They have the weapons
and the tanks given by the United States
but we have our dignity
and we are going to fight.
We don ’t care if we die.
JUAN CARLOS TAPIA IN SPANISH:
REPORTER: In Washington on September 7th,
President Carter
and the Panamanian president,
General Omar Torrijos
signed two treaties for Washington
to surrender the Canal and Zone
gradually to Panama by the year 2000.
JUAN CARLOS TAPIA IN SPANISH:
And what is to say that once we have declared
we are willing to give up that canal
that he can ’t just cancel out
the rest of the treaty?
IN SPANISH:
JUAN CARLOS TAPIA IN SPANISH:
LARRY MERCHANT:
Nobody cared in those days about "unbeaten".
What they cared about is what Duran did,
which is you fight the best guys out there.
You take your chances, you take risks.
What really shows you
what he has going on inside
is that his greatest fights
were still yet to come.
At the end of the day,
the talent makes the fights
but you've got to have the promoters
in order to plug them, to sell them
to get the tickets out,
to get the crowd interested.
You know, to get everybody's juices flowing.
LENNOX LEWIS: You know,
the rise of the promoters was very important
because they really brought out boxing.
The promoters are the ones
that make that happen
and if it wasn't for them making it happen,
we wouldn't be able to watch great events.
Definitely worth $20 to see it.
I’ll be there.
REPORTER:
Why is it worth that much to see this fight?
Hey, that’s once in a century.
That’s gonna be the best fight
/ ever seen in my life.
There's been a little bit more
of a razzmatazz
come to the boxing game over the years,
you know?
And it has made non—boxing people
boxing fans, you know what I mean?
So they have served their point
and none more so
than Don King and Bob Arum.
...that you will see on Monday night
will be one of the greatest fights
in history.
LENNOX LEWIS:
Arum and King, they were like...
apples and oranges, you know?
Same bag of groceries, but different fruits.
DON KING:
I was a great promoter, you know?
And I say that immodestly,
but I'm just a fact.
You know, not braggadocio,
just a fact of what it is.
ROBIN DURAN:
They were probably the pioneers
and they were the ones who planted the seed
for boxing to be what it is today.
They were rivals.
Every time they would find a great fight,
they would make it happen.
My relationship with King,
throughout that period, was very adversarial.
I think it benefitted both of us.
He played off me, I played off him.
I would have never known how good I was
if I didn't have lonesome Bob.
Can't tell him what to do neither.
When he gets passionate
and he gets on a tyrant or a rage
he just goes, man.
You know what? It's no holds barred.
You got to be on your P's and Q's
when you're dealing with Bob Arum.
He was a treacherous foe, you know,
and an admirable friend.
Tremendously adept at promoting himself.
A lot of promotional activities were centred
on Don King as the promoter.
DON KING: He got his idiosyncrasies
and I have mine, you know what I mean?
So, you know, sometimes we can make
the twain meet, you know what I mean?
So we could be
friends today and foes tomorrow.
MAURICIO SULAIMAN:
The rivalry between them
was as important as the one
from the fighters.
So, people knew
when there was a fight involving both
it would be a tremendous event.
Duran is cal/ed,
/ mean, if we read the sports pages here
one of the toughest punchers for his weight.
He ’3 certain/y maybe the toughest puncher
you’ve ever faced.
He ’3 a bra w/er, street—fighter.
Somebody said it’s like being hit by a rock
to be hit by this guy.
Scared?
Just a little.
HE CHUCKLES
BOB ARUM:
Ray was America's sweetheart.
He had won the Olympic gold medal
in Montreal in 1976.
And Ray had a great smile
and a great personality.
So, he was America's darling.
An absolute master boxer at welterweight,
you know?
The golden boy, if you like.
LARRY MERCHANT:
A celebrated young fighter in America.
Brilliant Ali—like smile
but there were still
some questions out there.
Could he stand in with a really tough guy?
Sugar Ray Leonard, for his first fight,
he earned $40,000.
Roberto Duran was 16 years old.
He probably earned a couple of mangoes.
So Duran looked upon Leonard
and felt something like rage
about what Leonard had.
SYLVESTER STALLONE:
An Olympian who was America's sweetheart
against...
HE SIGHS
a... a...
a demon.
A destruction machine.
It just made for great theatre.
Especially in America, since the beginning
of time, you could always pitch good vs evil.
People were just beginning to adjust
to the presence of Hispanics
in the United States.
There was a lot of anti—Hispanic feeling.
Duran instinctively played
his role as that villain.
During the press conference
to announce the fight
the guy walked into that room.
His eyes, his expressions...
His demeanour was so...
just violent and just nasty.
HE SPEAKS SPANISH
”/’m not here to be a clown
like this guy over here. ”
CROWD LAUGHS
ROBERTO DURAN SPEAKS SPANISH
"This is the first time in his life
he ’s gonna have
to get in the ring and fight. ”
Today / said a few words.
/ looked at him and he was ready to fight.
He took his rings off and everything.
/ think he was ready.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
When Ray's wife Juanita would go out
of the hotel to go shopping
Duran would come down and follow in a car
and say the vilest things.
SUGAR RAY LEONARD:
It bothered me as a man.
lt bothered me as a guy.
It bothered me as a fighter.
And you don't insult a man's wife, girl...
You don't do that,
and l was gonna get him back.
l was gonna get him back.
With Roberto, it was an act.
It really was an act.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
It meant for tremendous closed—circuit sales.
It was a blockbuster
because he played his role
of the villain to perfection.
CROWD CHEERS
SPORTSCASTER:
Live from Montreal, Canada.
It's the WBC
World ’3 Welterweight Championship.
Sugar Pa y Leonard vs Roberto Dura’n.
We are in on one of the historic events
in all of history.
More people tonight will see this telecast
than have ever witnessed
a cable telecast before, closed—circuit.
Throughout my career,
I never walked to the ring angry.
Except that fight.
And I remember vividly
in Montreal, walking to that ring, I mean...
My mind was thinking toe—to—toe,
toe—to—toe with this guy.
CROWD CHEERS
Leonard, prior to the fight, said to himself:
"I wanna knock this guy out."
Leonard wanted to stand toe—to—toe with one
of the most vicious fighters of all time.
I thank him for that,
because it made it a great fight.
SUGAR RAY LEONARD:
I remember the bell going. Bing, first round.
I didn't foresee any problem...
until he hit me.
INDISTINCT COMMENTARY
I've never been hit that hard.
Duran was perpetual motion.
He was tenacious, aggressive and...
IN SPANISH:
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
Duran had a lot of old school tricks.
There's something called
the "Fitzsimmons shift".
He would throw a dummy right hand
and immediately go into a southpaw position
and then he would drive in a left hook
or a left uppercut to the solar plexus.
That is high—tech, sophisticated strategy.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER:
He ’3 playing games with him.
Leonard is... Oh, man,
he's throwing these hydrogen bombs
and he's throwing 'em
at 30 punches per second
and, boom, it's like he's dancing.
It's like it's ballet and I'm saying:
"Woah, he's making punches miss."
I'm just... "Man! God! Damn!"
They weren't far from each other.
They're real close
and the movements were... "Oh!"
Man, you couldn't believe
how close they were throwing punches.
SPORTSCASTER:
Right above is Roberto Dura’n.
And after seeing that fight,
I knew this was what I wanted to do.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER:
Remember Leonard has never lost a fight.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER: Duran thinks
he has won the fight. / can ’t believe it.
BELL RINGS
- SPORTSCASTER: The bell! It’s over!
CROWD CHEERS
SPORTSCASTER:
He thinks he ’3 won this fight
and then he has to fight the 15th round./
SPORTSCASTER 2:
/ think he thought so. He thinks he ’3 won.
/ think he thought he won.
I think you can be fairly certain that Duran,
at that point in his career
was not hiding his feelings.
SPORTSCASTER:
Now he ’s yelling at Benitez.
Most fighters'd just take the win.
"Thank you very much" and get out.
He was like: "No, have it.
That's what it's all about."
That's why I loved him.
He was X—rated for television at the time.
At the time, he was giving people the finger,
grabbing his crotch
and I thought that was incredible.
SUGAR RAY LEONARD:
I said: "I don't need this anymore."
I really contemplated retirement.
I said: "I can't take this."
You know, "I can't take this, man."
Duran had given him a beating
like he had never received in his life
and he told me: "Sly, that night, I could
move every one of my teeth back and forth
as if they literally were hanging in my gums.
I thought all my teeth
were going to come out."
That's how hard he hit.
Yeah. I told Sly,
I told a lot of people that...
Most people don't... were not privy to this,
the fact that he hit me like that.
My forward teeth went back
and I went back to the corner
and I asked my cornerman.
I said: "Guys, are my teeth knocked back?"
And they said: "No, Ray, you're fine,
you're fine."
Cos they didn't want to, you know, upset me.
HE SCOFFS
But... I do remember that.
SPRINGS TOLEDO: In my opinion,
Sugar Ray Leonard proved his greatness
losing to Duran.
Roberto Duran, on the other hand,
is a different beast.
It's almost like he moved to Sodom
and Gomorrah. He just indulged.
CROWD WHISTLES
CROWD CHEERS
CROWD PLAYS MUSIC
DON KING:
Duran was a fighter of the people.
He related and identified with them
the downtrodden and the underprivileged
and denied.
CROWD CHEERS
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
DON KING:
It was ecstasy.
It was a celebration of all the people.
You know, because the celebration...
it was en masse, it was grandiose.
Everybody was there.
Babies, their mothers, their grandfathers.
Everybody was there because it was
a family reunion, as they would say.
The prodigal son is returning home,
so to speak.
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
A month—long party is what it was.
Now, you can understand
that Duran denies himself when he trains.
So, in other words, he's reliving
his childhood when he trains.
That's a little bit of a trauma for him,
it's a mini—trauma if you will.
So after he wins,
sometimes after he lost, he would indulge.
He would enjoy the fruits of his labour.
Duran being Duran,
he did it a little too much
but that's how he was wired.
MUSIC PLAYS
MAURICIO SULAIMAN:
He was always the guide.
In the difficult years,
they had Roberto Duran
to represent them,
and save them and give them pride.
So he was, and still is,
the most famous Panamanian today.
He can do whatever he wants in Panama.
He can get away with anything.
HE SINGS IN SPANISH
IN SPANISH:
HE SINGS IN SPANISH
RICKY HATTON: I got a phone call saying
he was gonna pick me up
with his brother at the airport.
I expected him to be kerbside
but he wasn't. He was right through
at the gate when I got off the plane.
He went: "Ricky, Ricky!"
and he took me through passport control.
Passport control were saying:
"Roberto, Roberto, passport!"
He was like: "No, no, no"
and he took me right through.
I thought "How famous are you
to take me right through passport control?"
Wherever restaurant we went to,
we would never have to pay anything
because he would always say:
"People love me here."
So it was a treat to see him
in his home town, in his country
where people adore him.
JUAN CARLOS TAPIA IN SPANISH:
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
He's still like a little boy, you know?
I come into his house
and he's watching cartoons.
You know, he didn't have a childhood.
It's part of what he is today.
It gave him that anger to fight.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
Only people who doesn't have places
to live go to El Chorillo.
People without work.
People involved in detailing drugs.
Criminal groups.
That was El Chorillo.
IN SPANISH:
I think it's wine, women and song.
You know, the fighters work so hard
and they live such a Spartan life
that it's so difficult to maintain
that training regimen
and that discipline
and quite often you just wanna
enjoy your youth
and they get a little carried away.
They come from poverty
and they've never had anything
and now they have millions of dollars
and temptation is just around the corner.
Duran is not
the first great athlete or fighter
who got more attracted by the distractions
than the main event.
LATIN AMERICAN MUSIC PLAYS
LARRY MERCHANT:
It's human. Young guys on top of the world.
More money than they could imagine.
Everybody telling them
how wonderful they are.
HE SINGS IN SPANISH
BOB ARUM:
I remember visiting him at his house.
There must have been 40 people
and they were all laying around the pool
with Dom Perignon champagne,
only the best.
Cooking steaks
and living the high life on Duran's money.
He partied... partied...
Well, he celebrated, I should say,
he celebrated a lot more than I did.
And I wanted to catch him off guard.
CROWD ROARS
SUGAR RAY LEONARD: After the fight,
I was really emotionally just down.
Devastating.
But I took my wife to Hawaii
to kinda cool out.
And while I was there, the first thing I did
the next morning was run, did road work.
I'm running down the beach
and people saying:
"Hey, Sugar, man, tough fight."
"Hey, Sugar Ray, if you'd have boxed him,
you would have beat him."
I kept hearing that: "If you had boxed him,
you would've beat him."
"If you were boxing..."
And something said: "Bing!"
I called my partner, Mike Trainer.
I said: "Mike, I wanna fight Duran ASAP."
PHONE RINGS
Hello ?
IN SPANISH:
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
Training would not be spent
devising new strategies and tactics
to defeat Sugar Ray Leonard
who was now going to try
a different strategy of course. No.
It was spent losing weight.
This time around will be
a different story altogether.
Me no like you, Leonard.
Leonard too much talk.
Everybody rush out there, closed—circuit,
and get their tickets
because this is gonna be World War / V.
It's hard for an outsider to know
how prepared a fighter is
even when he says, as he usually does,
that he's in the best shape of his life.
CROWD CHEERS
SPORTSCASTER: Here we go,
the WBC Welterweight Championship.
There ’3 Sugar Ray Leonard
in the black trunks
and Roberto Dura’n, the champion
in the white trunks, from Panama.
BELL RINGS
SYLVESTER STALLONE:
Roberto Duran comes to battle.
He knew that toe—to—toe,
he would win that fight.
SPORTSCASTER:
And he ’3 even doing a little dodging now.
A little A/I'.
He ’3 taunting Dura’n.
SYLVESTER STALLONE:
He didn't realise
the strategy of Sugar Ray Leonard
was almost sleight of hand.
Magic. Illusion.
Duran became incredibly frustrated.
Embarrassed.
SPORTSCASTER:
Sugar Ray is taunting Roberto Dura’n like Ali.
Leonard was just too fast, too crafty
and it got into the skin of Duran.
LARRY MERCHANT:
Duran could not abide.
Those eyes that used to stare at someone
and stare you down were now just, like, lost.
The taunting that went on, the antics
were to pour some acid on this machismo.
SUGAR RAY LEONARD:
He had no cure.
He had no response
for what I was doing in that ring.
SPORTSCASTER:
Sugar Ray is oozing confidence.
Look at that!
Well, he saw what to do and he did it.
Old school fighters would frown upon that.
A lot of old school commentators
back then frowned upon that.
They did not like to see...
Even Howard Cossell did not like to see
Sugar Ray Leonard acting in this manner
against a great fighter like Roberto Duran.
But Sugar Ray Leonard is gonna do
what works for Sugar Ray Leonard.
Those things, those "antics" or whatever
you call them, happen in the ring.
It always happened and you can't...
you don't think about doing that.
You would never think about sticking
your chin out against Roberto Duran, trust me
but it worked then and there, instinctively.
It just naturally happened
because I saw something in his eyes:
I saw that he was not there.
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
The crowd laughed.
The people began to laugh at Roberto Duran.
SPORTSCASTER:
Both men can throw lethal bombs.
LARRY MERCHANT:
The machismo at that point said...
"Enough, I'm not going to be humiliated
like this anymore."
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
Something snapped.
CROWD ROARS
SPORTSCASTER:
Hey, what’s happening?
Dura’n says no!
/ think he ’s quitting.
What is he saying, Larry?
- LARRY: He says no.
/ don ’t understand it.
- SPORTSCASTER: He ’3 saying no. He quit!
LARRY:
/ don ’t understand this.
SPORTSCASTER: / think Dura’n quit.
- LARRY: / don ’t understand it.
CROWD JEERS
COMMENTATORS CLAMOUR
SPORTSCASTER:
Gentlemen, Roberto Duran. ..
LARRY:
This is not like Duran.
BROADCASTER: threw his hands up
and said: ”/ quit”.
LARRY:
/ don ’t understand this.
SPORTSCASTER: And he almost got
in a fight with Leonard ’s brother.
The police are in the ring
and we have
a very, very unpleasant situation in there.
LARRY:
/ don ’t understand this.
SPORTSCASTER: The referee
has not declared the fight over yet.
Duran sudden/y said: "/ quit”.
LARRY: / don ’t understand it.
- SPORTSCASTER: / don ’t either.
And then he did it a second time.
LARRY:
/ don ’t understand it.
CROWD CLAMOURS
LARRY: / don ’t understand.
- SPORTSCASTER: What happened?
He ’3 saying: "/ don ’t want it anymore ”.
And there ’3 no question,
ladies and gentlemen
that Sugar Ray Leonard has retaken
the World ’3 Welterweight Championship
in round eight when Dura’n surrendered.
VOICE FADES
IN SPANISH:
I could not be more stunned
at anything that ever happened
in a prize fight
than seeing Roberto Duran quit.
The crowd was shocked.
Worldwide, it was shocking.
In Spanish, no ma’s means "no more".
The fight became the No Mas fight.
All you had to say or all that was written
was "no mas".
When he did so many good things,
so many great things in boxing
than that simple phrase.
Some people forget about him being
the greatest lightweight champion of all time
and they simply say: "No mas".
Now, Luis, exactly what happened
in Roberto ’3 words?
HE SPEAKS SPANISH
He got cramps in his stomach
and his body, upper body.
And then his arms.
And he got weaker,
so that’s why he stopped, he quit the bout.
Does this mean the end
of boxing for Roberto?
THEY SPEAK SPANISH
”Yes, I’m not fighting anymore. ”
This is final, permanent retirement?
”Definite/y, I’m not fighting anymore. ”
SPORTSCASTER: Leonard scored
with a chopping right that hurt Dura’n.
When Dura’n motioned that that was it
/ just felt that / beat a man, a legend,
mental/y
you know, more so than physical/y.
DON KING:
Ray Leonard was using his skills
and his physical adroitness
and his mental capacity
to be able to do that.
He played the mental gymnastics
as well as the physical.
Duran was right for it.
You know, instead of him readjusting
he stayed on that same mode,
and so since he got frustrated
with that misguided emotionalism
and passion
he then played right into Ray's hands,
but Ray wasn't expecting him to stop.
IN SPANISH:
Sugar Ray had a plan and, you know,
his plan worked.
To frustrate him, not to fight him.
If anybody come to fight Duran,
he'll fight you to the death
but, you know, he gets caught up
in that macho mentality,
"He's not fighting me, he's not the man."
I think for a man who, in his chest
beats the heart of a warrior
the frustration and the embarrassment
and the pressure from the audience
I'm sure he's...
regrets that moment every day.
There is no amount of money.
There is nobody that can do anything
that would help this man
with the destruction of his reputation
or the doubt
that has been cast upon his reputation
and he ’3 going to be out of boxing.
He ’l/ have to live that
for the rest of his life.
It’s gonna be a real traumatic experience.
HOWARD COSSELL:
Ray, you heard what Duran said.
Will you fight him again, ever?
No, Howard.
It's a painful moment.
It's a painful moment for boxing history
because it did hurt the sport.
It not only hurt Duran,
it really demolished his reputation.
But it also hurt everything about the sport
because people paid good money
to see a great rematch
and what happened
was Duran basically ripped everybody off.
I’ve never seen
this young man behave in this manner.
I’ve been with him nine years.
He ’3 been through tough fights
and l was absolutely astounded.
/ wish / could give you an honest answer,
Howard, of what really happened.
This is my interpretation,
I'm not sure if I'm right
but he was disappointed, deeply disappointed
that he would pull out like that
and probably heartbroken in some ways
because you just don't do that.
It was just one of those...
too human moments...
of weakness.
"But to thine own self one must be true",
as Shakespeare would say.
The man in the mirror knows
that he did that to himself
because of that machismo, macho attitude
and life that he had lived,
you know what I mean?
IN SPANISH:
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
LARRY MERCHANT:
How do you go back to your people, your fans
who have constructed a part
of their lives around you
who worship you and look up to you?
You become a champion,
you have an entourage of 50 people
carrying your suitcase, your backpack,
giving you water, cleaning your sweat.
You lose your championship,
you lose your money, you have nobody again.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
REPORTER: Good evening.
One of Central America ’s best known
military and political leaders,
General Omar Torrijos
has died in a plane crash in the jungle,
91 miles outside of Panama City.
He was 52.
REPORTER 2:
The Panamanian National Guard
gave their General a military farewell
complete with a motorcycle escort
and cavalry.
Torrijos’ coffin draped
with the Panamanian flag
was carried up the steps
to the cathedral
on the shoulders of the
members of his national guard.
He was their commander and chief.
DON KING:
Torrijos is a victim of the system.
That he was such an advocate for the people
and next thing you know,
his plane is crashing into a mountain.
An accident, but in my opinion by design
and the world lost a great statesman,
a great scholar, a great fighter.
Torrijos became a symbol of protest
a symbol of a different military
and also identified with the lower class
with the workers, with people like Duran.
WOMEN WAIL
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
JOHN DINGES: Panama never was
the same again after Torrijos.
Of course, his death leads
to the rise of Noriega.
APPLAUSE
RUBEN PAREDES IN SPANISH:
JOHN DINGES:
Noriega had a relationship with the CIA
very intimate and very profitable.
He goes on the CIA payroll
and the Pentagon payroll
cooperating with the US on the one hand
and violating US law on the other hand.
IN SPANISH:
JOHN DINGES: He begins a relationship
with the Medillin Cartel, Pablo Escobar
at a time when drug trafficking is starting
to explode coming out of Colombia.
Panama becomes one
of the most important havens
for laundering
millions and millions of dollars
being produced by trafficking cocaine,
marijuana, in and out of the United States.
Panama was where business was being done
and Noriega was facilitating drug operations
in his country.
Noriega has taken control literally
at the point of a gun.
It's absolutely irresponsible for anyone
to think the people of Panama want him
they don't.
MANUEL NORIEGA IN SPANISH:
HE CHUCKLES
HE LAUGHS
See? I tell you.
SUGAR RAY LEONARD:
It's not easy to come back
after being ridiculed.
After being looked down upon.
It's gonna do one of two things to you.
It's gonna make you a better fighter
or it's gonna destroy you.
IN SPANISH:
FELICIDAD DURAN IN SPANISH:
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
RICKY HATTON: The first time you find out
how good a fighter you are
and how big a man you are in boxing
when you've gotta drag your backside up
off the floor and come back from adversity
which is what Roberto found himself
having to do after the No Mas fight.
REPORTER:
This is the island of Coiba
a tough penal colony
and a sort of De vil’s Island
where Panama ’3 most menacing criminals
are sent.
It’s also become home
to one of the most bizarre training camps
of all time.
Roberto Duran has spent
the last six weeks working here
sweating himself into shape,
surrounding himself
with men much harder,
meaner and tougher than him.
SPORTSCASTER:
Good right hand by Kirk/and Laing.
A lead right
and that tagged Dura’n on the chin.
Duran had a go at Laing...
IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER:
/ don ’t wanna remember Duran this way.
At 31 years of age, it may be all over
for Hands of Stone.
IN SPANISH:
Being a champion is very important.
I would say if I didn't lose in my career
I wouldn't know how great I would have been,
cos it put me in a place
and then it was for me, mentally
and physically, to get myself out of it
and show that I'm a true champion.
SPORTSCASTER:
Cuevas against the ropes
down for the second time in the round.
Cue vas a beaten fighter.
Dura’n, a good right hand set it all off
went to the kill.
Roberto Dura’n back
in the title picture again.
In fact, he will be fighting
Davey Moore
for the Junior Middle weight Championship.
Pandemonium in the ring.
CROWD ROARS
CROWD CHANTS:
Dura’n!
Dura’n!
Dura’n!
BELL RINGS
SPRINGS TOLEDO: For Duran to consent
to step in the ring with Davey Moore
twenty—four years old
one of the best junior middleweights
in the world
so long after Duran's prime
so far out of his natural division
against a fighter who has exceeded
Sugar Ray Leonard's dimensions...
Once again Duran was an underdog.
MIKE TYSON: I'm 17 years old,
I'm in Madison Square Garden
and right there in the front row
and I'm going: "Yeah, yeah yeah!"
And he goes like this.
Yo, he was looking at me!
Well, that was a sign.
That's a sign I'm gonna make it big.
cos he saw me out of all those thousands
of people. I thought it was all about me.
He don't fucking know me!
MARVIN HANGLER:
Davey Moore was up—and—coming
and Roberto Duran showed me what kind
of skill that he really had at that time.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
CROWD CHEERS
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
When he won the fight as an underdog,
which nobody expected him to win
I think he made the people of Panama
very, very proud of him again.
CROWD CHEERS
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
CROWD CHANTS:
Dura’n!
SPORTSCASTER:
On his 32nd birthday last night
challenger Roberto Duran knocked out
24—year—old Davey Moore
to win the World Boxing Association,
Junior Middle weight Championship.
CROWD CHEERS
LARRY MERCHANT:
There's no doubt that beating Moore
brought Duran back to life
as a prize fighter.
FELICIDAD DURAN IN SPANISH:
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
The '80s was really dominated
by the Four Kings.
They all fought each other.
Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler...
lt’s war.
MAURICIO SULAIMAN:
Tommy Hearns. Roberto Duran.
Those four, they truly represent
perhaps the best times of boxing.
BOB ARUM:
Everybody thought initially
that once Muhammad Ali departed
from the scene
that boxing would suffer
a real terrible blow.
But it was those four fighters
that revitalised the sport during the '80s.
They fought nine times
in various combinations
and every time they fought,
it was a major, major event.
LARRY MERCHANT:
Each fight among them
became a drama.
Oh, not since Cain and Abel
have you seen one like this.
Every fight was an event.
OSCAR DE LA HOYA:
The Four Kings era without Roberto Duran
it wouldn't have been the same.
He was a fighter
who would take on all challengers.
He would move up several weight classes
and challenge the very best.
He was a serious threat to anybody.
SPORTSCASTER:
And indeed this historic event is
Roberto Duran challenging
Marvelous Marvin Hag/er
for the undisputed
Middle weight Championship.
FELICIDAD DURAN IN SPANISH:
Back in the day, you fought the best.
You had to work yourself in the rankings
to become a champion.
They all wanted to fight each other.
They wanted to fight each other.
They didn't have to,
they didn't make 'em, they wanted it.
SYLVESTER STALLONE: This was an era
when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.
These were the real deals, real specimens
and Hagler was perfection
in his particular weight class
which is much bigger than Roberto.
Basically, this guy was trying
to take away my title
and I said: "No. There's no way that you're
going to take away my title," you know.
It was a psych game, like,
going on between him and I.
Two day more, you no more champion.
- OK.
He was at the height of his game
at nine stone, nine.
And all of a sudden, he fights one
of the greatest middleweights of all time.
Up at 11 stone, six.
Every morning, I used to see his ugly face.
My entourage and his entourage
we used to run around the dunes.
We would see each other like 4:30
in the morning and just before the fight
and we go, "Rrrrrr!"
And he goes, "Rrrrrr!"
ROBERTO DURAN SPEAKS SPANISH
He says: "Thank you very, very much
to all of you ”
and he don ’t care of nothing
because he knows how to do it
on top of the ring.
REPORTER: / notice you didn’t shake his hand.
Has the psyching already started toward that?
MARVIN HANGLER:
Oh, yeah. Roberto ’3 very tricky, very cagey.
Uh, he ’s got a lot of heart.
One thing that / believe
that / won ’t have to look for him.
So, it’s going to be an exciting fight.
You ’re gonna see a good performance.
I’m sure Duran is going
to give a good account of himself
HANGLER FAN:
He ’3 too strong, much too fast for Dura’n.
He ’3 in better shape.
He ’3 got just as much experience.
DURAN FAN: The last time Hag/er had a fight
was against Vito Antofuermo five years ago.
He hasn ’t had a fight since
and Dura’n’s gonna give him a fight
cos Duran ’s gonna hit him downstairs,
Duran’s gonna hit him upstairs.
And it’s gonna be all over
within a short time.
CROWD CHANTS:
Dura’n!
To do a 15—round fight in that heat,
outdoors...
They weren't in the casinos now,
and the air conditioning.
That was absolutely unbelievable.
CROWD ROARS
MARVIN HANGLER:
The way that I look at that fight, I mean
it was two great champions going in,
teaching each other
what kind of skills that they had.
SPORTSCASTER:
Middle weight Championship of the world.
SPORTSCASTER 2:
Hag/er, of course, familiar to most people
that left—handed style.
Remember, he will switch to righty
at various times throughout this fight.
IN SPANISH:
For the first three rounds,
what he would do was
every time that I would throw a right hand
he would counter—punch.
And I says: "Hmm" for three rounds
and I'm asking my trainer
"How the hell does this guy
keep catching me?"
"He's a smart warrior
and he's timing your punch."
So, what we had to do was
we had to go to school on him
show him who he's in there with,
switch up on him
and every time that he would do
that right hand...
Boom, I hit him with a body shot
and I hear him go, "Ugh!"
HE LAUGHS
He can't believe
that he's getting hit this much
because nobody hits Roberto Duran
that much.
"You hit me, do you know who I am?"
I say: "Yeah,
and you gonna get some more, too.
C'mon!"
HE LAUGHS
SPORTSCASTER: Big left hand from Hag/er
on the chin of Duran but Duran is OK.
RICKY HATTON:
The fight was toe—to—toe, nonstop.
There was barely a foot, two foot
between them the whole fight
because Roberto Duran fought that way
and Marvin fought that way.
It was always going to be
a close—quarter fight
so that for a 15—round fight...
Fantastic, fantastic stuff.
SPORTSCASTER:
Here in this 15th round.
Ripping, body and head shots
to the head of Roberto Dura’n.
MARVIN HANGLER:
I give him a lot of credit, man.
He was so experienced that he knew
how to keep bouncing off the rope
and bobbing and weaving
and avoiding some of the punches.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER: Two warriors,
two champions going the full 15 rounds.
MARVIN HANGLER: I tell you,
in about 30 more seconds in the 15th round
I would have knocked Roberto Duran out.
I had him. I had him.
HE LAUGHS
BELL RINGS
- CROWD CHEERS
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
Duran stole the drama of the show
simply by going 15 rounds
with Marvin Hagler.
Having a fighter like Roberto Duran,
that brings out the best in you
and that's what he did for me.
He pushed him all the way,
do you know what I mean?
Stood there and had it out with him,
it was...
From someone who was a 9 stone, nine,
a lightweight fighter
to fight out with one of the strongest
and best middleweights of all time.
I think, you know, it ended in his defeat
but it's again, another one of them,
bit by bit
each fight and each fight he was having
he was getting the respect back
from the Panamanian people.
IN SPANISH:
To me, it isn't always about the victories
cos Duran, every fight had just...
elements of drama
that other fighters just don't have.
Every one is almost like a movie in itself.
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
If you look at the pattern of Duran's career
it's pretty rare, especially after 1979
where he could be inspired
for a fight twice in a row.
To fight Hearns on the heels of Hagler,
that's insanity.
SPORTSCASTER: No longer will he be called
the Motor City Cobra.
He has returned as Thomas The Hitman.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
He had that real devil, evil in his eye,
you know?
He, you know...
Like he wanted to hurt his opponents.
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
Duran predicted
he's going to knock Tommy Hearns out
in one round.
Thomas Hearns said: "I'm going to knock
Roberto Duran out in two rounds."
LARRY MERCHANT:
It was apparent in that fight
that Hearns had no respect for Duran.
IN SPANISH:
BELL RINGS
- SPORTSCASTER: Referee, Carlos Padilla.
ROBIN DURAN:
He was training in Bahamas.
I was very young, I was a kid.
And they flew me over with my mum
and I saw my father
trying to make the weight.
IN SPANISH:
He looked like a freaking walking dead,
you know.
Sucking on a lemon.
IN SPANISH:
You know, he's usually the crazy guy
who loves his kid
and he's always hugging us
and, you know, playing with us.
And he's like: "Fula, just take the kids.
I can't deal with them right now."
IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER: Big man and the little man
thus far. Right hand!
Down goes Duran.
Duran is on queer street.
IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER:
He doesn’t know where he is.
He ’3 on queer street and he ’3 going to go.
Noriega was provoking the military,
the US military.
RUBEN PAREDES IN SPANISH:
RONALD REAGAN:
Drugs are menacing our society.
They’re threatening our values
and undercutting our institutions.
The y ’re killing our children.
IN SPANISH:
This. . .
This is crack cocaine.
/ think we are moving from crisis to disaster
and now we are passing disaster
and moving towards catastrophe.
SPORTSCASTER:
Oh, he ’3 out!
He was out before he hit the canvas.
STEVE LOTT:
When that punch landed, it was a "pop".
You could hear it from ringside
through the ropes into the microphone.
That was definitely the hardest punch
Duran ever got hit with.
SPORTSCASTER:
This fight is over.
When / have the official time from the...
SPORTSCASTER:
He doesn’t know where he is.
SPORTSCASTER 2: He has not known
where he is since the first...
Duran was no longer a elite level fighter.
He's like: "I can still get in the ring
and beat everybody up and..."
You know...
It was sort of a pressure for us too
because everybody coming up to us
and like: "Your father should retire."
So it was sort of a pressure
for not only him but for everybody.
FELICIDAD DURAN IN SPANISH:
OSCAR DE LA HOYA:
He represented never giving up.
"If I can do this, you can do it as well."
He was that type of fighter.
/ call on General Noriega
to respect the voice of the people.
SPORTSCASTER:
You know, Al, there ’3 a saying in boxing:
”A fighter can look like
he ’s in great condition.
All of a sudden he walks up the stairs
the bell rings,
and he doesn ’t have it anymore. ”
That’s happened to Roberto Dura’n,
like, three times.
We all wrote him off and all of a sudden
the guy comes back again.
This is going to be some test
for a 37—year—old guy
against a tough guy like lran Barkley.
He has the heart of a champion, of a warrior,
and no matter if you're 100 years old or not
you're still going to want to fight
because it's in you.
It's your soul. It's what drives you.
It's the Ioneliest of sports
but in a way, that makes it, um... better.
It makes it bigger.
LARRY MERCHANT:
They go out, they are alone.
There can be whole countries
making you... somebody special.
CROWD CHEERS
SPORTSCASTER:
And so the stage is set.
There ’s not a seat to be had.
And everybody pumped up to see that man,
Roberto Dura’n, trying to win his fourth tit/e
and to see if Iran The Blade Barkley...
Iran Barkley was a rough, tough guy
who was from the streets of the Bronx.
He was member of a street gang.
He was 28 years old.
He was in perfect condition.
He was a huge middleweight.
I was in school...
and I remember my teachers telling me:
"Don't let your father do this fight,"
you know, "he's going to get killed."
You know, I saw Iran Barkley
who was like ten—feet tall.
I'm like: "Damn, this guy's going
to kill my father."
These guys is the past.
I gotta be the present.
Got a spirit inside of me
that I can take myself back
to where I came from and what I've done.
I'm gonna make you respect me.
A promoter would say to a fighter
"If you want to fight,
your name power is still big enough
to put this fight on TV
to where you get a pay—day."
And that's what keeps fighters going on
long after they should retire.
SPORTSCASTER:
Here ’3 that right hand again.
Being very, very proud of your people
like Roberto was
makes you not want to let them down.
You can't tell me he didn't think
of that one fight against Sugar Ray Leonard
and when he quit,
every time he stepped in a ring.
He thought to himself:
"I can't quit in this one."
You can look into a man's eyes,
you can see his soul.
You don't scare me.
Having the guts and having the desire
to go beyond physical limits.
When you do that, you're a fighter.
SPORTSCASTER:
They are both landing big shots.
Who will go? Dura’n is now stunned.
REPORTER:
Panama City.
American police called on Army help
against rioting Panamanians.
IRAN BARKLEY: You know,
I hit him with a shot that spun him around.
I don't even know how he stood up from that.
HE CHUCKLES
When / heard this stuff
about Noriega and invading
that is pure fabrication and a lie.
SPORTSCASTER:
Duran doing a wonderful job of tying him up
Something held him up that day
that wouldn't let him fall.
CROWD CHEERS
SPORTSCASTER: So it looks like Roberto Dura’n
got his third wind. Where he got it from...
IRAN BARKLEY:
You know, it held him up somehow.
SPORTSCASTER:
He said he was in good shape.
Roberto Dura’n’s for real in this bout.
IRAN BARKLEY:
And he just went for it.
CROWD CHANTS:
Dura’n!
Last night, / ordered
US military forces to Panama.
SPORTSCASTER: Again the right by...
Bark/ey's in trouble. He ’3 down!
CROWD ROARS
This has been extraordinary.
BELL RINGS
SPORTSCASTER:
That tells you who ’3 champion.
The victory over Iran Barkley
was Duran's last act of defiance.
I mean, with that victory,
he gave the finger to history.
He gave the finger to Father Time.
He gave the finger to the laws of physics.
IN SPANISH:
And now that we're friends,
I walk over to him, I say:
"Hey, Roberto, how you doing, man?"
I said: "Let me ask you a question.
Did you hate me that much?
Did you really hate me that much?"
And he looked at me.
He took a deep breath.
He said: "No, Ray, that was all...
It was all made up."
There wasn't this mean spirit about him
uh, when you got to know him.
I mean, he was just a fun—loving guy
that you wanted to be around.
There was a kind of, um... charming
kind of boyishness to him, the humility.
Tremendous heart, yes...
A caring individual and just...
HE SIGHS
Man, as I said, I'm so happy
that he was... part of my lifetime.
If you look at Roberto Duran, you look
at the heights and the depths of his career.
You even look at No Mas.
Ask yourself who in their lives
has not had a "no mas" moment?
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
LATIN AMERICAN MUSIC PLAYS
INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER
LARRY MERCHANT:
When the bell rang in a Roberto Durén fight
you felt something's going to happen.
To be able to be in the ring
119 times over 40 years
it's unparalleled. He did it.
He was absolutely ferocious, he was fearless.
The greatest lightweight in boxing history.
He always pressed the action.
He always brought that charisma, that anger.
ROBERT DE NIRO:
Roberto was a great fighter
and he's an interesting character.
Flamboyant, flashy.
It's frightening to see his upbringings
and how he has survived that.
A young man from Panama
who brought the people together.
He was a catalyst for hope, aspiration.
He kept it all alive.
CROWD CHEERS
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
REPORTER: The continents of North America
and South America are connected
by a narrow link of land, Central America.
As explorers and traders learnt more
about Central America
they found that the shortest path
from ocean to ocean
was across the area known today
as the Republic of Panama.
SPORTSCASTER:
There ’s the fiery Panamanian Dura’n
right on Buchanan again.
REPORTER: The United States
built a great Panama Canal
controlling the trade routes
from north to south and east to west.
We should and those negotiations
and tell the General:
”We bought it, we paid for it, we built it
and we intend to keep it”.
INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER
REPORTER:
Shipping through the Panama Canal
and the nearly 10,000 American troops
guarding it
were not affected by the unrest.
REPORTER 2: The canal would be
a prime target for an aggressor
seeking to disrupt peace and security.
REPORTER 3: The US Senate declared it would
always respect Panamanian sovereignty.
REPORTER 4:
Preparing for the crackdown
the government had ordered the closure
of banks, schools and government offices.
THEY CHANT:
USA!
SPORTSCASTER:
A tremendous right hand by Duran.
INDISTINCT CHATTER
SPORTSCASTER:
Dura’n just cannot be beaten or intimidated.
Last night, / ordered
US military forces to Panama.
GEORGE BUSH: And we will not be
intimated by the bullying tactics
brutal though they may be,
of the dictator, Noriega.
GUNSHOTS
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
LARRY MERCHANT:
He found an order in a disorderly universe
when he was a child,
in learning how to fight.
Not just to fight, but howto fight.
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
Duran was a product of want.
Duran was a product of poverty.
You have a natural fighter here.
You have someone who's driven
by vivid memories of going to bed hungry
and dirt floors
and barrels lit on fire for heat.
ROBIN DURAN:
He didn't have a family, a proper family.
He was abandoned by his father
and he had to rough it out on the streets.
He had to make a living since very young,
selling newspapers, shining shoes
on the streets and trying to support
his family while being a five—year—old kid.
So, it was hard for him.
IN SPANISH:
Well, the Canal Zone
is not a colonial possession.
It is not a long—term lease.
It is sovereign United States territory.
Where do prize fighters come?
They come from desperate, poor circumstance.
In the sport of boxing
it requires such emotional strength,
determination
the experience of being
in very difficult situations daily.
Pain, living with pain every day.
It's not a stretch to walk into a boxing gym.
CROWD ROARS
SPORTSCASTER: Dynamite in both hands
and he ’3 showing it tonight.
LARRY MERCHANT:
There has to be some inner fire
that wants to escape from where he came
and from what he'd seen
and some desire just to...
beat other people up.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
JUAN CARLOS TAPIA IN SPANISH:
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
Ray Arcel had 20 world champions.
Now, keep in mind this is not 20 belt holders
or a few world champions and belt holders.
These are legitimate true champions,
divisional kings
and Ray Arcel had 20 of them.
He wasn't the typical trainer
that you would think of.
He was more like, as somebody described him,
"He dressed like a banker."
He was very much a gentleman.
He was very elegant
and he cared for his fighters very much.
/ always felt that there was no one
could beat him.
/ told him one time, / said:
”/f you fought the heavyweight champion
of the world, you could win. ”
ROBERT DE NIRO:
Roberto was his last fighter
and he was, at that time, close to 80
and he was not wanting to go back into it.
He did because Roberto was so special.
This kind of like a father—son relationship
which I think that they had.
Every trainer has a different work ethic.
Every trainer has
a different way of instilling
in their fighter a fighting style.
Ray Arcel called him a natural fighter.
In other words,
they clearly didn't have to teach him much.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
MARVIN HAGLER: All these guys learn a lot
of stuff from the streets and whatever
and they bring it into the ring.
Being a champion is something that
you gotta learn and you gotta learn it
the hard way.
And the most of us,
we had nothing to start out with.
So, we ain't got nothing to lose.
HE CHUCKLES
SPORTSCASTER: He ’3 gone!
There is no getting up from that.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
APPLAUSE
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
Ken Buchanan was the favourite.
He was very good, if not a great fighter.
Well, I was a boxer
and Roberto was a fighter.
I knew what I was up against, like.
Roberto, you seem very confident
that this is going to be a knockout.
Now, let’s go a step further
and tell me the round.
IN SPANISH:
LARRY MERCHANT: Duran had
this absolute certainty that he would win.
I remember thinking:
"What does he know that we don't know?"
STEVE LOTT:
When the bell rang for round one
it was like Duran's coming out
to end the fight
like you just stole something from him.
He fought Ken Buchanan
as if Ken Buchanan mugged his mother.
SPORTSCASTER:
Oh, he really hurt him that time!
He just had the guts to keep going
throwing punches at me
and hoping they were going to land.
He had just turned 21 years old
ten days earlier.
He combined his aggression
with being elusive.
And for Buchanan,
to withstand that for round after round
it was a tremendous effort.
Duran was fighting for a nation.
REPORTER: The trouble began when a group
of American high school pupils
flew an American flag
without the Panamanian flag by its side.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
REPORTER:
And before the Panamanian National Guard
the police and US troops
brought the rioters under control
more than a score were dead,
including four US soldiers.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
GUILLERMO COCHEZ:
The Panamanians cannot talk politics.
Cannot talk in the papers,
because we don't have freedom of speech.
Duran came as a symbol of opportunity
to express ourselves
as a country of oppression.
SPORTSCASTER: / don ’t think Buchanan
has ever been in this much trouble.
Duran knew how to pace himself naturally.
He also had a lot of stamina,
he kept on going.
He was just relentless
going after him with his head
as well as his fists
and eventually, he just broke him down.
BELL RINGS
KEN BUCHANAN:
He hit me low and that was it.
Like, the referee...
He just stopped the fight.
SPORTSCASTER: And the winner
and new lightweight champion of the world
21—year—old Roberto Duran of Panama.
SPRINGS TOLEDO: That moment announced
Duran on the world stage without a doubt.
A fighter arises from their midst
who became one of the all—time greats.
Something personal driving him.
I'm not sure if Duran even understood what it
was but there was something that was primal.
JUAN CARLOS TAPIA IN SPANISH:
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
SPORTCASTER CHATTERS IN SPANISH
He was naturally aggressive,
but he could also box.
MIKE TYSON:
Ferocity and savage punching, speed...
People never know him as fast,
but he's very fast.
He has a great anticipation of punching.
He's just an all—around marvel in the ring.
"Manos de Piedra" as a tag
is so perfect for him
because it feels like...
His hands feel like freaking bricks.
I've talked to fighters that have fought him
and everyone underestimates him.
They think they can win
until they're in the ring with him.
IN SPANISH:
HE CHUCKLES
I actually have been in the ring
in a fashion, with Roberto.
He was in Rocky ll.
He's supposedly Rocky's sparring partner.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
At first, I thought,
this will be pretty interesting
because, you know,
I was a few pounds heavier, a little taller
and then I realised the difference
between amateur and consummate pro.
The way he could move
his head just an inch...
It's impossible to hit him.
This man would demolish me in...
Put it this way: if it was a fight, the fight
would be 11 seconds including the count.
SPORTSCASTER SPEAKS SPANISH
JOHN DINGES:
Every county is more than just its politics.
Cultural heroes are particularly important
in times of political unrest.
CROWD ROARS
The Panamanian people always
identified themselves with Duran
especially during his fights.
I mean, you know, it was a national fever.
He won, we won.
ROBERTO DIAZ HERRERA IN SPANISH:
IN SPANISH:
REPORTER: The demonstration was organised by
Panama ’3 strongman, General Omar Torrijos.
DON KING: He was remarkable.
He was strong, he was firm
to promote the upward mobility
of the Panamanian people.
REPORTER: The presence of 50,000 Americans
here at the Canal Zone
have always been emotional issues
in Panama
and Torrijos has demanded
Panamanian sovereignty over the zone.
JOHN DINGES:
You could call him a military strongman
but that doesn't really capture who he was.
He was a populist.
He was somebody who identified down,
identified with the people.
WOMAN: They have the weapons
and the tanks given by the United States
but we have our dignity
and we are going to fight.
We don ’t care if we die.
JUAN CARLOS TAPIA IN SPANISH:
REPORTER: In Washington on September 7th,
President Carter
and the Panamanian president,
General Omar Torrijos
signed two treaties for Washington
to surrender the Canal and Zone
gradually to Panama by the year 2000.
JUAN CARLOS TAPIA IN SPANISH:
And what is to say that once we have declared
we are willing to give up that canal
that he can ’t just cancel out
the rest of the treaty?
IN SPANISH:
JUAN CARLOS TAPIA IN SPANISH:
LARRY MERCHANT:
Nobody cared in those days about "unbeaten".
What they cared about is what Duran did,
which is you fight the best guys out there.
You take your chances, you take risks.
What really shows you
what he has going on inside
is that his greatest fights
were still yet to come.
At the end of the day,
the talent makes the fights
but you've got to have the promoters
in order to plug them, to sell them
to get the tickets out,
to get the crowd interested.
You know, to get everybody's juices flowing.
LENNOX LEWIS: You know,
the rise of the promoters was very important
because they really brought out boxing.
The promoters are the ones
that make that happen
and if it wasn't for them making it happen,
we wouldn't be able to watch great events.
Definitely worth $20 to see it.
I’ll be there.
REPORTER:
Why is it worth that much to see this fight?
Hey, that’s once in a century.
That’s gonna be the best fight
/ ever seen in my life.
There's been a little bit more
of a razzmatazz
come to the boxing game over the years,
you know?
And it has made non—boxing people
boxing fans, you know what I mean?
So they have served their point
and none more so
than Don King and Bob Arum.
...that you will see on Monday night
will be one of the greatest fights
in history.
LENNOX LEWIS:
Arum and King, they were like...
apples and oranges, you know?
Same bag of groceries, but different fruits.
DON KING:
I was a great promoter, you know?
And I say that immodestly,
but I'm just a fact.
You know, not braggadocio,
just a fact of what it is.
ROBIN DURAN:
They were probably the pioneers
and they were the ones who planted the seed
for boxing to be what it is today.
They were rivals.
Every time they would find a great fight,
they would make it happen.
My relationship with King,
throughout that period, was very adversarial.
I think it benefitted both of us.
He played off me, I played off him.
I would have never known how good I was
if I didn't have lonesome Bob.
Can't tell him what to do neither.
When he gets passionate
and he gets on a tyrant or a rage
he just goes, man.
You know what? It's no holds barred.
You got to be on your P's and Q's
when you're dealing with Bob Arum.
He was a treacherous foe, you know,
and an admirable friend.
Tremendously adept at promoting himself.
A lot of promotional activities were centred
on Don King as the promoter.
DON KING: He got his idiosyncrasies
and I have mine, you know what I mean?
So, you know, sometimes we can make
the twain meet, you know what I mean?
So we could be
friends today and foes tomorrow.
MAURICIO SULAIMAN:
The rivalry between them
was as important as the one
from the fighters.
So, people knew
when there was a fight involving both
it would be a tremendous event.
Duran is cal/ed,
/ mean, if we read the sports pages here
one of the toughest punchers for his weight.
He ’3 certain/y maybe the toughest puncher
you’ve ever faced.
He ’3 a bra w/er, street—fighter.
Somebody said it’s like being hit by a rock
to be hit by this guy.
Scared?
Just a little.
HE CHUCKLES
BOB ARUM:
Ray was America's sweetheart.
He had won the Olympic gold medal
in Montreal in 1976.
And Ray had a great smile
and a great personality.
So, he was America's darling.
An absolute master boxer at welterweight,
you know?
The golden boy, if you like.
LARRY MERCHANT:
A celebrated young fighter in America.
Brilliant Ali—like smile
but there were still
some questions out there.
Could he stand in with a really tough guy?
Sugar Ray Leonard, for his first fight,
he earned $40,000.
Roberto Duran was 16 years old.
He probably earned a couple of mangoes.
So Duran looked upon Leonard
and felt something like rage
about what Leonard had.
SYLVESTER STALLONE:
An Olympian who was America's sweetheart
against...
HE SIGHS
a... a...
a demon.
A destruction machine.
It just made for great theatre.
Especially in America, since the beginning
of time, you could always pitch good vs evil.
People were just beginning to adjust
to the presence of Hispanics
in the United States.
There was a lot of anti—Hispanic feeling.
Duran instinctively played
his role as that villain.
During the press conference
to announce the fight
the guy walked into that room.
His eyes, his expressions...
His demeanour was so...
just violent and just nasty.
HE SPEAKS SPANISH
”/’m not here to be a clown
like this guy over here. ”
CROWD LAUGHS
ROBERTO DURAN SPEAKS SPANISH
"This is the first time in his life
he ’s gonna have
to get in the ring and fight. ”
Today / said a few words.
/ looked at him and he was ready to fight.
He took his rings off and everything.
/ think he was ready.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
When Ray's wife Juanita would go out
of the hotel to go shopping
Duran would come down and follow in a car
and say the vilest things.
SUGAR RAY LEONARD:
It bothered me as a man.
lt bothered me as a guy.
It bothered me as a fighter.
And you don't insult a man's wife, girl...
You don't do that,
and l was gonna get him back.
l was gonna get him back.
With Roberto, it was an act.
It really was an act.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
It meant for tremendous closed—circuit sales.
It was a blockbuster
because he played his role
of the villain to perfection.
CROWD CHEERS
SPORTSCASTER:
Live from Montreal, Canada.
It's the WBC
World ’3 Welterweight Championship.
Sugar Pa y Leonard vs Roberto Dura’n.
We are in on one of the historic events
in all of history.
More people tonight will see this telecast
than have ever witnessed
a cable telecast before, closed—circuit.
Throughout my career,
I never walked to the ring angry.
Except that fight.
And I remember vividly
in Montreal, walking to that ring, I mean...
My mind was thinking toe—to—toe,
toe—to—toe with this guy.
CROWD CHEERS
Leonard, prior to the fight, said to himself:
"I wanna knock this guy out."
Leonard wanted to stand toe—to—toe with one
of the most vicious fighters of all time.
I thank him for that,
because it made it a great fight.
SUGAR RAY LEONARD:
I remember the bell going. Bing, first round.
I didn't foresee any problem...
until he hit me.
INDISTINCT COMMENTARY
I've never been hit that hard.
Duran was perpetual motion.
He was tenacious, aggressive and...
IN SPANISH:
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
Duran had a lot of old school tricks.
There's something called
the "Fitzsimmons shift".
He would throw a dummy right hand
and immediately go into a southpaw position
and then he would drive in a left hook
or a left uppercut to the solar plexus.
That is high—tech, sophisticated strategy.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER:
He ’3 playing games with him.
Leonard is... Oh, man,
he's throwing these hydrogen bombs
and he's throwing 'em
at 30 punches per second
and, boom, it's like he's dancing.
It's like it's ballet and I'm saying:
"Woah, he's making punches miss."
I'm just... "Man! God! Damn!"
They weren't far from each other.
They're real close
and the movements were... "Oh!"
Man, you couldn't believe
how close they were throwing punches.
SPORTSCASTER:
Right above is Roberto Dura’n.
And after seeing that fight,
I knew this was what I wanted to do.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER:
Remember Leonard has never lost a fight.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER: Duran thinks
he has won the fight. / can ’t believe it.
BELL RINGS
- SPORTSCASTER: The bell! It’s over!
CROWD CHEERS
SPORTSCASTER:
He thinks he ’3 won this fight
and then he has to fight the 15th round./
SPORTSCASTER 2:
/ think he thought so. He thinks he ’3 won.
/ think he thought he won.
I think you can be fairly certain that Duran,
at that point in his career
was not hiding his feelings.
SPORTSCASTER:
Now he ’s yelling at Benitez.
Most fighters'd just take the win.
"Thank you very much" and get out.
He was like: "No, have it.
That's what it's all about."
That's why I loved him.
He was X—rated for television at the time.
At the time, he was giving people the finger,
grabbing his crotch
and I thought that was incredible.
SUGAR RAY LEONARD:
I said: "I don't need this anymore."
I really contemplated retirement.
I said: "I can't take this."
You know, "I can't take this, man."
Duran had given him a beating
like he had never received in his life
and he told me: "Sly, that night, I could
move every one of my teeth back and forth
as if they literally were hanging in my gums.
I thought all my teeth
were going to come out."
That's how hard he hit.
Yeah. I told Sly,
I told a lot of people that...
Most people don't... were not privy to this,
the fact that he hit me like that.
My forward teeth went back
and I went back to the corner
and I asked my cornerman.
I said: "Guys, are my teeth knocked back?"
And they said: "No, Ray, you're fine,
you're fine."
Cos they didn't want to, you know, upset me.
HE SCOFFS
But... I do remember that.
SPRINGS TOLEDO: In my opinion,
Sugar Ray Leonard proved his greatness
losing to Duran.
Roberto Duran, on the other hand,
is a different beast.
It's almost like he moved to Sodom
and Gomorrah. He just indulged.
CROWD WHISTLES
CROWD CHEERS
CROWD PLAYS MUSIC
DON KING:
Duran was a fighter of the people.
He related and identified with them
the downtrodden and the underprivileged
and denied.
CROWD CHEERS
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
DON KING:
It was ecstasy.
It was a celebration of all the people.
You know, because the celebration...
it was en masse, it was grandiose.
Everybody was there.
Babies, their mothers, their grandfathers.
Everybody was there because it was
a family reunion, as they would say.
The prodigal son is returning home,
so to speak.
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
A month—long party is what it was.
Now, you can understand
that Duran denies himself when he trains.
So, in other words, he's reliving
his childhood when he trains.
That's a little bit of a trauma for him,
it's a mini—trauma if you will.
So after he wins,
sometimes after he lost, he would indulge.
He would enjoy the fruits of his labour.
Duran being Duran,
he did it a little too much
but that's how he was wired.
MUSIC PLAYS
MAURICIO SULAIMAN:
He was always the guide.
In the difficult years,
they had Roberto Duran
to represent them,
and save them and give them pride.
So he was, and still is,
the most famous Panamanian today.
He can do whatever he wants in Panama.
He can get away with anything.
HE SINGS IN SPANISH
IN SPANISH:
HE SINGS IN SPANISH
RICKY HATTON: I got a phone call saying
he was gonna pick me up
with his brother at the airport.
I expected him to be kerbside
but he wasn't. He was right through
at the gate when I got off the plane.
He went: "Ricky, Ricky!"
and he took me through passport control.
Passport control were saying:
"Roberto, Roberto, passport!"
He was like: "No, no, no"
and he took me right through.
I thought "How famous are you
to take me right through passport control?"
Wherever restaurant we went to,
we would never have to pay anything
because he would always say:
"People love me here."
So it was a treat to see him
in his home town, in his country
where people adore him.
JUAN CARLOS TAPIA IN SPANISH:
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
He's still like a little boy, you know?
I come into his house
and he's watching cartoons.
You know, he didn't have a childhood.
It's part of what he is today.
It gave him that anger to fight.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
Only people who doesn't have places
to live go to El Chorillo.
People without work.
People involved in detailing drugs.
Criminal groups.
That was El Chorillo.
IN SPANISH:
I think it's wine, women and song.
You know, the fighters work so hard
and they live such a Spartan life
that it's so difficult to maintain
that training regimen
and that discipline
and quite often you just wanna
enjoy your youth
and they get a little carried away.
They come from poverty
and they've never had anything
and now they have millions of dollars
and temptation is just around the corner.
Duran is not
the first great athlete or fighter
who got more attracted by the distractions
than the main event.
LATIN AMERICAN MUSIC PLAYS
LARRY MERCHANT:
It's human. Young guys on top of the world.
More money than they could imagine.
Everybody telling them
how wonderful they are.
HE SINGS IN SPANISH
BOB ARUM:
I remember visiting him at his house.
There must have been 40 people
and they were all laying around the pool
with Dom Perignon champagne,
only the best.
Cooking steaks
and living the high life on Duran's money.
He partied... partied...
Well, he celebrated, I should say,
he celebrated a lot more than I did.
And I wanted to catch him off guard.
CROWD ROARS
SUGAR RAY LEONARD: After the fight,
I was really emotionally just down.
Devastating.
But I took my wife to Hawaii
to kinda cool out.
And while I was there, the first thing I did
the next morning was run, did road work.
I'm running down the beach
and people saying:
"Hey, Sugar, man, tough fight."
"Hey, Sugar Ray, if you'd have boxed him,
you would have beat him."
I kept hearing that: "If you had boxed him,
you would've beat him."
"If you were boxing..."
And something said: "Bing!"
I called my partner, Mike Trainer.
I said: "Mike, I wanna fight Duran ASAP."
PHONE RINGS
Hello ?
IN SPANISH:
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
Training would not be spent
devising new strategies and tactics
to defeat Sugar Ray Leonard
who was now going to try
a different strategy of course. No.
It was spent losing weight.
This time around will be
a different story altogether.
Me no like you, Leonard.
Leonard too much talk.
Everybody rush out there, closed—circuit,
and get their tickets
because this is gonna be World War / V.
It's hard for an outsider to know
how prepared a fighter is
even when he says, as he usually does,
that he's in the best shape of his life.
CROWD CHEERS
SPORTSCASTER: Here we go,
the WBC Welterweight Championship.
There ’3 Sugar Ray Leonard
in the black trunks
and Roberto Dura’n, the champion
in the white trunks, from Panama.
BELL RINGS
SYLVESTER STALLONE:
Roberto Duran comes to battle.
He knew that toe—to—toe,
he would win that fight.
SPORTSCASTER:
And he ’3 even doing a little dodging now.
A little A/I'.
He ’3 taunting Dura’n.
SYLVESTER STALLONE:
He didn't realise
the strategy of Sugar Ray Leonard
was almost sleight of hand.
Magic. Illusion.
Duran became incredibly frustrated.
Embarrassed.
SPORTSCASTER:
Sugar Ray is taunting Roberto Dura’n like Ali.
Leonard was just too fast, too crafty
and it got into the skin of Duran.
LARRY MERCHANT:
Duran could not abide.
Those eyes that used to stare at someone
and stare you down were now just, like, lost.
The taunting that went on, the antics
were to pour some acid on this machismo.
SUGAR RAY LEONARD:
He had no cure.
He had no response
for what I was doing in that ring.
SPORTSCASTER:
Sugar Ray is oozing confidence.
Look at that!
Well, he saw what to do and he did it.
Old school fighters would frown upon that.
A lot of old school commentators
back then frowned upon that.
They did not like to see...
Even Howard Cossell did not like to see
Sugar Ray Leonard acting in this manner
against a great fighter like Roberto Duran.
But Sugar Ray Leonard is gonna do
what works for Sugar Ray Leonard.
Those things, those "antics" or whatever
you call them, happen in the ring.
It always happened and you can't...
you don't think about doing that.
You would never think about sticking
your chin out against Roberto Duran, trust me
but it worked then and there, instinctively.
It just naturally happened
because I saw something in his eyes:
I saw that he was not there.
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
The crowd laughed.
The people began to laugh at Roberto Duran.
SPORTSCASTER:
Both men can throw lethal bombs.
LARRY MERCHANT:
The machismo at that point said...
"Enough, I'm not going to be humiliated
like this anymore."
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
Something snapped.
CROWD ROARS
SPORTSCASTER:
Hey, what’s happening?
Dura’n says no!
/ think he ’s quitting.
What is he saying, Larry?
- LARRY: He says no.
/ don ’t understand it.
- SPORTSCASTER: He ’3 saying no. He quit!
LARRY:
/ don ’t understand this.
SPORTSCASTER: / think Dura’n quit.
- LARRY: / don ’t understand it.
CROWD JEERS
COMMENTATORS CLAMOUR
SPORTSCASTER:
Gentlemen, Roberto Duran. ..
LARRY:
This is not like Duran.
BROADCASTER: threw his hands up
and said: ”/ quit”.
LARRY:
/ don ’t understand this.
SPORTSCASTER: And he almost got
in a fight with Leonard ’s brother.
The police are in the ring
and we have
a very, very unpleasant situation in there.
LARRY:
/ don ’t understand this.
SPORTSCASTER: The referee
has not declared the fight over yet.
Duran sudden/y said: "/ quit”.
LARRY: / don ’t understand it.
- SPORTSCASTER: / don ’t either.
And then he did it a second time.
LARRY:
/ don ’t understand it.
CROWD CLAMOURS
LARRY: / don ’t understand.
- SPORTSCASTER: What happened?
He ’3 saying: "/ don ’t want it anymore ”.
And there ’3 no question,
ladies and gentlemen
that Sugar Ray Leonard has retaken
the World ’3 Welterweight Championship
in round eight when Dura’n surrendered.
VOICE FADES
IN SPANISH:
I could not be more stunned
at anything that ever happened
in a prize fight
than seeing Roberto Duran quit.
The crowd was shocked.
Worldwide, it was shocking.
In Spanish, no ma’s means "no more".
The fight became the No Mas fight.
All you had to say or all that was written
was "no mas".
When he did so many good things,
so many great things in boxing
than that simple phrase.
Some people forget about him being
the greatest lightweight champion of all time
and they simply say: "No mas".
Now, Luis, exactly what happened
in Roberto ’3 words?
HE SPEAKS SPANISH
He got cramps in his stomach
and his body, upper body.
And then his arms.
And he got weaker,
so that’s why he stopped, he quit the bout.
Does this mean the end
of boxing for Roberto?
THEY SPEAK SPANISH
”Yes, I’m not fighting anymore. ”
This is final, permanent retirement?
”Definite/y, I’m not fighting anymore. ”
SPORTSCASTER: Leonard scored
with a chopping right that hurt Dura’n.
When Dura’n motioned that that was it
/ just felt that / beat a man, a legend,
mental/y
you know, more so than physical/y.
DON KING:
Ray Leonard was using his skills
and his physical adroitness
and his mental capacity
to be able to do that.
He played the mental gymnastics
as well as the physical.
Duran was right for it.
You know, instead of him readjusting
he stayed on that same mode,
and so since he got frustrated
with that misguided emotionalism
and passion
he then played right into Ray's hands,
but Ray wasn't expecting him to stop.
IN SPANISH:
Sugar Ray had a plan and, you know,
his plan worked.
To frustrate him, not to fight him.
If anybody come to fight Duran,
he'll fight you to the death
but, you know, he gets caught up
in that macho mentality,
"He's not fighting me, he's not the man."
I think for a man who, in his chest
beats the heart of a warrior
the frustration and the embarrassment
and the pressure from the audience
I'm sure he's...
regrets that moment every day.
There is no amount of money.
There is nobody that can do anything
that would help this man
with the destruction of his reputation
or the doubt
that has been cast upon his reputation
and he ’3 going to be out of boxing.
He ’l/ have to live that
for the rest of his life.
It’s gonna be a real traumatic experience.
HOWARD COSSELL:
Ray, you heard what Duran said.
Will you fight him again, ever?
No, Howard.
It's a painful moment.
It's a painful moment for boxing history
because it did hurt the sport.
It not only hurt Duran,
it really demolished his reputation.
But it also hurt everything about the sport
because people paid good money
to see a great rematch
and what happened
was Duran basically ripped everybody off.
I’ve never seen
this young man behave in this manner.
I’ve been with him nine years.
He ’3 been through tough fights
and l was absolutely astounded.
/ wish / could give you an honest answer,
Howard, of what really happened.
This is my interpretation,
I'm not sure if I'm right
but he was disappointed, deeply disappointed
that he would pull out like that
and probably heartbroken in some ways
because you just don't do that.
It was just one of those...
too human moments...
of weakness.
"But to thine own self one must be true",
as Shakespeare would say.
The man in the mirror knows
that he did that to himself
because of that machismo, macho attitude
and life that he had lived,
you know what I mean?
IN SPANISH:
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
LARRY MERCHANT:
How do you go back to your people, your fans
who have constructed a part
of their lives around you
who worship you and look up to you?
You become a champion,
you have an entourage of 50 people
carrying your suitcase, your backpack,
giving you water, cleaning your sweat.
You lose your championship,
you lose your money, you have nobody again.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
REPORTER: Good evening.
One of Central America ’s best known
military and political leaders,
General Omar Torrijos
has died in a plane crash in the jungle,
91 miles outside of Panama City.
He was 52.
REPORTER 2:
The Panamanian National Guard
gave their General a military farewell
complete with a motorcycle escort
and cavalry.
Torrijos’ coffin draped
with the Panamanian flag
was carried up the steps
to the cathedral
on the shoulders of the
members of his national guard.
He was their commander and chief.
DON KING:
Torrijos is a victim of the system.
That he was such an advocate for the people
and next thing you know,
his plane is crashing into a mountain.
An accident, but in my opinion by design
and the world lost a great statesman,
a great scholar, a great fighter.
Torrijos became a symbol of protest
a symbol of a different military
and also identified with the lower class
with the workers, with people like Duran.
WOMEN WAIL
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
JOHN DINGES: Panama never was
the same again after Torrijos.
Of course, his death leads
to the rise of Noriega.
APPLAUSE
RUBEN PAREDES IN SPANISH:
JOHN DINGES:
Noriega had a relationship with the CIA
very intimate and very profitable.
He goes on the CIA payroll
and the Pentagon payroll
cooperating with the US on the one hand
and violating US law on the other hand.
IN SPANISH:
JOHN DINGES: He begins a relationship
with the Medillin Cartel, Pablo Escobar
at a time when drug trafficking is starting
to explode coming out of Colombia.
Panama becomes one
of the most important havens
for laundering
millions and millions of dollars
being produced by trafficking cocaine,
marijuana, in and out of the United States.
Panama was where business was being done
and Noriega was facilitating drug operations
in his country.
Noriega has taken control literally
at the point of a gun.
It's absolutely irresponsible for anyone
to think the people of Panama want him
they don't.
MANUEL NORIEGA IN SPANISH:
HE CHUCKLES
HE LAUGHS
See? I tell you.
SUGAR RAY LEONARD:
It's not easy to come back
after being ridiculed.
After being looked down upon.
It's gonna do one of two things to you.
It's gonna make you a better fighter
or it's gonna destroy you.
IN SPANISH:
FELICIDAD DURAN IN SPANISH:
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
RICKY HATTON: The first time you find out
how good a fighter you are
and how big a man you are in boxing
when you've gotta drag your backside up
off the floor and come back from adversity
which is what Roberto found himself
having to do after the No Mas fight.
REPORTER:
This is the island of Coiba
a tough penal colony
and a sort of De vil’s Island
where Panama ’3 most menacing criminals
are sent.
It’s also become home
to one of the most bizarre training camps
of all time.
Roberto Duran has spent
the last six weeks working here
sweating himself into shape,
surrounding himself
with men much harder,
meaner and tougher than him.
SPORTSCASTER:
Good right hand by Kirk/and Laing.
A lead right
and that tagged Dura’n on the chin.
Duran had a go at Laing...
IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER:
/ don ’t wanna remember Duran this way.
At 31 years of age, it may be all over
for Hands of Stone.
IN SPANISH:
Being a champion is very important.
I would say if I didn't lose in my career
I wouldn't know how great I would have been,
cos it put me in a place
and then it was for me, mentally
and physically, to get myself out of it
and show that I'm a true champion.
SPORTSCASTER:
Cuevas against the ropes
down for the second time in the round.
Cue vas a beaten fighter.
Dura’n, a good right hand set it all off
went to the kill.
Roberto Dura’n back
in the title picture again.
In fact, he will be fighting
Davey Moore
for the Junior Middle weight Championship.
Pandemonium in the ring.
CROWD ROARS
CROWD CHANTS:
Dura’n!
Dura’n!
Dura’n!
BELL RINGS
SPRINGS TOLEDO: For Duran to consent
to step in the ring with Davey Moore
twenty—four years old
one of the best junior middleweights
in the world
so long after Duran's prime
so far out of his natural division
against a fighter who has exceeded
Sugar Ray Leonard's dimensions...
Once again Duran was an underdog.
MIKE TYSON: I'm 17 years old,
I'm in Madison Square Garden
and right there in the front row
and I'm going: "Yeah, yeah yeah!"
And he goes like this.
Yo, he was looking at me!
Well, that was a sign.
That's a sign I'm gonna make it big.
cos he saw me out of all those thousands
of people. I thought it was all about me.
He don't fucking know me!
MARVIN HANGLER:
Davey Moore was up—and—coming
and Roberto Duran showed me what kind
of skill that he really had at that time.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
CROWD CHEERS
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
When he won the fight as an underdog,
which nobody expected him to win
I think he made the people of Panama
very, very proud of him again.
CROWD CHEERS
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
CROWD CHANTS:
Dura’n!
SPORTSCASTER:
On his 32nd birthday last night
challenger Roberto Duran knocked out
24—year—old Davey Moore
to win the World Boxing Association,
Junior Middle weight Championship.
CROWD CHEERS
LARRY MERCHANT:
There's no doubt that beating Moore
brought Duran back to life
as a prize fighter.
FELICIDAD DURAN IN SPANISH:
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
The '80s was really dominated
by the Four Kings.
They all fought each other.
Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler...
lt’s war.
MAURICIO SULAIMAN:
Tommy Hearns. Roberto Duran.
Those four, they truly represent
perhaps the best times of boxing.
BOB ARUM:
Everybody thought initially
that once Muhammad Ali departed
from the scene
that boxing would suffer
a real terrible blow.
But it was those four fighters
that revitalised the sport during the '80s.
They fought nine times
in various combinations
and every time they fought,
it was a major, major event.
LARRY MERCHANT:
Each fight among them
became a drama.
Oh, not since Cain and Abel
have you seen one like this.
Every fight was an event.
OSCAR DE LA HOYA:
The Four Kings era without Roberto Duran
it wouldn't have been the same.
He was a fighter
who would take on all challengers.
He would move up several weight classes
and challenge the very best.
He was a serious threat to anybody.
SPORTSCASTER:
And indeed this historic event is
Roberto Duran challenging
Marvelous Marvin Hag/er
for the undisputed
Middle weight Championship.
FELICIDAD DURAN IN SPANISH:
Back in the day, you fought the best.
You had to work yourself in the rankings
to become a champion.
They all wanted to fight each other.
They wanted to fight each other.
They didn't have to,
they didn't make 'em, they wanted it.
SYLVESTER STALLONE: This was an era
when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.
These were the real deals, real specimens
and Hagler was perfection
in his particular weight class
which is much bigger than Roberto.
Basically, this guy was trying
to take away my title
and I said: "No. There's no way that you're
going to take away my title," you know.
It was a psych game, like,
going on between him and I.
Two day more, you no more champion.
- OK.
He was at the height of his game
at nine stone, nine.
And all of a sudden, he fights one
of the greatest middleweights of all time.
Up at 11 stone, six.
Every morning, I used to see his ugly face.
My entourage and his entourage
we used to run around the dunes.
We would see each other like 4:30
in the morning and just before the fight
and we go, "Rrrrrr!"
And he goes, "Rrrrrr!"
ROBERTO DURAN SPEAKS SPANISH
He says: "Thank you very, very much
to all of you ”
and he don ’t care of nothing
because he knows how to do it
on top of the ring.
REPORTER: / notice you didn’t shake his hand.
Has the psyching already started toward that?
MARVIN HANGLER:
Oh, yeah. Roberto ’3 very tricky, very cagey.
Uh, he ’s got a lot of heart.
One thing that / believe
that / won ’t have to look for him.
So, it’s going to be an exciting fight.
You ’re gonna see a good performance.
I’m sure Duran is going
to give a good account of himself
HANGLER FAN:
He ’3 too strong, much too fast for Dura’n.
He ’3 in better shape.
He ’3 got just as much experience.
DURAN FAN: The last time Hag/er had a fight
was against Vito Antofuermo five years ago.
He hasn ’t had a fight since
and Dura’n’s gonna give him a fight
cos Duran ’s gonna hit him downstairs,
Duran’s gonna hit him upstairs.
And it’s gonna be all over
within a short time.
CROWD CHANTS:
Dura’n!
To do a 15—round fight in that heat,
outdoors...
They weren't in the casinos now,
and the air conditioning.
That was absolutely unbelievable.
CROWD ROARS
MARVIN HANGLER:
The way that I look at that fight, I mean
it was two great champions going in,
teaching each other
what kind of skills that they had.
SPORTSCASTER:
Middle weight Championship of the world.
SPORTSCASTER 2:
Hag/er, of course, familiar to most people
that left—handed style.
Remember, he will switch to righty
at various times throughout this fight.
IN SPANISH:
For the first three rounds,
what he would do was
every time that I would throw a right hand
he would counter—punch.
And I says: "Hmm" for three rounds
and I'm asking my trainer
"How the hell does this guy
keep catching me?"
"He's a smart warrior
and he's timing your punch."
So, what we had to do was
we had to go to school on him
show him who he's in there with,
switch up on him
and every time that he would do
that right hand...
Boom, I hit him with a body shot
and I hear him go, "Ugh!"
HE LAUGHS
He can't believe
that he's getting hit this much
because nobody hits Roberto Duran
that much.
"You hit me, do you know who I am?"
I say: "Yeah,
and you gonna get some more, too.
C'mon!"
HE LAUGHS
SPORTSCASTER: Big left hand from Hag/er
on the chin of Duran but Duran is OK.
RICKY HATTON:
The fight was toe—to—toe, nonstop.
There was barely a foot, two foot
between them the whole fight
because Roberto Duran fought that way
and Marvin fought that way.
It was always going to be
a close—quarter fight
so that for a 15—round fight...
Fantastic, fantastic stuff.
SPORTSCASTER:
Here in this 15th round.
Ripping, body and head shots
to the head of Roberto Dura’n.
MARVIN HANGLER:
I give him a lot of credit, man.
He was so experienced that he knew
how to keep bouncing off the rope
and bobbing and weaving
and avoiding some of the punches.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER: Two warriors,
two champions going the full 15 rounds.
MARVIN HANGLER: I tell you,
in about 30 more seconds in the 15th round
I would have knocked Roberto Duran out.
I had him. I had him.
HE LAUGHS
BELL RINGS
- CROWD CHEERS
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
Duran stole the drama of the show
simply by going 15 rounds
with Marvin Hagler.
Having a fighter like Roberto Duran,
that brings out the best in you
and that's what he did for me.
He pushed him all the way,
do you know what I mean?
Stood there and had it out with him,
it was...
From someone who was a 9 stone, nine,
a lightweight fighter
to fight out with one of the strongest
and best middleweights of all time.
I think, you know, it ended in his defeat
but it's again, another one of them,
bit by bit
each fight and each fight he was having
he was getting the respect back
from the Panamanian people.
IN SPANISH:
To me, it isn't always about the victories
cos Duran, every fight had just...
elements of drama
that other fighters just don't have.
Every one is almost like a movie in itself.
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
If you look at the pattern of Duran's career
it's pretty rare, especially after 1979
where he could be inspired
for a fight twice in a row.
To fight Hearns on the heels of Hagler,
that's insanity.
SPORTSCASTER: No longer will he be called
the Motor City Cobra.
He has returned as Thomas The Hitman.
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
He had that real devil, evil in his eye,
you know?
He, you know...
Like he wanted to hurt his opponents.
SPRINGS TOLEDO:
Duran predicted
he's going to knock Tommy Hearns out
in one round.
Thomas Hearns said: "I'm going to knock
Roberto Duran out in two rounds."
LARRY MERCHANT:
It was apparent in that fight
that Hearns had no respect for Duran.
IN SPANISH:
BELL RINGS
- SPORTSCASTER: Referee, Carlos Padilla.
ROBIN DURAN:
He was training in Bahamas.
I was very young, I was a kid.
And they flew me over with my mum
and I saw my father
trying to make the weight.
IN SPANISH:
He looked like a freaking walking dead,
you know.
Sucking on a lemon.
IN SPANISH:
You know, he's usually the crazy guy
who loves his kid
and he's always hugging us
and, you know, playing with us.
And he's like: "Fula, just take the kids.
I can't deal with them right now."
IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER: Big man and the little man
thus far. Right hand!
Down goes Duran.
Duran is on queer street.
IN SPANISH:
SPORTSCASTER:
He doesn’t know where he is.
He ’3 on queer street and he ’3 going to go.
Noriega was provoking the military,
the US military.
RUBEN PAREDES IN SPANISH:
RONALD REAGAN:
Drugs are menacing our society.
They’re threatening our values
and undercutting our institutions.
The y ’re killing our children.
IN SPANISH:
This. . .
This is crack cocaine.
/ think we are moving from crisis to disaster
and now we are passing disaster
and moving towards catastrophe.
SPORTSCASTER:
Oh, he ’3 out!
He was out before he hit the canvas.
STEVE LOTT:
When that punch landed, it was a "pop".
You could hear it from ringside
through the ropes into the microphone.
That was definitely the hardest punch
Duran ever got hit with.
SPORTSCASTER:
This fight is over.
When / have the official time from the...
SPORTSCASTER:
He doesn’t know where he is.
SPORTSCASTER 2: He has not known
where he is since the first...
Duran was no longer a elite level fighter.
He's like: "I can still get in the ring
and beat everybody up and..."
You know...
It was sort of a pressure for us too
because everybody coming up to us
and like: "Your father should retire."
So it was sort of a pressure
for not only him but for everybody.
FELICIDAD DURAN IN SPANISH:
OSCAR DE LA HOYA:
He represented never giving up.
"If I can do this, you can do it as well."
He was that type of fighter.
/ call on General Noriega
to respect the voice of the people.
SPORTSCASTER:
You know, Al, there ’3 a saying in boxing:
”A fighter can look like
he ’s in great condition.
All of a sudden he walks up the stairs
the bell rings,
and he doesn ’t have it anymore. ”
That’s happened to Roberto Dura’n,
like, three times.
We all wrote him off and all of a sudden
the guy comes back again.
This is going to be some test
for a 37—year—old guy
against a tough guy like lran Barkley.
He has the heart of a champion, of a warrior,
and no matter if you're 100 years old or not
you're still going to want to fight
because it's in you.
It's your soul. It's what drives you.
It's the Ioneliest of sports
but in a way, that makes it, um... better.
It makes it bigger.
LARRY MERCHANT:
They go out, they are alone.
There can be whole countries
making you... somebody special.
CROWD CHEERS
SPORTSCASTER:
And so the stage is set.
There ’s not a seat to be had.
And everybody pumped up to see that man,
Roberto Dura’n, trying to win his fourth tit/e
and to see if Iran The Blade Barkley...
Iran Barkley was a rough, tough guy
who was from the streets of the Bronx.
He was member of a street gang.
He was 28 years old.
He was in perfect condition.
He was a huge middleweight.
I was in school...
and I remember my teachers telling me:
"Don't let your father do this fight,"
you know, "he's going to get killed."
You know, I saw Iran Barkley
who was like ten—feet tall.
I'm like: "Damn, this guy's going
to kill my father."
These guys is the past.
I gotta be the present.
Got a spirit inside of me
that I can take myself back
to where I came from and what I've done.
I'm gonna make you respect me.
A promoter would say to a fighter
"If you want to fight,
your name power is still big enough
to put this fight on TV
to where you get a pay—day."
And that's what keeps fighters going on
long after they should retire.
SPORTSCASTER:
Here ’3 that right hand again.
Being very, very proud of your people
like Roberto was
makes you not want to let them down.
You can't tell me he didn't think
of that one fight against Sugar Ray Leonard
and when he quit,
every time he stepped in a ring.
He thought to himself:
"I can't quit in this one."
You can look into a man's eyes,
you can see his soul.
You don't scare me.
Having the guts and having the desire
to go beyond physical limits.
When you do that, you're a fighter.
SPORTSCASTER:
They are both landing big shots.
Who will go? Dura’n is now stunned.
REPORTER:
Panama City.
American police called on Army help
against rioting Panamanians.
IRAN BARKLEY: You know,
I hit him with a shot that spun him around.
I don't even know how he stood up from that.
HE CHUCKLES
When / heard this stuff
about Noriega and invading
that is pure fabrication and a lie.
SPORTSCASTER:
Duran doing a wonderful job of tying him up
Something held him up that day
that wouldn't let him fall.
CROWD CHEERS
SPORTSCASTER: So it looks like Roberto Dura’n
got his third wind. Where he got it from...
IRAN BARKLEY:
You know, it held him up somehow.
SPORTSCASTER:
He said he was in good shape.
Roberto Dura’n’s for real in this bout.
IRAN BARKLEY:
And he just went for it.
CROWD CHANTS:
Dura’n!
Last night, / ordered
US military forces to Panama.
SPORTSCASTER: Again the right by...
Bark/ey's in trouble. He ’3 down!
CROWD ROARS
This has been extraordinary.
BELL RINGS
SPORTSCASTER:
That tells you who ’3 champion.
The victory over Iran Barkley
was Duran's last act of defiance.
I mean, with that victory,
he gave the finger to history.
He gave the finger to Father Time.
He gave the finger to the laws of physics.
IN SPANISH:
And now that we're friends,
I walk over to him, I say:
"Hey, Roberto, how you doing, man?"
I said: "Let me ask you a question.
Did you hate me that much?
Did you really hate me that much?"
And he looked at me.
He took a deep breath.
He said: "No, Ray, that was all...
It was all made up."
There wasn't this mean spirit about him
uh, when you got to know him.
I mean, he was just a fun—loving guy
that you wanted to be around.
There was a kind of, um... charming
kind of boyishness to him, the humility.
Tremendous heart, yes...
A caring individual and just...
HE SIGHS
Man, as I said, I'm so happy
that he was... part of my lifetime.
If you look at Roberto Duran, you look
at the heights and the depths of his career.
You even look at No Mas.
Ask yourself who in their lives
has not had a "no mas" moment?
ROBERTO DURAN IN SPANISH:
LATIN AMERICAN MUSIC PLAYS