“Boxing's a poor man's sport. We can't afford to play
golf or tennis. It is what it is. It's kept so many kids off the street. It
kept me off the street.” Sugar Ray Leonard
By Alex P. Vidal
EXPERTS were divided and could not predict accurately
who would win between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran in the 15-round
battle for the WBC welterweight championship in Montreal, Quebec on June 20,
1980.
Both Leonard, a 1976 Montreal Olympics gold medalist,
and Duran, known as “manos de piedra” or hands of stone, were
unbeaten and the most popular welterweights in the world in that era.
Leonard, Duran, Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns, and
Marvelous Marvin Hagler were known at that time as “The Fabulous Four” of
boxing.
Before the bout, Leonard had an impressive record of 27
wins.
Only nine of his opponents survived the distance.
Duran paraded a menacing 28-0 record with 18 stoppages.
Owing to Leonard’s Olympics reputation, Duran was
installed a slight underdog.
But Duran (103-16, 70 KOs final record) shocked the
world when he dethroned defending champion Leonard (36-3, 25 KOs final record)
by unanimous decision.
In a rematch on Nov. 25, 1980 in New Orleans, Louisiana,
the Panamian visitor registered one of the most mysterious twists in fight
history with his “no mas, no mas” or no more no more surrender
in the 8th canto.
FEATHERWEIGHT
The fight between Nonito Donaire Jr and Nicholas Walters
for WBA super-featherweight tiara in Carson, California on October 18, has the
making of the first Duran vs Leonard showdown.
Like Duran, Donaire (33-2, 21 KOs), being the
challenger, is slightly the underdog in betting.
Flamboyant defending champion Walters (24-0, 20 KOs),
born and based in Montego Bay, Jamaica, is being regarded as the new Sugar Ray
Leonard.
Walters stands five feet and seven inches and is fresh
from a 5th round one-punch disposal win against Vic Darchinyan
on May 31, 2014 in Macau, China.
Walters’ win over Darchinyan (39-7, 28 KOs) was his
fourth straight knockout victory since winning by unanimous decision against
Hector Javier Marquez in Colon City, Panama on March 31, 2012, and third title
defense.
It is Ring Magazine’s candidate for knockout of the
year.
Darchinyan bravely engaged the taller Walters in a
torrid slugfest from the opening round until he was zapped by a tomahawk right
that turned his legs into spaghetti.
Walters finished him off with a wicked straight to the
chin in a clinical precision that impressed boxing scholars watching at
ringside.
Darchinyan’s final fall did not need the referee’s mandatory
count.
INFLICT
Donaire, incidentally inflicted Darchinyan’s two other
KO losses, but it was Walter’s destruction of Darchinyan that made headlines.
So bad was Darchinyan’s fall that supporters and experts
called for his immediate retirement.
Thus Darchinyan became the common denominator between
“The Filipino Flash” and “The Axe Man.”
Walters, 28, earned “The Axe Man” moniker because all
his KO victims collapsed like they were pummeled by a forest ax like what
happened to Darchinyan.
The Jamaican terror is expected to use his height
advantage and lateral movement ala Sugar Ray to befuddle Donaire, born in
Bohol, Philippines and raised in San Leandro, California.
Thirty four-year-old Guillermo Rigondeaux (14-0, 9 KOs)
soundly defeated Donaire for WBO super-bantamweight and WBA super-bantamweight
crowns in New York on April 13, 2014.
Donaire could not catch the fast-moving and
slick-punching Cuban, who used his vast experience as a former Olympics
champion, to humiliate the Philippines’ most popular ring heartthrob next to
Manny Pacquiao.
COMBINATION
If Donaire, 31, can’t nail Walters with the same
combination he used when he tortured abrasive Mexican Jorce Arce en route to a
3rd round KO for WBO super-bantamweight belt in Houston, Texas
on December 15, 2012, the Fil-Am fighter might blow away a chance to pocket the
WBA super-world featherweight jewels.
Walters, however, has not met a world champion in
Donaire’s caliber despite his unblemished record.
Donaire, an orthodox like Walters, is a deadly counter
puncher.
He attacks with both fists over his head exposing his
body, which he actually uses as bait.
Once the enemy diverts his attention from head to the
body and targets the breadbasket, Donaire uncorks a flash counter punch to the
face followed by a left cross.
The same tactic he used when he brutally drilled former
world champion Fernando Montiel in the second round for the WBO and WBC
bantamweight titles in Las Vegas on February 19, 2011.
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