Reply #5: Duran

[H2O Man]

There was a time when my oldest brother hoped to get hired on as a sparring partner for Duran. He was lucky it didn't happen. I can remember people talking about what he was like in training for a fight. I think that he had the intensity in training that you hear about Rocky Marciano having.

His fight with Ken Buchanan was mentioned earlier. Buchanan would have gone down in history as one of the greatest boxers, because he was absolutely wonderful in terms of being a "stylist." Yet Duran, besides overpowering him, was out-boxing him, too. Duran was a great talent, beyond his unreal punching power as a lightweight. The fight that showed this best, but which will never be appreciated, was his fight with Haglar.

I have great film of Arguello hanging out with my boys when they were little. My youngest boy has the same hair style as the champ. It may sound odd to others that I would treasure something like that, but I do. I thought he was one of boxing's true class acts.

A couple of my favorites were Mondo Ramos, a great Mexican fighter who ended up partying his talent away, and Teo Cruz, who died in a tragic plane accident with his beautiful wife and their two children. Carlos Ortiz was another great fighter. The lightweight division has always been one of my favorites. Ismael Laguna was able to throw hard punches on his tip-toes! I guess I exposing my age here!