Hands of Stone - Christian Giudice [116]
It was widely circulated among Panama reporters that Duran had told his closest confidantes at the Hyatt that there was no validity to the story about the stomach ache. “There was nothing wrong with him and the proof of that, he goes to celebrate with his friends in his hotel room,” said journalist Juan Carlos Tapia. “Eleta arrives to go to hospital to justify that there would not be a more serious problem. But Duran didn’t have anything wrong. There were no stomach cramps. He was simply not prepared for that fight. Leonard was beating him bad and Duran said that nobody will knock me out.”
Of all the things that Duran lost that evening, from pride to the respect of his fans, he was able to keep his purse. As long as the opening bell rang and Duran entered the ring, his money was safe. By getting the money paid in a letter of credit, Eleta ensured that Duran would receive his share. It was that share that the Louisiana Ordinance Commission felt they were owed due to the “dishonest act.”
Don King publicist Bobby Goodman went back to a meeting with the Louisiana Commission to clarify the terms of the agreement made before the fight even started. “The commission wanted to hold up his purse. I had to run back for a meeting with the commission and I told them that the purse was already paid in a letter of credit,” said Goodman. “And the condition of the letter of credit was that we had to show them a newspaper article that the fight had happened. And it certainly happened. As soon as the bell rings, it was good. That was the terms of the contract, not that he fought badly, poorly or quit or whatever.”
Although the commission fined Duran a nominal amount of $7,500, Goodman quickly cut a check and paid the fine. There were still some explanations to be heard. “I made an appeal to the commission that Duran had stomach cramps and how do you know what went on in the mind of this great champ to the point that he just couldn’t continue,” Goodman said. “I had mentioned the ring snapped and a lot of things were going on. And they accepted that.”
Goodman had been close to Duran in the build-up to the fight and had noticed a change in him. “I didn’t get the sense that he was as intense for the training. Knowing Roberto, the macho part of being Roberto Duran where he had achieved such legendary status was part of his being. He was Duran and you didn’t have to say anything else. He was very proud of that and became quite a celebrity. Even up at the camp … I think he was so full of what everybody had written about him. I don’t think he got a big head, but I just think he eased up.”
THE BOXING world struggled to comprehend the incomprehensible. Roberto Duran, the man with hands of stone and a heart to match, who had never been stopped, knocked out or even badly hurt, had apparently given up. Most could not believe it; everyone had an opinion. “It would require a deal of convincing to shake the conviction here that Duran had to be sick or injured,” wrote Red Smith, America’s greatest sports columnist and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, “because Roberto Duran was not, is not, and never could be a quitter.”
Forty-eight hours later, the man himself had changed his mind about retiring. “After what happened I’ve done some thinking and I’ve spoken to my wife and told her I’m going back to the ring. I had thought of retiring, but I’m not going to retire because Sugar Ray Leonard is not a man to beat me,” he told a reporter.
But when asked about the promotion of a third bout between them, Don King told reporters, “The next time I promote a Leonard-Duran