Hands of Stone - Christian Giudice [149]
Indeed, by May 1985 rumors were spreading that Duran was much closer to broke than rich. There was speculative talk of an enforced comeback. Trying to fend off the stories that her gambling and her husband’s spending on cars, motorcycles and even a plane had forced them to sell some of their assests, Felicidad Duran spoke to a Radio Mia reporter that summer. “We have sold what we wanted to because we have the right to do as we want and it is private. We are in a good financial situation that assures our children’s future.” Felicidad admitted that her husband had returned to the gym to try to retain his boxing passion but said there was no guarantee of an immediate comeback.
It was no huge surprise, then, when in January 1986 Bob Arum of Top Rank announced that Roberto Duran would be returning to action. Arum even played for reporters a tape of Duran insisting that he could beat both Hagler and Hearns. No one was laughing; it wasn’t even funny any more.
On 31 January 1986, he took on Colombian novice Manuel Zambrano in the Nuevo Panama Gymnasium. Duran trained at the Rodrigo Colon Sanchez Gym in San Miguelito for the bout. Twelve thousand fans gave their national hero a roaring ovation and despite weighing his heaviest ever at 165lbs – having shed an alleged fifty-five pounds – he didn’t disappoint. A left hook put Zambrano down for the full count at the end of round two, with his jaw broken in three places. Zambrano would never win another bout. Three months later in Panama, Duran moved on to the unknown Jorge Suero from the Dominican Republic. It was another mismatch, with the 162-pound Duran knocking out Suero at 1:45 of the second round. These “fights” rated little blips even in the boxing papers, but observers noted Duran was looking sleeker.
On June 23, 1986, the thirty-five-year-old Duran stepped into the ring in Las Vegas to face Marvin Hagler’s half-brother Robbie Sims, a tough middleweight with a solid record. Sims was a live one, ten years younger and ranked fourth by the WBA. He had several fine victories to his credit, most notably a sixth-round KO of a young prospect named Iran Barkley. It had been two and a half years since Duran engaged Hagler and now Sims wanted to finish what his brother couldn’t.
“Robbie Sims says he’s the policeman who will stop anyone trying to get to Hagler,’’ Duran told a UPI reporter. “Well, I’m the general who is going to put him in jail. He’ll have to call his brother to get him out.” He continued, “I should have never gone ahead with the Hearns fight. I just never got myself into shape. I got a late start in training and then I had some problems along the way. It turned out that I had to lose too much weight in too short a period of time. I felt totally drained when I went into the ring. I had nothing left to hold Hearns off. I was a defenseless fighter. This time, I won’t be so stupid. I’ll be training the right way now. I know what’s at stake this time. Robbie Sims had better be ready. I’m coming to fight.’’
In the scorching desert heat in the open air at Caesar’s Palace, Sims came out throwing bombs, but near the end of the first round Duran stunned him with a left hook and sent him back to his corner with blood trickling down his left cheek. He had learned that it still didn’t pay to take Duran for granted. For the next few rounds, Sims racked up points and even opened a cut inside Duran’s mouth, and by the fourth the veteran was gasping for air.
But in the sixth, Duran took charge. He held the centre of the ring, jabbed sharply, then made Sims hold on after a left hook and a big right. A sizeable egg formed under Sims’s left eye and by the seventh, Duran was in full cry, banging in punches