Hands of Stone - Christian Giudice [169]
Many benefited from Duran’s spectacular Robin Hood complex. “A close friend of Duran’s once told me that Duran would bring $14,000 every time he went back to his old neighborhood,” said local promoter and manager Carlos Gonzalez. “And those people never forgot. They loved him. He would just go through the streets handing out money. It was amazing.”
Many also say Felicidad gambled away much of their fortune. “She lost much money,” said Plomo. “There were times when the National Police, the Comandos, the highest rank officers, would go to the casinos where she used to gamble. He would sometimes mention this but his love for her is so big. She was spending lots of money, twenty-five thousand dollars, fifteen thousand dollars, a lot of money. But he learned to cope with this. She took advantage of his love for her because she could get hold of the money in the bank. She would withdraw money and spend it freely.”
People in Panama love to speculate how much Felicidad lost at the tables. The responses range from “a lot” to the Panamanian term for broke, “limpio.” When Duran was making $8 million for eight rounds in the Leonard rematch, he never expected the cash flow to stop. When Duran had a Panamanian bigwig break into an account worth $2 million that Eleta had opened for him after the Leonard debacle, he figured he could double that in the third fight that came a decade later. Athletes rarely think that their time will wind down and their gifts will slowly disappear. According to many associated with the family, when Felicidad had money, it was a good guess where she was heading.
“She spends a lot of money,” said Mike Acri. “She likes to shop. I don’t know if that affected Duran. They are still together and it is some form of relationship that has strength and endurance. At times they would fight and if he tried to interfere or get into something, they would have a problem. She didn’t interfere in the boxing. I like her.
“Once I said to her and Plomo, because I was pissed off at Duran, the insurance policy was seven million and I said we should shoot him when he’s doing roadwork. Then we could split the money. After two seconds, I was like, ‘I’m just kidding.’ But Plomo looks over and says, ‘That’s not enough.’”
Fight doctor Ferdie Pacheco, who remembered the up-and-coming prospect at the Fifth Street Gym in Miami, was less forgiving of what many considered Duran’s ultimate fault. “People like him are either broke or have got a lot of money. They can’t hold a dime. He was a puma inside the ring and a manchild outside of it. He couldn’t hold money and whatever he had his wife gambled away.”
Carlos Eleta didn’t blame the gambling. “All the family tried to intervene in the financial affairs. It wasn’t just Felicidad. Even without her, he would have lost that money anyway. Even before he was champ, he wanted to be like Robin Hood and give his money to the poor. [Felicidad] was in the picture from the beginning. She was a good influence and was good to try to keep him away from other women.”
However in an August 1988 Ring interview, Eleta had a different perception. “When Duran got married to Felicidad, that was the beginning of all the problems. The father of Felicidad was always difficult. I used to control all the money that Duran earned but as Felicidad couldn’t touch any money, they forced Duran to turn against me. The father started to take care of the rent of the house. Then Felicidad started businesses. She also began gambling