Hands of Stone - Christian Giudice [19]
“Riasco’s brother said, ‘We’re going to knock you out,’ and right away there was some turbulence at the weigh-in,” said Duran. “Then Plomo tells Riasco, ‘You see the corner right there. That’s where we are going to knock you out.’ When the bell rings, Riasco jumps on me right away, and starts hitting me with everything that he has. The second round he breaks my nose, and I go back and tell Plomo that I can’t hit this guy because everything I throw he’s dodging it. The guy came from a very good boxing clinic; he could avoid all punches.”
Duran had learned a few tricks of his own. “I tell Plomo that I’m going to get him now,” said Duran. “He was standing there with his right hand forward and his left hand back. I fake Riasco out and the guy comes in, and opens up a little bit. When he does this, I hit him with a right uppercut. The uppercut had so much strength behind it that he falls over the top rope right in the corner where Plomo said I would knock him out. We were fighting for a club championship that day and you could have counted to a thousand and he wouldn’t have gotten up. It was such a good fight that the gym was packed and during that time the amateur fights drew more than the professionals.”
It was an unforgettable encounter that made waves among the local reporters. “During this great fight, Buenaventura Riasco was leading at the beginning because Duran was a bit anxious,” said Plomo. “Duran was not afraid; it was not fear. As it happens, the very nervous system sometimes fails. At the end, when there was only one round left, I went up to Duran and told him that if he wanted to win he had to use his right hand. So during the third round, Duran hit hard with his right hand and sent Riasco to the corner, at the very corner I had told Riasco he was going to end up.
“It was a great night, as if God had enlightened us. I was really moved. Well, to be a good trainer you also need the capacity to be moved, so as to be able to strengthen your boxer. I believe this is my special gift that I am able to be touched, and to feel that I am also fighting. So, I am able to feel anything that happens to my boxer, to communicate with him with my mind if he fails in any way, and to tell him what to do.”
Many who witnessed the bout felt that the Riasco knockout was the defining moment when Duran switched from being a boxer-puncher to an insouciant brawler, throwing punches at anything that moved. Though the businessman Carlos Eleta was nowhere to be seen, Duran had sent a clear message: “When I knocked him out I pointed to the corner, and said, ‘There’s your shit, where’s Eleta now?’”
ONE THING about Duran, he could punch. “I remember when Roberto hit this kid with a shot to the chest and it was thought that he nearly killed the guy,” wrote Papi Mendez of La Critica. He loved to have confirmation of his fuerza, his force, and would even test it on family members. “I would not get into the ring with him, just to prevent my getting hit by him,” said his stepfather, Victorino. “Once he was training at El Maranon when I got there. I was standing close to ringside and he got down and while walking past me he gave me a strong blow. And then he asked me, ‘Was it a strong blow? Was it strong?’”
Many wondered where the power came from. Some claimed he inherited his thunderous right hand from his uncle Socrates Garcia from Guarare, who could break coconuts with his fists. “Socrates was my cousin,” said Clara. “He used to fight a lot. Once we were in Guarare and my cousin was angry. He then saw a horse and decided to hit him. He struck him so hard that the horse was stunned.”
Margarito, Duran’s father, was another large man with a big punch. Others claimed that his grandfather, Felix Moreno, who