Hands of Stone - Christian Giudice [55]
The punch would live in infamy. “That” left hook thrown by DeJesus would be the first punch to expose a chink in Duran’s style. The perfectly placed shot put Duran on his backside early in the first round. Never before in a pro bout had Duran felt the canvas against his back. Stunned more than hurt, he rose at the count of six, shaking his head as if to say, okay, I felt that, now I’m awake and you will pay. Duran’s gut reaction was immediately to attack, but wading in without caution against DeJesus was regrettable, as he absorbed more punishment before returning to his corner. All three men in Duran’s corner were in constant motion at the bell, sponging, massaging, exhorting, cajoling.
With confidence rising, the polished DeJesus opened the second with a right to Duran’s chest followed by a left hook to his head. He began to control the flow of the fight, breaking through Duran’s defense with another jaw-numbing left hook in round four that made Duran stumble and nearly fall. He struck again a round later as an off-balance Duran stumbled into another powerful hook and had to clinch. Not only was DeJesus out-muscling the Panamanian, but he was using one of his own signature moves against him: a faked left followed by a quick, hard right.
Through the shouting of the largely pro-DeJesus crowd, Duran’s mother Clara, a rare sight at ringside, could be heard shrieking, “Throw the hook to the liver!” But the champion continued to get picked off. DeJesus stayed in a crouch and sprung from his toes with every punch as Duran pawed, frustrated at his impotence. Ringside broadcasters speculated that the champion’s lackluster performance might have something to do with him being five pounds heavier than for Buchanan.
With the bout slipping away, Duran was active enough to win round five, dancing, picking his angles and landing a solid uppercut, but it was a shortlived rally. An energized DeJesus danced in the sixth and seventh, overcame a low blow and jolted back Duran’s head with two left hooks, a punch he couldn’t miss with. Pawing at air with his little-used jab as a range-finder in the eighth round, Duran finally connected with some quality right hands that DeJesus would quickly shake off. In desperation, Duran landed punches after the bell, his blood boiling at the prospect of a loss. He would not get another opening.
The voice of Luis Henriquez could be heard between rounds urging Duran to come alive. It was too late. Although Duran was energized in the ninth round, he lost his way in the tenth, fruitlessly chasing his elusive opponent. To drive home his supremacy, DeJesus nailed Duran with a final clean hook. Even while Duran’s handlers took off his gloves, he pawed at DeJesus with his right hand. Reluctantly he then shook his opponent’s hand.
In the non-title affair, judges Harold Lederman had it 6-3-1, Bill Recht 6-2-2 and Arthur Mercante 5-4-1, all to DeJesus. The Puerto Rican from the Town of the Arm Hackers jumped up and down in his corner with his hands to the sky. Few in the 9,144 crowd could argue that Duran deserved his first defeat in thirty-two pro outings.
The Panamanian media, already developing a love-hate relationship with Duran, quickly picked up on stories that he had been enjoying the nightclub scene a little too exuberantly. On November 21, reporter Macume Argote wrote a piece entitled, “Duran needs to learn how to box.” Another local reporter, Tomy Cupas, added, “Duran had his mind on other things in Madison Square Garden.” It had been noted in the Panamanian press that “before the trip the Duran camp denied the rumors of the little Hercules having relations with certain lunatics that he had been seen with on the isthmus.”
If former world champ Jose Torres was right in his assessment that all fighters know when they have not done enough conditioning, then Duran couldn’t fool himself. He left the ring in his shiny green robe and took out his frustration on the bathroom walls of his hotel. His bloodied hands reminded him of his dispassionate performance.