Hands of Stone - Christian Giudice [59]
“It wasn’t an act. He used to be a mean little guy when he was younger,” said Kronk trainer Emanuel Steward. “But that’s what made him who he was, that rage. You couldn’t take that away from him. But he mellowed with age. He’s such a nice guy and you can just see that in his body language, he just likes to be around people.”
The rage hid sensitivity. Duran put up walls that only a select few could get beyond. One of the barriers was a refusal to learn English. The belief was that he didn’t want people to misinterpret him. Ironically, the situations in his life that left him damaged were also the easiest to talk about. Duran doesn’t clam up about his feelings for his father and refuses to hide his feeling of abandonment. Yet he never received a satisfactory answer for why his father didn’t love him enough to look after him, and they would never become close.
“One night I was done fighting once and we all went to have drinks at Caesar’s Palace,” said Duran. “My dad was drunk and he started dancing. He fell! So he has to go to the room, but I had no clothes so I gave him my boxing robe. Later on, when he wouldn’t call back, I thought that he didn’t want to talk to me or maybe his wife talked to him so that he didn’t contact me. But I don’t want to know anything about that family anymore.”
After the Ayala fight, Duran knocked out Gerardo Ferrat on April 14 in Panama City in another over-the-weight match. Ferrat, another Mexican, had fought the best in the division but spent a sizeable part of the fight looking into the referee’s eyes, as he was dropped three times before succumbing to a straight right hand in the final moments of the second round. “Ferrat came out with the determination of swapping punches, and Rocky didn’t hesitate in answering the call,” described Ring magazine succinctly.
Next came a true test. Duran’s second title defense was against Australian aborigine Hector Thompson, who had never boxed outside his native country but who was unbeaten in his last twenty-six contests. “Hector was a legend in Australia,” said Eleta. “They didn’t believe that anyone could beat him. Supposedly, he killed a man in the ring or something like that. The guy was a killer.” In 1970, Rocco Spanja had died in hospital after losing to Thompson.
Born in Kempsey, a river settlement on the Pacific coast midway between Sydney and Brisbane, Thompson was raised in a boys’ home after the death of his mother. He was introduced to boxing there at just five years of age, and developed into a skilled and very strong fighter who could box, stay poised in heated exchanges and was adept at beating opponents to the jab. An Australian champion at two weights, he had just won the Commonwealth light-welterweight title and had lost only twice, both early in his career, in forty-three pro bouts.
The bout was held in Nuevo Panama on 2 June 1973. Duran came in at 134 pounds, a pound less than Thompson, who often fought at the slightly heavier light-welterweight. At the weigh-in Duran had predicted a knockout within five rounds but it was soon clear that the rugged Australian was both strong and smart and would be no pushover. Duran stung him with a right to the ribs and an overhand right to let him know whose turf he was on.
Duran broke down Thompson early in the second round with a left hook to the head, and then landed four straight head shots to end the round. Thompson tried to counter but with no success as a patient Duran ducked and swayed with marvelous economy while maintaining his forward drive. Every move, every punch followed a precise pattern, as if he had orchestrated every second in his mind in training.
The fight wasn’t without its oddities. Four times after rounds ended, Duran walked to Thompson’s corner instead of his own. Duran seemed stupefied by his own actions. The confusion didn’t halt his attack as he knocked down Thompson with seconds remaining in the third round. After a mandatory eight count, Thompson walked into another big left hook before the bell sounded. Using