Manos de Piedra
Roberto Duran was one of those special guys whose rise signified the high water mark of one of the greatest eras in boxing history around the 80’s. It’s fitting that author Christian Giudice traveled to Panama to produce an unparalleled biography on the subject of the fighter, entitled ‘Hands of Stone: The Life and Legend of Roberto Duran.’
From his early days selling newspapers and offering shoeshines to a stellar amateur career, Giudice retells the very ordinary origins of one of the greatest lightweights of all time. With the right manager and backing, Duran would capture multiple world titles across weight divisions, culminating in his pinnacle achievement of being the first man to defeat celebrated Olympian “Sugar” Ray Leonard in 1980.
For a man who lacked a true father figure, multiple individuals filled the void. In the early days of hustling as a child, a gypsy-vagabond named ‘Chaflan’ took several street kids, including Duran, under his wing. Chaflan might not have been wealthy or learned, but he showed the kind of loyalty that was endearing:
“He refused to abandon them when others had. Chaflan couldn’t replace Duran’s father, but he showed him he could accomplish anything he put his mind to.”
Later on, a trio of trainers including Plomo Quinones, Freddie Brown and Ray Arcel would prepare Duran for his bouts, providing leadership and motivation for his camps. Often, Duran would creep up in weight and party hard, thus requiring crafty solutions and tactics to get him to focus on the task at hand.
A final question posed by the author revolves around the estimated $45-$60 million dollars (US) in career earnings that dissipated into nothing. Today, Duran is broke, a predicament which might be owing to several factors including bad investments, excessive gambling by his wife, or the lecherous collection of hangers-on who sucked an over-generous Duran dry during his glory days.
Perhaps I would have enjoyed a little more history about the nation of Panama, including economic theories regarding neocolonialist interference– after all, this is why many countries in Latin America remain unable to bridge the gap between rich and poor. However, explaining the political situation might have required several separate volumes.
I recommend taking a look at Giudice’s work to see what we are missing out on today. Duran is unique, paradoxical at times, full of rage at others. But the footsteps where he once walked, achieving great things, are never to be repeated by any others. We can look back, but we cannot ever go back to the time when the ‘Fab Four’ ruled.
