After his defeat of Davey Moore on June 16, 1983 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Roberto Duran looked for the biggest payday possible. He found it with Marvin Hagler, $1.5 million to challenge the undisputed middleweight champ on November 10 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
For me personally, it meant a trip to the Hyatt Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey to watch the bout on closed-circuit TV. I made a trip to the hotel a few weeks before the fight to buy my ticket, and while there got a chance to meet the great Alexis Arguello, who was in town to promote the broadcast. He was kind and gracious, and I took the opportunity to get a picture taken with him, and got an autograph as well. Quite frankly, it was the highlight of the event for me.
The fight itself was forgettable for a few reasons. The ballroom at the hotel where the fight was shown on big screens was cramped, and uncomfortable. I could barely breathe the whole night, and I couldn’t wait for the 15 round decision win for Hagler to end. Marvin gave Duran way too much respect, and let him stick around way too long. While Duran did well, this nonsense that he actually won is ridiculous, since he could never hurt Hagler or bully him on the ropes. Marvin finished the fight strong, and proved he was the far superior, bigger man.
Never afraid to fight anyone, Roberto signed to meet Thomas Hearns on June 15, 1984 at the Outdoor Arena at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Tommy had predicted a 2 round knockout of Duran during the promotional tour, and I for one believed he could do it.
It meant a trip to Liberty Bell Race Track outside of Philadelphia to catch the closed-circuit action that Friday night in June. After leaving my airline job a few hours early, I took my $15 seat on a bench inside the track to watch the bout on a TV, since they didn’t have any big screens set up. At least I could see it live, and when the first round bell rang, butterflies filled my stomach.
When Thomas dropped Duran with a picture perfect right hand in the first round, I leapt to my feet with excitement. He was toying with Duran, and overwhelming him with ease. Just before the first round ended, Duran hit the deck again, this time from a body shot.
The end came in the second, just as Hearns had predicted. It came when a spectacular right hand collided with Duran’s head, knocking him down and out. It remains my favorite knockout of all time, the sight of Duran falling face first from the Hearns missile of a right cross. Hearns had made his prediction come true, and the 30 mile drive home that night, was full of thoughts from the night filling my head.
Duran had fought two bigger men back to back, and had lost both times. However, after taking a break from the ring, he would return again in pursuit of more fights and more paydays.
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