Legendary boxer Roberto Duran visits Texas A&M University-Commerce
Oct. 12—By David Claybourn
Herald-Banner Sports Editor
COMMERCE — He was a feared fighter in the ring with the nickname "Hands of Stone."
But former world champion boxer Roberto Duran showed his charm during a visit to the campus of Texas A&M University-Commerce on Tuesday.
Duran met with the local press and then addressed a crowd of students at the Rayburn Student Center. He shared stories of his tough upbringing in Panama, how he got into boxing, about some of his memorable fights and offered some advice for young boxers.
"My most memorable fight was when I fought Ken Buchanan," said Duran through his interpreter, his daughter, Irichelle. "It went 15 rounds. Ken Buchanan was a very tough opponent."
Duran won a 15-round unanimous decision over Buchanan at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1972 to win the WBA lightweight championship.
He went on to win championship belts as a welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight and has been called by some experts as the greatest lightweight boxer in history.
Duran retired in 2001 at the age of 50 with a record of 103 wins and 16 losses with 70 victories by knockout.
He was asked to describe his boxing style.
"He would adjust to the other fighter," said his daughter. "Offense and defense. If he felt like he was fighting a brawler he would adjust. So if he would see like the other fighter was out of gas that's when he would go in relentlessly and attack."
What advice would he give a young fighter?
"Very simple. When you're coming up you're going to have lots of friends. Good and bad. Surround yourself with a good crowd. The ones that are coming up with you when you're a young child.
"When you're becoming famous you're going to have lots of bad friends and they're going to make you do bad things. You have to throw that away and stay with the good friends. Surround yourself with good people. I make many mistakes in my life. But now I'm always with my family, my kids, my grandkids, my friends. I used to go out a lot and now I stay home."
He grew up in a small house in El Chorrillo in Panama with a large family.
"I became a boxer by mistake. I thought I was going to be a wrestler," he said.
He followed an older brother into boxing.
He talked about two memorable fights he had with American Sugar Ray Leonard. Duran said he was well prepared for the first fight, which he won by unanimous decision but was not prepared for the rematch, which he lost after he declined to continue in the eighth ground. He said he got word of the rematch with only a month to prepare.
Now that he's retired does he follow boxing?
"He said that he doesn't like watching boxing nowadays that he'd rather watch soccer," said his daughter.
He listed his favorite soccer teams as Barcelona and Manchester.
When asked if he watched the last World Cup in soccer, Duran made a joke about "the cup that I drink."
Does he have any other interests?
"The beach," said his daughter, drawing laughter in the room. "He likes to help people as well because (he) never had anything when he was growing up. So now that he's older he likes to help."
A film crew has been following Duran around on stops around the world for a reality TV series called "On the Road with Hands of Stone Roberto Duran."
