Quote Originally Posted by TitoFan View Post
I think Duran accepted the rematch under conditions he probably wouldn't have chosen himself. Had this occurred in today's boxing, a lot more posturing and hemming and hawing would've happened. Five months always seemed like a short time, given the circumstances. Duran himself said he had let the first victory get to his head, and he ballooned up in weight. I can't believe he was close to 200 pounds, like it was said in the documentary. But I don't doubt he let the good life get to him inmensely. He was partying with the rest of Panama, and wasn't giving the rematch much of a thought.

None of this is to excuse Duran, however. Leonard made it his mission to get that thorn off his side. And he came in with a better gameplan than he had for the first fight, where he seemed overwhelmed by the event itself.

All this goes to show that boxing at its best is an extremely psychological, mental sport.

I still think the documentary was great. Not that it will win any Golden Globes.... but just seeing the old footage from the fights, hearing Howard Cossell calling the fights, hearing what people from both the U.S. and Panama had to say about the 2nd fight..... and seeing Leonard and Duran in the ring after getting old..... that was plenty for me. I'm not much into critiquing the technical aspects of sports documentaries, especially done on subjects rarely done before.
In most sports, particularly a sport where you are the one and only competitor a lot of your preparation is mental. (see tennis players and golfers, they tighten up and even choke big time in matches or tournaments) You can train the house down, you do all the physical stuff, but if you are not right in the head come fight night then wham bam thank you maam, your lights can go out...no matter who you are!
Duran was far from being switched on come fight number 2, his ego and temperament got the better of him, what people must realise here is this. Throughout the 70's the most dominant fighters from 135lb to 160lb were not Americans.
Duran, Napoles and Monzon were the Kings of their divisions for most of the decade, nobody really knew who they were outside of boxing circles. They were not major draw cards in the USA. All of a sudden Duran beats Leonard in what is probably the biggest fight outside of a Heavyweight title fight in history at the time...he wins and it goes to his head.
Somebody once said The Latin temperament is “Hot,” wide eyed and accentuated with drama, which makes pouring a cup of coffee feel like a grand finale.
Duran would earn $1.5 million, by far his biggest payday ever, while Leonard stood to make between $7.5 million and $10 million. Now if i was Roberto Duran i would be mightily pissed off about that monetary difference considering he had been fighting for the previous 12 years! No wonder he was angry at Leonard going into the fight. He receives his biggest payday but still falls 5 times short of his opponent?
Leonard would receive the $3.5 million paid by the Olympic Installations Board to stage the fight, plus all the money for the delayed home television broadcast rights—between $500,000 and $800,000. Leonard would also get 80% of the $500,000 to $700,000 from the sale of foreign TV rights, with the promoters getting the rest. Finally, Leonard would receive 80% of the closed-circuit TV revenues—with the promoters getting the remaining 20%—after the first $2.5 million of those revenues came off the top. From that $2.5 million, Duran would get his $1.5 million, and the remaining $1 million would go to the promoters to cover expenses. All in all, the package virtually assured Leonard more than $7.5.

Money wise Leonard was the winner before a punch was thrown, Duran was angry that night, he was motivated beyond belief. As Duran was entering the ring, Joe Frazier, who was ringside for the fight, was asked by New York Times columnist Dave Anderson if Duran reminded him of anybody. It was a leading question, for Anderson thought that Duran's ferocity would remind Frazier of himself. "Yeah," Frazier replied. "He reminds me of Charles Manson." Check out Leonard at the ref's mid ring instructions, he looks uneasy, he looks tentative, he's looking for a way out of this mess he has gotten himself into. The only thing that saved Sugar Ray Leonard was his own extraordinary ability, what he didn't expect was the ferocity of what stood before him in Montreal.
With the monetary situation reveresd in New Orleans sadly that ferocity had dissipated.

The official weigh-in was at noon on the day of the fight. At 1:00 p.m., Duran ordered a whole cow and ate lunch: two large T bone steaks, French fries, four large glasses of orange juice, two glasses of water, and a cup of tea. At 5:00 p.m. Duran ate half a steak and drank tea. Leonard had a large breakfast on the day of the fight: two eggs and grits, two pieces of toast, peaches, and Kool-Aid. For dinner, at 4:00 p.m., Leonard had fried chicken, green peas, a glass of water, and Kool-Aid.

I reckon i would have stomach cramps too after all that.

Leonard was prepared for the 2nd fight, Duran was in "Maximum Homerdrive"