Former world champ fears ‘horrible fight’

Press, 5 December 1989, Page 56

Former world champ fears ‘horrible fight’

NZPA-Reuter Las Vegas A former three-time world champion, Alexis Arguello, wants to see a classy fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran on Friday (N.Z. time), but he is not sure he will get his wish. Arguello said yesterday he believes the two fighters might hate each other too much for them to be at their best when Leonard puts his World Boxing Council super middleweight title on the line in a scheduled 12-round outdoor fight. “I’m afraid for a horrible fight. I want to see a classy thing, but I’m afraid you’re going to see head butts and all those things,” Arguello said. “What worries me is the hate.”

The thoughtful Arguello, who was a classy fighter with power and wonderful boxing skills which took him to titles as a featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight in the late 1970 s and early 1980 s said, “you perform better when you put hatred aside. Hatred never works. “Remember the hatred involved in this fight,” Arguello said. “The ice man will win.”

Asked about the 38-year-old Duran’s cancellation of a workout yesterday, Arguello shook his head and said Duran needed the work before he fought Leonard, aged 33, in his bid to win the rubber match of their rivalry and to erase the stigma of quitting in the eighth round of their last fight in 1980. Arguello dismissed the explanation from Duran’s supporters that the Panamanian, who practically

sleepwalked through a workout which included three rounds of sparring on Sunday, was already at 160 pounds (72.58 kg) and therefore did not need to work out yesterday. “It’s dangerous to take a day off. You have to stay in shape. The human body loses (some conditioning) in 24 hours,” Arguello said. Arguello also criticised Duran for having too much control in his camp.

“A fighter shouldn’t tell a trainer what to do or when he will work out,” he said, adding that Duran did not have experienced sparring partners.

“He’s been sparring with people who are afraid of him. They were nothing,” said Arguello, who saw Duran work against his sparring partners recently.

Arguello, who lost to Aaron Pryor in November, 1982, and again 10 months later in a bid to win the welterweight title and become the first to win four titles in different weight divisions, refused to join the bandwagon in praising Duran’s remarkable loss of more than 30 pounds (13.6 kg) since July, including 14 pounds (6.35 kg) in the last five to six weeks.

“Losing all that weight so quickly makes it more difficult to absorb punches and recover ... it makes you weak,” Arguello said. “I was knocked down (when I fought) but I could absorb and shake off the punch in less than 10 seconds because I was in shape,” he said.

One former fighter, who did not want to be named, said he had clasped Duran round the bicep recently and the muscle and skin were too fleshy, not tight. “Duran as a lightweight was the greatest. He had speed. He was a great fighter. He made you miss a punch and then counter,” Arguello said.

The soft-spoken native of Nicaragua, who turns nearly rapturous in describing how “beautiful it is seeing a man blocking punches with his hands,” is on the fence in predicting the winner. “In my heart I’d love to pick Duran. As a Latin I would like to see a five-time champion (if Duran wins). But I cannot forget Leonard’s ability ...” “Duran is a better fighter inside, but Leonard is a better boxer,” Arguello said.