Colorado the 5,000 or
so fight fans in attendance
were there to see two boxing legends do their
"thing". Their (Roberto Duran and Hector Camacho) "thing" is
fight.By STEPHEN S. JOHNSON
DENVER, CO. (INSIDE BOXING) - Saturday night in Denver,
Colorado the 5,000 or
so fight fans in attendance
were there to see two boxing legends do their
"thing". Their (Roberto Duran and Hector Camacho) "thing" is
fight.
Anyone disappointed in the pay-per-view bout between the two future Hall-of-Fame boxers was not really paying attention to what was going on. The fight was billed "When Legends Collide".
Camacho entered the ring first. Dancing to Carlos Santana and in full Indian headdress he reminded the crowd where Prince Naseem Hamed got his grand entrances. Duran soon followed the Camacho lead by unbelievably dancing to hip-hop artist Mystikal. The crowd loved it and cheered loudly for Duran (the hero) while lustily booing Camacho (the villain).
Legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer, he of the timeless good looks, never fails to get the crowd revved up in anticipation of two athletes going head-to-head. The legends were ready to collide.
For twelve rounds the 50 year old Roberto Duran held and clinched but never gave any indication he would quit. For twelve rounds the 39 year old Hector Camacho moved and punched in brief flurries.
Are there many fighters aged 50 and 39 that could go twelve rounds? Are there many 50 and 39 year old fighters that could attract a crowd of 50 much less 5,000 to see them do battle? Probably not.
This bout was what it was billed as. Legends colliding are not going to embark on an epic war battle. This was a chance for many to see two fighters that, in their prime, could handle just about any of the top fighters in the world.
Camacho feels he still has two or three more good fights left in him. Duran feels if Camacho can't knock him out, who can? The warrior in both still resides. They are no different than most other athletes.
There were many father-son combinations in the crowd Saturday night. As is the case when any legend comes to town, Dad relives moments he can share with his son as to the greatness of the legends involved.
That is what this was all about. Having expectations for anything more was rather foolish and short sighted. If you expected to see a fight to the death, forget it! These two cagey veterans were too smart to get any serious injury.
Duran in particular should relish being the overwhelming crowd favorite in Denver and make this his retirement swan song. Camacho should and probably will end his boxing career in front of a crowd chanting his name throughout the fight in the very near future.
The final judges tally had Camacho winning a unanimous decision with scores of 118-108, 118-108 and 114-112. Camacho's record now stands at 75-4, 36 KO's while Duran now drops to 104-16, 69 KO's.
As the two exited the ring Saturday night in Denver, loud cheers rang out for Duran while louder boos followed Camacho. Those two wouldn't have had it any other way.
THE UNDERCARD
In what was the best fight of the night, Ann Wolfe of
Austin, Texas stopped
Diane Clark of Torrance, California when Clark was unable to answer the bell for
the fifth of a scheduled 6 round bout. The two middleweight fighters fought for
4 exciting rounds that saw the dominant power and sharp punches of Wolfe wear
down Clark. Wolfe improved to 9-1, 6 KO's while Clark fell to 7-3, 4 KO's.
Oba Carr of Detroit, Michigan won a somewhat controversial decision over Norberto Sandoval of Durango, Mexico in a 10 round welterweight bout. Sandoval seemed unable or unwilling to get into any serious exchanges with Carr. Staying outside and landing hard body shots allowed Carr to improve to 53-4, 31 KO's and Sandoval to drop to 24-5, 10 KO's.
Demetrius Hopkins, nephew of middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania defeated Abdul Blackburn of Columbus, Ohio in what was the only mismatch of the night, a Jr. welterweight bout scheduled for 8 rounds. Hopkins stopped Blackburn in the 3rd after absorbing tremendus body and head shots. Hopkins improved to 8-0, 3 KO's while Balckburn dropped to 3-6, 2 KO's.