Roberto Duran tells the real story behind the ‘No mas’ bout

[blackrican23]

Why did he quit? And did he actually say "No mas" - no more - after throwing in the towel?

Those questions have haunted Roberto Duran, his fans and boxing observers since he infamously, and seemingly inexplicably, quit his Nov. 25, 1980, rematch vs. Sugar Ray Leonard in New Orleans with 16 seconds left in the eighth round.

The Panamanian pugilist dominated as a lightweight in the 1970s, then moved up to the welterweight division to challenge Leonard, the then-undefeated 147-pound WBC champion, on June 20, 1980.

In what was billed "The Brawl in Montreal," Duran captured the welterweight crown by unanimous decision.

A fall rematch that was insisted upon by Duran's manager, Panamanian businessman Carlos Eleta, was doomed from the start, Duran tells Viva.

"That was the mistake he made," Duran, 65, says of Eleta, who died in 2013 at age 94. "I beat Leonard, and then I got really fat. I had to lose too much weight, I got cramps… I didn't have strength for anything.

"Eleta was supposed to give me way, way, way more time to prepare myself the right way," he adds. "I was too fat."

Duran, on whom the upcoming film "Hands of Stone" is based, goes on to explain what went through his mind before he quit the fight - a bout in which he wasn't hurt and had only been losing 67-66 on one judge's scorecard and 68-66 on the other two judges' cards.

Well, (Leonard) beat me," he says. "Fighting (that night), I think I said in my mind, 'Well, I lose, and when the rematch comes, I'll prepare better and beat him again.'

"But it never came," says Duran, who would wait nine years to face Leonard again, losing in a 12-round unanimous decision.

According to Duran, born in Panama to a Panamanian mother and Mexican-American father, the words "No mas" were never spoken by him to anyone following the bout.

When I lost the fight in the ring, I said, 'No sigo, no sigo, no sigo,'" says Duran, whose statement translates to repeatedly saying, "I'm not going any further," which he claims he mumbled to himself.

"And it looks like (broadcaster) Howard Cosell, who was below the ring, was the one who started saying that I was saying, 'No mas.'

"He's the one who came up with 'No mas,'" the ex-champ continued, adding that he feels that Cosell was pulling for Leonard.

Duran, whose rivalry with Leonard evolved into a friendship, was initially motivated to buy his mother, now 83, a house with his earnings from boxing after a childhood marked by abject poverty and paternal abandonment.

"I never thought that I was going to get anywhere," says the four-division champ, who won his last major title in 1989, when he upset Iran Barkley with a split decision for the WBC middleweight title.

I only got into boxing so that I could buy my mother a house, and when I bought my mother a house, I said, 'Well, this is as far as I go.' That's the best thing that I've done in my life, what I did for my mother.

"When I did that, I didn't feel like fighting anymore," adds Duran, who was co-trained by Plomo Quiñones and Ray Arcel, the latter played by Robert De Niro in "Hands of Stone."

"And then, my trainer, (Plomo), said, 'Don't be an idiot. Keep fighting; you can buy 20,000 more houses. You're going to have your house, your car, all of your own things.'

"He opened my head, and I kept fighting, thanks to Plomo."

http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/roberto-duran-tells-real-story-behind-no-mas-bou-article-1.2765921

[Mofo2]

Reading it...doesnt it just equate to the same thing...im quitting??

[GRIM]

Any way you word it he wanted "No more"

[Mofo2]

Precisely G' I guess he thinks now that a serious amount of time has passed we will just think "ohhhhhhh he never said it eh; must have been an injury"

[blackrican23]

he acknowledges he was fat overweight and cramped up and quit , he is just setting record straight that the fight titled "No Mas" ironically never had the words used, maybe it makes him feel better about it but he isnt saying he didnt quit which is the important thing 

[Mofo2]

Just comes across as excuses to me mate, ultimately he was comfortably beaten and the easiest way to try and pull the wool over peoples eyes is to talk about fitness levels and being overweight....dont fucking fight then!!

[blackrican23]

but in fairness the overweight stuff was true , when your fat  EVERYBODY sees it ,  Ray pushed rematch because of it , duran states he figured they would fight again so he took risk who turns down the payday .

manny and haye did same thing 

[mexfighter]

those two words, although they make sense, don't go together in spanish so there is no way he used them.

 

they make sense in english which means "no more" and thats why howard cossell said he said that.

[Mofo2]

Fuck offffff