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GUIDE TO MANNY PACQUIAO: HOW ARMSTRONG AND DURAN FARED WELL AS LIGHWEIGHT BOMBERS WHO FOUGHT MIDDLWEIGHT TERRORS By Alex P. Vidal PhilBoxing.com Sat, 06 Sep 2008   Armstrong (L) and Duran. Manny Pacquiao after all will not be the first world lightweight champion who has agreed to fight an opponent who has campaigned in the middleweight division like Oscar De La Hoya. Henry Armstrong (149-21, 101 KOs) actually first did the trick on March 1, 1940 when he fought Filipino world middleweight championa Ceferino Garcia (102-28, 67 KOs) in Los Angeles, California. The ambitious Armstrong, who captured the world lightweight bauble with a points win over Lou Ambers in New York City on August 17, 1938, however, could only manage to eke out a draw after 10 rounds against the durable Filipino wrecker who was credited for popularizing the "bolo punch." Before scaling the middleweight ladder, Armstrong lost his lightweight crown on points on the same venue on August 22, 1939 in a rematch with Ambers, who forfeited the title for his failure to defend it against top-ranked Davey Day. After the draw with Garcia, Armstrong decided to campaign in the welterweight division and his fight against Garcia, recognized as "world middleweight championship" only in California, was his first and last exposure in the middleweight division. Armstrong retired after losing a controversial 10-round decision to Chester Slider in Oakland, California on February 14, 1945. The "Hand of Stone" Roberto Duran (103-16, 70 KOs) of Panama followed suit. Duran first won his major crown as a lightweight on June 26, 1972 by capturing the World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight championship with a scintillating 13th round stoppage of Ken Buchanan in New York City. After posting nine title defenses, Duran abandoned the lightweight division after brutally putting away in the 12th round World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight titlist Esteban de Jesus on January 21, 1978 in Las Vegas, Nevada. As a welterweight, Duran easily made a major impact when he rolled past 1976 Montreal Olympics gold medalist Sugar Ray Leonard (36-3, 25 KOs) in 15 rounds to snatch the WBC welterweight title in Montreal, Canada on June 20, 1980. In a rematch on November 25, 1980 in New Orleans, however, Duran crashed back to earth with a thud when he turned his back and cried "no mas, no mas" (no more, no more) losing by 8th round technical knockout (TKO) to Leonard, who also fought as a lightweight in the Montreal Olympics. Sensing he wasn't destined for greatness in the welterweight division as long as Leonard was there, Duran invaded the light midleweight class and was ambushed via 15-round decision by Wilfred Benitez for the WBC belt on January 30, 1982 in Las Vegas, Nevada. After picking up the pieces of his embarassing loss to Benitez, Duran finally made his presence felt in his farewell outing in the light middleweight division on June 16, 1983 by wresting the World Boxing Association (WBA) jewels with a signature one-punch demolition of defending champion Davey Moore in New York City. Having restored his reputation, Duran relinquished the title to do a Henry Armstrong: invade the middleweight division then being lorded over by Marvelous Marvin Hagler (62-3, 52 KOs). Experts had warned Duran from "prematurely" entering the "lion's den." Three years earlier, while Duran was being booed and heckled by his compatriots for being "coward" when he went back to Panama after the "no mas, no mas" debacle, Hagler was making headlines all over the glob in defense of his undisputed world middleweight title: he blasted to bits in three rounds the famed Englishman Alan Minter in Wembley, England; massacred in 8th round Fully Obelmejias in Boston; tortured Vito Antuofermo in 4th round also in Boston; annihilated Mustafa Hamsho in 11th round in Rosemont; and swallowed whole Caveman Lee in one round in Atlantic City, New Jeresy. After Hagler turned back three more customers--Obelmejias in a rematch (TKO 5) in San Remo, Italy on Oct. 30, 1982; Tony Sibson (KO 6) in Worcester on February 11, 1983; and Wilford Scypion (KO 4) in Providence on May 27, 1983--a showdown with Duran became inevitable. On Novermber 10, 1983 in Las Vegas, Nevada, former world lightweight champion Duran was up against Hagler, the world undisputed middleweight ruler. Despite losing on points after 15 bruising rounds, Duran made a good account of himself by being the first challenger to halt the knockout binge of the amazing Hagler. After edging Duran, Hagler was back on his homicidal habit scoring four straight spectacular stoppage wins in defense of his title against Juan Domingo Roldan (KO 10) in Las Vegas; Hamsho in a rematch (TKO 3) in New York City; Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns (KO 3); and John "The Beast" Mugabi (KO 11) in Las Vegas. Hagler retired after losing a controversial split decision to Sugar Ray Leonard for the WBC middleweight title on April 6, 1987 in Las Vegas. On December 6, 2008 in Las Vegas, world lightweight champion Pacquiao (47-3, 35 KOs) will attempt to defy the odds and duplicate Armstrong and Duran when he goes up against six-time world champion De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs), a light middleweight and middleweight superstar, in the welterweight (147 lbs) class in a duel dubbed "It's Personal." The only difference though is that Pacquiao, unlike Duran who defended his lightweight crown several times before going up, fought only as a lightweight (135 lbs) once when he grabbed the WBC title from David Diaz on June 28 in Las Vegas. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Alex P. Vidal.  |
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