It was June 15, 1984 and the boxing world was at a standstill as Roberto Duran squared off against Thomas Hearns. Known as the ?hands of stone,? Duran was expected to put up a good fight or even beat the freakish Hearns, who stood above six feet and possessed menacing punching power.
But what I and many expected to be a competitive fight ended in a massacre, with Duran annihilated in the second round after hitting the deck twice as the first round faded. It was the first time Duran was really stopped in a fight.
The then 25-year old Hearns made good use of this 11-inch reach and 5.5-inch height advantage, making Duran, then 32, look like a little schoolboy getting bullied.
How I wished I never watched that fight as I rooted for Duran.
On June 7, 1996, Julio Cesar Chavez faced 3-1 underdog Oscar Dela Hoya, then one of the up-and-coming boxers from the lightweight (135 pounds) division. The fight was Chavez?s 100th while dela Hoya was fighting only for the 22nd time.
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Play Although Dela Hoya was entering the junior welterweight (140 pounds) fight the lightweight champion, he was taller at 5?10? to Chavez?s 5?7? and was younger by 10 years. Chavez was 33 then.
Like many boxing fans, Chavez was expected to win but as one boxing writer said after the bout, dela Hoya made Chavez look like he was having his first and not 100th bout.
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Chavez was also the defending champion and I expected him to be better adjusted at 140 pounds than Dela Hoya.
The fight was stopped in the fourth round after Chavez sustained multiple lacerations on his face. And the boxing writer who said Chavez looked like he was in fighting for the first time, instead of the 100th time, may be right, as the Mexican had no answer against Dela Hoya?s long-range bombs.
I was rooting for Chavez and wished he would avenge his loss in a rematch. The two fought for the second time in September 1998 at welterweight with Chavez putting up a better fight but getting stopped in the eighth round.
And how I wished I never watched the first Chavez-Dela Hoya fight.
The Duran-Hearns and Chavez-Dela Hoya fight can provide good lessons on why size and age are big factors that cannot be ignored in elite-level fights. And with today?s weigh in rules where fighters are weighed two days before a bout, the bigger guy has the advantage of packing more weight in the next 48 hours or so, given his larger frame.
So what am I batting at? Manny Pacquiao is now being tipped to face a younger, stronger and bigger Errol Spence Jr. after the latter decisioned the smaller Mikey Garcia two weekends ago.
Pacquiao is 5?6.5? while Spence is 5?9.5?, and the American holds a 5-inch reach advantage over our compatriot. Spence is 29 and Pacquiao is already 40.
While I do not believe Pacquiao would easily be blown away by Spence should they fight, I held the belief that Duran would beat Hearns in 1984 and Chavez would give Dela Hoya a boxing lesson in 1996. Sure, I was not yet a boxing analyst when both fights happened, but Duran and Chavez were the sentimental favorites to win or at least put up a good fight against Hearns and dela Hoya, respectively. And Duran and Chavez both got blown away.
This early, I have to say that I fear Pacquiao facing Spence as the latter also showed a degree of disrespect toward our compatriot when he said he would hand over Pacquiao his retirement check. I never heard Dela Hoya disrespect Chavez in the run-up to their first, but he threw away whatever respect the Mexican deserved as a legend after the bell rang.
Spence also relishes getting another million-dollar paycheck if he faces Pacquiao. The American pocketed $3 million in beating Garcia.
Sure, I am still holding on the thought that Pacquiao may be able to pull off a victory over Spence given his unbelievable level of fitness for a fighter his age. But does that mean Spence will not train like hell to make sure he keeps his unblemished record against Pacquiao?
I will surely watch Pacquiao vs Spence should it materialize. But I wish I will never say to myself after the bout: ?I wished I never watched the fight.?
