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A GOLDEN NIGHT IN PANAMA
Thursday 19 September 2002
Fighting in front of a fanatical home crowd at Panama City's La Macarena 17 year-old firebrand Roberto Duran made a victorious start to his professional boxing career tonight, defeating Argentina's Carlos Canete by a comprehensive unanimous decision (60-52 on all three cards). Duran more than lived up to the reputation he's garnered through an amateur career within his homeland and an eye-popping display at the International Boxing League's selection trials.
Duran dominated his clearly outclassed opponent, controlling the opening four rounds before putting an exclamation point on his efforts with knockdowns in the 5th and 6th rounds. Duran was like some sort of human wrecking machine, pounding the hapless Argentinian with hard lefts and rights. Duran landed 225 of 717 punches (.314), Canete just 69 of 155 (.445). The Panama native's corner had implored referee Enzo Montero to bring an end to the contest earlier as it was obvious by the end of round three that Canete was out of Duran's league. Showing little excitement, Duran nevertheless acknowledged the audience's applause after the verdict had been announced. He said later that it was a great experience fighting in front of his fellow countrymen but it would have been silly for him to celebrate such a one-sided win.
"I was expected to win," shrugged Duran. "I did, so it's not a big deal. I always have respect for my opponents and Canete showed a lot of courage to make it to the final bell. He deserves admiration for that."
Despite the limitations of his opponent Duran's efforts confirmed that he'll be one of the real contenders when this Lightweight World Championship tournament reaches its business end. Fans of the IBL would do well to keep watching as he makes his way through these regional qualifiers.
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UNDERCARD HIGHLIGHTS...
* Duran's fellow Panama native Ismael Laguna gave the crowd an unexpected and welcomed surprise when he upset highly-regarded Nicaraguian fighter Alexis Arguello in the evening's Co-Feature. Many IBL observers believe Arguello can go all the way to the Lightweight World Championship bout but tonight he was outfought by a more determined, hungry opponent. Arguello came out swinging for the fences in round one but Laguna displayed a calm disposition to avoid many of his offensive raids, outlanding him in the stanza despite throwing only a third as many punches.
Arguello took control of the bout in the 2nd and kept it into the 3rd. The lanky teenager was showing the type of firepower that had earnt him the nickname of "The Explosive Thin Man" but in round four the contest took a severe turn when Laguna dropped Arguello with a wild overhand right near the two minute mark. Arguello made it to the bell despite absorbing a jolting uppercut just moments before it but found himself on the canvas again late in the 5th courtesy of a right rip to the ribs. Arguello had been winning the round to that point and as he returned to his corner at its end he could only shake his head, unable to comprehend what was happening.
The final round was an absolute cracker, the two combatants going toe-to-toe for much of it, Laguna having the better of the three minutes. When the verdict was announced he fell to his knees triumphantly as he was awarded a 58-55, 56-56, 57-56 majority decision victory. The crowd erupted with jubilation, Laguna carried around on his cornermen's shoulders like he'd just been crowned World Champion. Arguello was gracious in defeat, congratulating Laguna before departing the ring to allow him to bask in his glory.
There have been a number of upsets through this opening series of IBL bouts. Most of them have involved Olympic medallists and while Arguello doesn't fall into that category Laguna's victory must be included as one of the bigger surprises of series one.
* Clearly outclassed and trailing on all three cards, Venezuela's Ernesto Espana scored an abrupt 5th round KO victory over his heavily-favoured fellow countryman Leonel Hernandez earlier on the card. It was a single right cross that scrambled Hernandez's circuits and sent him down in a heap for the full count 38 seconds into the round. All three judges had Hernandez leading 40-36 after round four as he had outlanded Espana 142-61 to that point.
No doubt, this will go down as a missed opportunity for Hernandez, who is considered one of the better bets to join Laguna, Arguello and Duran in the World Championship tournament from this South American group.
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