Massimiliano Duran vs Anaclet Wamba II

In an entertaining fight, Anaclet Wamba won the World Boxing Council cruiserweight championship from Massimiliano Duran at the Stadio delle Palme in Palermo on July 20, 1991, when referee Arthur Mercante stopped the contest 42 seconds into the eleventh round. Duran had been bleeding heavily from a wound beside his right eye for almost the entire fight, and the stoppage came when the flow of blood became too severe for the champion to continue safely. Although some records describe Duran as retiring in his corner, contemporary reports state that Mercante intervened while the fighters were in action.

It was the second meeting between the two men and Duran’s second defence of the championship. The Italian had taken the title from Carlos De León in July 1990, winning by disqualification after De León struck him following the bell at the end of the eleventh round. Five months later, Duran defended against Wamba in Ferrara. That contest was rough and ill-tempered. Wamba was penalised repeatedly, losing five points for infringements before being disqualified late in the twelfth. The unsatisfactory ending made a return necessary, and the challenger came to Palermo determined to box with greater discipline.

The rematch changed almost immediately when Duran suffered a cut near the right temple during the opening round. Accounts differ over whether the wound resulted from a punch or an accidental clash, but it had opened before two minutes had passed and continued to trouble him throughout the evening. Blood ran down the side of his face and repeatedly entered his eye, obliging his corner to work on the injury between rounds. The difficulty was increased by the hot conditions at the outdoor stadium, which made an already demanding contest still more exhausting.

Duran nevertheless began with determination. He advanced behind a high guard, attempted to shorten the distance and looked to make the taller Wamba work at close quarters. The champion was the less polished boxer but possessed considerable physical strength and was willing to exchange. Wamba, standing approximately six feet three inches, used his longer reach to score with straight punches and then moved away before Duran could answer effectively. Unlike the first meeting, the challenger avoided the persistent fouling that had cost him the contest in Ferrara. He kept his punches straighter, maintained greater distance and allowed Duran to spend energy pursuing him.

Through the early and middle rounds, Duran remained competitive despite the injury. He continued pressing forward and had sufficient success to keep the result in doubt. Italian accounts maintained that he was ahead when the contest was stopped, although no complete set of official scores has been reliably preserved in the available reports. Wamba gradually became more effective as Duran’s vision deteriorated. He jabbed towards the damaged eye, followed with the right hand and tied the champion up when Duran managed to reach close quarters. The pattern was increasingly favourable to Wamba: Duran made the greater effort to force the fighting, but the challenger was landing the cleaner punches and causing further damage to the wound.

The contest became more difficult for Duran during the later rounds. His corner managed to control the bleeding temporarily between sessions, but the cut reopened whenever Wamba landed around the right side of the face. Duran’s forward movement slowed, and he was forced to wipe at the blood with his glove. Wamba remained composed and continued directing his attack towards the injury without becoming reckless. There were no recorded knockdowns, and Duran was not being overwhelmed in the ordinary sense, but his physical condition was worsening steadily.

When the eleventh began, the wound opened once more, and blood spurted from above the right eye. Mercante watched closely as Wamba resumed his attack, then stepped between the fighters after 42 seconds. Duran protested the interruption and appeared willing to continue, but his face and upper body were heavily marked with blood, and the referee had little practical alternative. The champion was subsequently given oxygen before leaving the ringside area, while the Palermo crowd applauded his resistance under difficult circumstances.

Wamba had therefore captured the championship at his second attempt, improving his record to 33 victories against two defeats. His victory was not as decisive as the bare technical-knockout result might suggest, for the cut had governed almost the whole contest and Duran had continued to compete while badly impaired. Even so, Wamba had fought a more controlled match than in Ferrara and had taken advantage of the champion’s difficulty without losing his discipline. The rivalry was not concluded. Duran received another opportunity in Paris five months later, but Wamba stopped him again in the eleventh round and remained WBC champion until 1994, making seven successful defences during his reign.