Roberto Duran vs Alvaro Rojas

For the ninth successive time, the World Boxing Association lightweight championship was defended by stoppage. The latest challenger lasted only two minutes and 17 seconds. At the Hollywood Sportatorium in Pembroke Pines, Florida, on October 15, 1976, Roberto Duran knocked out Alvaro Rojas in the first round of a contest scheduled for 15.

Duran entered the ring with a record of 57 victories and one defeat, the latter suffered against Esteban De Jesus in a non-title contest four years earlier and subsequently avenged. He weighed 134 pounds and was making the ninth defence of the championship he had taken from Ken Buchanan in 1972. Rojas, a Costa Rican from San Jose, weighed the lightweight limit of 135 pounds and was listed at 21 wins and 10 defeats. He had previously challenged Japan’s Guts Ishimatsu for the WBC championship, surviving until the 14th round before being knocked out. That experience offered some grounds for supposing that he might at least carry Duran into the later stages.

Such expectations did not survive the opening round. Rojas began by moving away and attempting to establish sufficient room to box, but Duran advanced behind a guarded, balanced stance and gave him little opportunity to settle. The champion did not rush blindly. He shortened the distance with small steps, placed punches to the body and brought his right hand over the top whenever Rojas remained within range. Rojas was soon being driven towards the ropes, where his movement became hurried and his attempts to hold merely delayed the pressure.

A succession of hard blows bloodied Rojas around the mouth and made him increasingly reluctant to stand his ground. Duran continued to work downstairs, forcing the challenger to lower his guard, before delivering the decisive sequence. A right hand to the body drew Rojas inward, and another right, driven to the head, sent him forward to the canvas. He fell face down and remained motionless while referee Carlos Berrocal completed the count. There had been no question of Rojas rising before ten, and he required attention after the stoppage.

The official time was 2 minutes 17 seconds of the first round. No judges’ scores were required, and the brevity of the contest left little room for tactical argument. Rojas had attempted to use movement, but he could neither keep the champion outside nor discourage his advance. Duran’s body punching, control of distance and ability to transfer his attack quickly from the ribs to the head settled the matter before the challenger had properly entered the fight.

The contest was promoted by Don King and formed part of a programme headed by the former heavyweight champion George Foreman, who stopped the previously unbeaten John “Dino” Denis in the fourth round. Duran’s performance was the shorter and more decisive of the two principal contests. It improved his record to 58 wins against one loss and continued a championship run in which every challenger to that point had been stopped. Rojas had gone 14 rounds in his earlier championship attempt, but against Duran he was allowed scarcely enough time to discover the size of the task.

I do not regard this as one of Duran’s great victories, because Rojas was never in his class, but it is a fine study of why the Panamanian was such a menace at lightweight. Rojas had previously gone 14 rounds with WBC champion Guts Ishimatsu, yet Duran took him apart in two minutes and 17 seconds.

People remember the aggression and the “Hands of Stone” reputation, but Duran did not simply charge forward throwing bombs. His feet carried him into punching range without compromising his balance. He applied pressure in small steps, worked the body and watched how Rojas reacted. Once the Costa Rican began retreating towards the ropes, the space disappeared very quickly.

The finish was classic Duran. He drove the right into the body, made Rojas bring his attention downstairs, then delivered another right to the head. Rojas fell face first and was counted out. That change of level was excellent punch selection, not crude aggression.

Rojas tried to move, but he lacked the jab, strength and authority to make Duran reconsider his advance. By then Duran had been champion for more than four years and was operating with complete confidence. This was his ninth defence and his ninth stoppage in those defences. The opposition was limited, but the execution was ruthless, measured and technically first-class.