Columnist Dean Juipe: Julio charts same course as Duran

Dean Juipe

Friday, Oct. 1, 1999 | 10:40 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

There was a time when it was an honor and an absolute privilege for a fighter, particularly a Hispanic fighter, to be projected as "the next Roberto Duran."

His "no mas" uttering aside as he was beaten by Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980, Duran -- in his boxing heyday -- was the definitive Latino brawler. He liked to fight and he built a reputation as a hardened, merciless rogue.

As the book "The Ring: The 20th Century" points out, Duran was something of a cutthroat when it came time to fight. "He had no respect for his opponents or the rules," the book claims. "He sneered at displays of sportsmanship."

Most of his fans loved him for it, and even those who despised his tactics respected his achievements. A five-time world champion in four different weight classes, Duran held titles as a lightweight (1972-79), a welterweight (1980), a junior middleweight (1983-84) and a middleweight (1989).

A native of Panama who dropped out of school at the age of 14 and who first fought professionally at 15 years old in 1967, Duran truly obtained legendary status in the sport.

Now, however, to be likened to Duran is hardly a compliment. Continuing to fight at the age of 48, Duran's once-glorious career is blemished by the fact he's unable to quit -- for both financial and personal reasons.

His record is something like 102-14.

But he does have a successor, a "next Roberto Duran." And it's Julio Cesar Chavez.

Chavez, in Las Vegas to fight Willie Wise at the Las Vegas Hilton on Saturday night, is walking in precisely the footsteps Duran traversed a few years ago. It's at least a 50-50 bet that he follows the course to the same unpleasant destination that entrapped Duran.

Chavez, 37, is 101-3-2 but is only 12-3-1 in his most recent outings. He is not in any way, shape or form the same fighter who debuted as a 17-year-old in 1980 and went on to fearlessly rule three divisions in the 1980s.

He's spent, or close to it, and any real good young fighter can expose him (as Oscar De La Hoya did twice). Chavez won't face that fighter this weekend in Wise, but he probably will in his ensuing fight when he takes on 140-pound world champion Kostya Tszyu.

Nevertheless, Chavez is haughty enough to talk a good game. He says he'll beat Tszyu, win a few more big-money fights and retire in a year or two as a reigning champion.

The truth -- that he's in the midst of a lengthy twilight that is unlikely to be reversed -- seems to escape him.

The aging Chavez has more in common with the aging Duran than he may realize: the constant talk of retirement that's never fulfilled; the endless need for money that somehow funnels from his grasp; the celebrity status each enjoys even in his declining years; the fact both can be manipulated by a promoter who wants to keep them fighting; and the absolute bottom line that neither man has any other interests and, as a result, feels he has nothing better to do.

Chavez says he'll someday "retire with dignity" but it's easy to recall him saying the same thing over dinner in a Hilton restaurant 11 years ago. Back then, he was expecting to trade in his gloves and supporter for a pipe and slippers within a couple of years.

Funny, he's still saying the same thing today.

And so is Duran.