THE OPENING LINE

Monday, May 7, 2007 | 7:16 a.m.

Five years ago, when he made his first trip to Panama to interview Roberto Duran for a book about the colorful boxing champion he hoped to write, Christian Giudice basically received the same treatment as Sugar Ray Leonard.

"No mas," Duran said upon learning that Giudice didn't speak Spanish.

"I returned home to Haddonfield, N.J., with 50 pages on boxing in Panama - and no words from the former champ," Giudice said.

Undeterred, Giudice, a freelance writer and substitute school teacher, enrolled at Temple University in Philadelphia for a semester of intensive Spanish classes.

When he returned to Panama speaking like Ruben Blades, Duran immediately warmed to him.

"I want to say that I earned his respect," said Giudice, who curried additional favor with the former four-time world champion by bringing along a catalogue of his fight films, which the two watched together.

Those interviews and hundreds of others with Duran's friends and family form the basis of "Hands of Stone: The Life and Legend of Roberto Duran," Giudice's book that celebrates Duran's career and endearing legacy in his native Panama.

Giudice, who signed copies of the book at Mandalay Bay this weekend in conjunction with the De La Hoya-vs.-Mayweather fight, said Duran seems to have mellowed since his fighting days, when he was revered for his brawling style and bulldog tenacity.

"I saw a different side of him - a guy trying his best to shed a certain image," said Giudice, adding that Duran is married with seven children and seems to have become quite the family man.

But as for "no mas," Giudice said he didn't acquire additional insight into Duran's infamous decision to quit fighting against Leonard, a decision that was in such stark contrast to Duran's machismo image. No, Giudice, said, it was just an impulsive man being impulsive.

"There wasn't that mystery that everybody seems to be looking for," he said.

Marshall vs. McElfresh, World Extreme CageFighting, 6 p.m. Saturday, The Joint at the Hardrock Hotel

"You mess with the Rhino, you get the horn," warns Doug "Rhino" Marshall, who hopes to prove there's nothing more dangerous than a caged Rhino.

TICKETS: $25-$250.

ON THE WEB: www.ticketmaster.com

Oklahoma City Redhawks at Las Vegas 51s, Tuesday-Friday, 7:11 p.m., Cashman Field

Four more opportunities to root, root, root for the home team.

TICKETS: $8-$13.

ON THE WEB: www.ticketmaster.com.