Duran vs. Marcel – When Panama’s Best Faced Each Other

By Bal Kang: This was a great time for boxing in Panama; I can recall when I first watched some of Duran’s fights on video especially when he fought at the Gimnasio Nuevo Panama in Panama City. Although most of these fights took place before I was even born, it was destiny, this was for me, it’s like I could smell and feel the humidity, the cigar smoke and the passion of the people of Panama, that arena bared witness to some great fights.

The fight that I’m referring to is Roberto “Manos de Piedra” Duran Vs. Ernesto “Nato” Marcel which took place on 16th May 1970 in Panama City, Panama.

There was a great deal of anticipation leading up to this contest; it was the old story of the slick boxer against the street fighter. The public opinion was split, but more so in favour of Marcel, he was the smooth boxer, a lot of people thought he would frustrate Duran, the general feeling leading up to the fight was that Marcel was too slick and cute for the young street fighter. To be upfront I have noticed this to be the case more often than not when a ‘Boxer vs. Brawler’ contest is made, and I never can quite understand why this is always the case, however, there were also people backing Duran, suggesting “this kid Duran”, he’s special, he’ll knock Marcel out”.

For those who don’t know much about Marcel, well first off he originally wanted to become a Basketball player and tried out for the Panama national Olympics team but was deemed to short by the coach and therefore no Basketball. Marcel then turned to Boxing, and it just so happens Marcel was pretty damn good it. He was a very slick boxer, with an incredibly smooth style, it resembled the style of Ismael Laguna. To let you know how good this guy really was is to tell you that Marcel had KO’d Bernado Carbello in two rounds the same Carbello who had been in the ring with Fighting Harada and Eder Jofre. However, its Marcel’s last ever fight in the ring that impresses me most and should provide you the readers with a measure of how good this guy was and that’s his win over the now late but forever great Alexis Arguello. Arguello (36-3-0 at the time) was up and coming and considered hot property, but in that World Featherweight title fight it was Marcel who displayed all his great boxing skills to win a 15 round UD and retain the world title.

I am confident that I don’t really need to say much on Duran; however, it’s important for you to know where he was at this stage of his career. Duran had turned pro in 1968, and in just two years time he was taking on a very big test, an extremely high risk fight which is unheard of in some of today’s fighters and promoters approaches.

Duran at the time was 16-0 and Marcel was 24-2-1, and my understanding is the fight was actually at Featherweight, a lot of people think Duran started out as a Lightweight in actual fact he made his pro debut weighing 119 lbs.

As with any Duran fight, the relationship between the two fighters, well let’s just say they weren’t exactly the best of friends, and then on top of that both fighters were young, Duran was 18 at the time and Marcel was a little more experienced at 22. Both knew what was at stake here, the winner would prove he is Panama’s best!

Duran, who had fought on the toughest streets of Panama in his local neighbourhood of Chorrillo, would bring that same fire, tenacity and will to win into the ring against Marcel. If you look back at this fight, in my opinion he looked superb. When I look back at some of those early Duran fights I really appreciate them, he was a pure ferocious genius, I mean as a writer I am lost for words, he was amazing!

The fight took place at the Gimnasio Nuevo Panama and it proved to be a compelling contest, the ‘rugged street fighter’ against the ‘artistic boxer’. As I mentioned previously Marcel was considered to have all the skills and tools required to become the next great from Panama, the next Ismeal Laguna. Duran at this stage of his young career was still considered a little rough around the edges but an exceptionally hot prospect himself with tremendous KO power in both hands.

This was it, the taunting and cursing of each other was over, it was now time to prove who Panama’s best was?

Duran was angry, he wanted to knock Marcel’s head off and that was very evident from the opening bell. Duran jumped on Marcel like a ferocious animal, this fight was very similar to the way Duran fought Ken Buchannan. Duran was putting everything into his punches, fast combinations, lefts and rights that were just missing by a whisker, had they connected, I am convinced Marcel’s head would have been detached from his body. There was just so much determination behind each punch! I would have loved to have seen Duran’s gum-shield after the fight; he was just biting into it so much with every punch he was throwing.

The fight was intense, there were instances when Marcel landed with some absolute beautiful power shots to Duran’s head, but back then all that did was confirm Duran had a solid chin. Duran took the shots snarled and went straight back at Marcel with even more ferocity.

Marcel would have to use all his ring general-ship to keep some sort of distance between himself and Duran. Duran in only his 17th pro fight displayed a very good jab, split second in and out movement that would only be appreciated by the ‘trained eye’, when Marcel would move in, Duran in a split second would move back and land with a short cross come uppercut, all this happened in mili seconds.

The crowd appeared to be a sellout, the atmosphere was amazing, they were going mad, jumping up and down and feeling each shot that landed, this was a huge fight for the people of Panama, if they could, I am sure the crowd would have entered the ring themselves, they were in such ecstasy by what they were witnessing.

As the fight went on it was Duran who was the constant aggressor, there were times where he would patiently stalk his prey and then off he went again with a wild fire attack. The 18 year old Duran displayed great ring skills, cutting the ring off, good effective jab, footwork and speed, as a result Marcel seemed to be content with just back pedaling. Duran stunned Marcel towards the later part of the fight with a straight right which Marcel just seemed to walk into, Duran then continued to work the body and head with combinations. Marcel tucked in and did his best to stay on his feet. The constant, relentless pressure was beginning to take its toll on Marcel, which became clearer in the 10th round.

In the 10th and final round, Duran never let up I think Marcel thought the best way to fight now was to stay out of reach and get to the finish line, I suppose still trying to use the lateral movement and ‘box clever’, but as Duran cut off the ring so effectively, which he did throughout the whole fight, the lateral movement become more back pedaling, there were no signs of any punches coming back from Marcel just running and with respect to Marcel I think he would have ran out of the ring if he had a chance, so would have many others if they had the option. As a result of Marcel back-peddling and failing to even throw a punch, the referee Isaac Herrara stopped the fight abruptly, if you watch the fight just when Duran’s hand is raised there’s a look of slight disgust from the referee, I presume it was because of Marcel’s tactics in the 10th round but that’s nothing compared to Duran’s response. As the fight ended Duran jumped up and down, legs full of energy, like when we later saw in various documentary’s, they way he used to skip/jump rope whilst doing leg squats, the way Duran displayed his hunger for more was similar to what happened after the first Sugar Ray Leonard fight this was evidence in my eyes that Duran wasn’t content yet, he clearly wanted more of Marcel.

Either way the win was a significant moment in Duran’s career; I personally think he matured a great deal in this fight, and although Marcel’s pride was hurt, I don’t think anyone could argue with the winner. I think that win proved a lot, Duran was up against a very smart boxer with great footwork and very good outright technical boxing skills but he used his way of fighting to beat Marcel.

Ernesto Marcel was a master boxer and would have done very well against some of the modern greats of today, no, he would have done way better than just well. So I hear shouts from the audience, why don’t we know more of him, please allow me to explain. Before the Arguello fight, Marcel had already made up his mind to retire and after the fight with Arguello, Marcel announced his retirement with a record of 40-2-2.

The reasons I understand are that he felt he was not making enough money from the sport and openly admitted that although he was aware that he could go on fighting at the highest level for many more years, the training and dedication required to stay in top shape was just too much and his heart was no longer in it. Marcel retired as Featherweight Champion of the world, one of the very few to do so and I believe the only one from Panama to do so, however, his belt was picked up by worthy hands, in one Ruben Olivares who would later in life would lose the belt to Arguello.

Duran as we know went to achieve what very few have, in fact you could argue he went onto achieve in his own unique way something that nobody ever has. Duran even in his early days as a fighter showed clear signs of greatness, tenacity, will, desire, energy and then on top of that, he displayed all the ring smarts of a great fighter, skills that only he could execute and no one else, those same skills would then go on to be fine tuned by legendary trainers Ray Arcel and Freddie Brown, he simply was amazing.
So whilst Marcel walked away into the Panama sunset, Duran went on to become one of the greatest fighters ever!

At the time of finishing this piece, I was very saddened to hear that one of Boxing’s all time greats and a true legend, Alexis Arguello passed away. Although I never met him, he did and will continue to provide me with great moments in my life when I put one of his fights on the TV. A real master of his craft and like I understand he saw himself as an artist in the ring, he used that canvas and painted beautiful strokes.

Your fights will be watched by me, my friends and family forever.

May you rest in peace and be truly content and happy wherever you are, Alexis ‘El Flaco Explosivo’ Arguello one of the true greatest fighters of all and any time!

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