October 02, 1988 Chicago Tribune
At one time, Roberto Duran was the finest piece of fighting meat anywhere, a lean, juicy specimen. But now it`s time to stick a fork in him: He's done.
Duran, the former three-time world champion who is tentatively scheduled to fight Iran Barkley for the World Boxing Council middleweight title Dec. 3 in Atlantic City, won a narrow 10-round split decision over Roselle`s Jeff Lanas Saturday night in the Amphitheatre.
Duran, who struggled early against a surprisingly effective Lanas, was given the edge 47-46 by judge Mike Glienna and 47-45 by judge Jerry Jackubco. Judge Bill Lerch scored it 46-44 for Lanas, whose record fell to 16-4 but whose esteem soared.
"What can you do?" a disappointed Lanas shrugged after keeping Duran off balance and often beating him to the punch.
"Jeff Lanas always has had decisions go against him," Lanas said. "But I didn`t fight for the money (about $8,000). I thought I should have gotten the decision, but I took this fight for Jeff Lanas, for my family. To show how good Jeff Lanas is. I always wanted to fight a Duran, a Leonard, a Hearns and Hagler. Now I`ve done it, and I showed what I could do."
His performance often baffled Duran, who was slow, short on many of his punches, a shell of the great fighter he once was.
Fighting Barkley, a powerful puncher, in similar condition would be a felony for Duran`s handlers.
Duran was constantly open for rights, but Lanas is not a strong puncher (7 knockouts in 20 fights) and wasn`t able to shake Duran. However, he often landed consecutive jabs, then moved in to tie up Duran and dominated the early rounds.
"He was unorthodox," Duran said. "It took about five rounds to figure him out. But from the fifth on, I applied more pressure."
Duran (84-7) scored big in the seventh round with a left cross and right uppercut combination, opening a cut over Lanas' left eye. And he landed big rights in the ninth that probably carried the fight for him.
But that was hardly the unanimous opinion of about 3,000 at the Amphitheatre. Duran`s handlers, including former heavyweight contender Gerry Cooney, tried to explain away Duran`s poor showing by saying he cannot get "up" for lesser fighters like Lanas, who look for one bout to make their career.
Lanas seemed to come on strong after being hit below the belt in the second round. Referee Stan Berg gave him five minutes to recover and deducted a point from Duran.
Duran complained Lanas was faking and started yelling at him. Despite his anger, and probably more because of his 166 pounds and pudgy body, Duran was able to do little more than scream.
Lanas constantly hit the mark with jabs and rights, moving in to tie up Duran in what often became a slow fight. But Lanas also was able to move away from Duran`s punches and penetrated his defense with surprising ease.
Duran tried to put the best face on it. "I`m getting started again," he said. "I haven`t fought for six months, so you didn`t see the real Roberto Duran. But I`m getting ready to roll again."
If he fights like he did Saturday again, he`s ready to get rolled.
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