Mythical Matchup: Carlos Ortiz vs. Roberto Duran

Carlos Ortiz and Roberto Duran are all-time great lightweight champions.

Sep

The following article appears in the September 2023 issue of The Ring, available now to subscribers. Click here to subscribe (only $1.99 per month/issue).

A Fantasy Fight for the Undisputed Lightweight Championship of the World

For this mythical matchup, I am matching the fighters up on their best night at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds. This being a work of imagination, historical figures from various eras have been added for your enjoyment.

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(Photo: Stanley Weston Archive/Getty Images)

CARLOS ORTIZ
Born: CARLOS JUAN ORTIZ in Ponce Puerto Rico, September 9, 1936
Died: June 13, 2022, at age 85
Height: 5-foot-7
Reach: 70 inches
Pro Career: 1955-1972
Lightest weight: 133 pounds vs. Danny Roberts (May 13, 1955)
Heaviest weight: 145½ pounds vs. Bill Whittenberg (Jan. 8, 1972)
Record: 61-7-1 (30 KOs), 1 ND

He was stopped only once, when he retired in the corner against Ken Buchannan in his last fight on September 20, 1972, in Madison Square Garden at age 36.

The no-decision ruling involved the claim that he hit tough-as-nails Lou Filippo with a body shot after the bell on March 2, 1957. One month later, he stopped Filippo in seven rounds.

Lightweight titles held: Ring, WBA, WBC and NYSAC.

Won the Ring title from Joe Brown in 1962, and then against Ismael Laguna in 1965; overall made nine successful defenses.

Won the vacant NBA and NYSAC junior welterweight titles with a second-round TKO vs. Kenny Lane on June 12, 1959; made two successful defenses vs. Duilio Loi and Battling Torres.

Holds wins over Joe Brown, Gabrielle “Flash” Elorde, Sugar Ramos twice, Ismael Laguna, Duilio Loi, Nicolino Locche, Battling Torres, Kenny Lane, Maurice Cullen, Lou Filippo, Doug Vaillant, Paolo Rosi, Johnny Bizzarro, Len Matthews and Dave Charnley.

Notes: Managed by Bill Daley and trained by Teddy Bentham.

Ortiz was a rock solid, broad-shouldered, fearless lightweight who possessed all the tools, grit and savvy to earn the respect of most boxing historians and is generally considered to be among the top 10 lightweights of all time. He ducked no one and willingly fought the toughest fighters of his era.

An early version of Ortiz smashes Ray Portilla in the seventh round of their lightweight bout. (Photo: Bettmann/Getty Images)

He ruled the lightweight division and was King of the Hill in a 15-round championship era where there was only one real champion who had to turn back all deserving contenders.

He possessed a pulverizing left hook to the body or the head and was a vicious combination puncher with both hands. In his prime, he was ripped, powerful and could box or swap punches with the best of them.

STRENGTHS:

Amazing ring savvy and timing along with elite boxing skill honed to a razor’s edge by facing the best fighters of his era.
Pinpoint punching accuracy to the body and head. A master at gauging distance. Devastating left hook and right-hand KO power.
Always adapting in the ring; a puzzle-solver of any style thrown against him.
Outpunched the punchers and outboxed the boxers and remained dangerous from the first bell to the last. Explosive power in both hands and 15-round stamina against the best in the division.
Large and powerful forearms he used in punch delivery.

WEAKNESSES:

Susceptible to knockdowns; was knocked down five times in his career – by Gale Kerwin (1956), Duilio Loi (1961), Paolo Rosi (1961), Sugar Ramos (1966) and Carlos “Teo” Cruz (1968).
Sometimes lacked focus in training, due to personal troubles.

(Photo: The Ring Magazine)

ROBERTO DURAN
Born: ROBERTO DURAN SAMANIEGO, June 16, 1951, in El Chorrillo, Panama
Height: 5-foot-7
Reach: 66 inches
Pro career: 1968-2001
Lightest weight: 119 pounds vs. Juan Gondola (May 14, 1968)
Heaviest weight: 176 pounds vs. Omar Gonzalez (March 6, 1999)
Record: 103-16 (70 KOs)

Fighting Monikers: “Manos De Piedra” (Hands Of Stone), “El Cholo”
Twelve successful lightweight world title defenses
Stopped four times:

In his 74th fight, against Sugar Ray Leonard in the “No Mas” fight (TKO 8), November 25, 1980, for Ring/WBC welterweight titles, age 29.
In his 83rd fight, against Tommy “Hit Man” Hearns (KO 2), June 15, 1984, for WBC junior middleweight title, age 33
In his 94th fight, against Pat Lawlor (TKO 6), March 18, 1991, age 40.
In his 115th fight, against William Joppy (TKO 3), Aug. 28, 1998, for WBA middleweight title, at the advanced age of 47

Lightweight titles held: Ring, WBA and WBC
Also won Ring and WBC welterweight titles (UD 15 Sugar Ray Leonard, 1980) weighing 145 pounds.
Won WBA junior middleweight title (TKO 8 Davey Moore, 1983) weighing 152 pounds.
Won WBC middleweight title (SD 12 Iran Barkley, 1989) weighing 156 pounds.
Fought his first two pro bouts at 119 pounds.
Duran’s first bout at lightweight was his 22nd pro fight, vs. Jose Acosta, with Duran at 132 pounds on March 21, 1971.
Knocked down six times in his career: by Esteban De Jesus (1972 and 1974) , three times by Tommy Hearns (1984), and once by Felix Hernandez (1998).
Notable wins at lightweight: Ken Buchannan, Jimmy Robertson, Hector Thompson, Guts Ishimatsu, Esteban De Jesus (twice), Masataka Takayama, Ray Lampkin, Leoncio Ortiz, Lou Bizzarro, Vilomar Fernandez and Edwin Viruet.

Duran (left) tangles with Saoul Mamby. (Photo: The Ring Magazine)

STRENGTHS:

A strong and ferocious combination puncher with a take-no-prisoners killer instinct.
Exquisite infighting techniques with relentless work rate to the body and head. Got stronger as the fight went on.
Fought determined and viciously from the opening bell and had power in both hands to finish a fight at any given time. Intimidating mindset with indefatigable 15-round stamina.

WEAKNESSES:

Overeating between fights, thus having to lose too much weight.
At times throwing caution to the wind, coming forward and leaving himself open for counters.
Was dropped with left hooks in two fights by Esteban DeJesus.
Can be outpointed from the outside by a fleet-footed boxer, if they can survive his attacks.

Notes: Managed by Carlos Eleta, trained by Ray Arcel and Nestor Quinnones, cornerman Freddie Brown.

AUTHOR’S COMMENTS:

My nexus to both Carlos Ortiz and Roberto Duran is a strong one.

CARLOS ORTIZ

I was the paid sparring partner of Carlos Ortiz for his title defense on November 28, 1966, against Gabrielle “Flash” Elorde in Madison Square Garden.

ROBERTO DURAN

I refereed Roberto Duran vs. Roni (Roe-Nee) Martinez on June 10, 1995, at the Municipal Auditorium on pay-per-view in Kansas City, Missouri. Duran weighed 168 pounds and stopped Martinez by TKO in seven rounds. It preceded the main event featuring Tommy Morrison vs. Razor Ruddock.

***

THE LEAD-UP TO FIGHT NIGHT

Both Ortiz and Duran had cleaned out the lightweight division and the usual alphabet group politics, and promotional snags had prevented the fight from coming to fruition for too long.

No one could come to a viable agreement despite the great hue and cry to make the fight happen.

Duran with trainer Ray Arcel. (Photo: The Ring Magazine)

Every boxing magazine and website worldwide as usual felt the fight had been marinated for much too long, and boxing fans were becoming fed up with this chess game between promoters preventing the best from fighting the best.

The pressure built up so much that everyone involved agreed to make the fight happen.

Duran held the WBC and WBA titles while Ortiz presently held the IBF, WBO and Ring Magazine belts.

Ortiz had let Bill Daly handle the negotiations for him, and Duran designated his longtime mentor and friend Carlos Eleta as his representative.

Both fighters agreed to a 12-round title fight as per present day boxing rules to be held in Madison Square Garden the day before the Puerto Rican Day parade.

Carlos Ortiz was beloved in Puerto Rico, but Duran had no objections to the date of the fight, stating emphatically that he was glad it would help the live gate and that plenty of Panamanian supporters would be there to root him on too.

There was only one rule both camps insisted upon, which was that only the referee could stop the fight, as the NYSAC doctors had been repeatedly jumping up on the ring apron and stopping fights where the punches were missing. This rule was granted.

Any hurdles related to prize money evaporated in the negotiations as both Ortiz and Duran agreed to a 50/50 split.

Ortiz in training. (Photo: Keystone/Getty Images)

The fight would be co-produced and distributed via the pay-per-view arms of HBO, Showtime, DAZN and ESPN; available on streaming platforms as well as traditional cable and satellite TV.

Eight-ounce gloves would be used for the fight, and both camps would have to agree on the referee and judges with the commission’s approval.

An agreement was reached for an old-school same-day morning weigh-in at 135 pounds, with neither fighter being permitted to gain one ounce over 10 pounds by the second weigh-in at fight time, or else forfeit their titles and pay a $100,000 fine.

Their percentages of the pay-per-view revenues were equally shared, too, as both fighters instructed their people not to haggle and to just make the fight happen.

Carlos Ortiz opted to train in the bleak and spartan atmosphere of Ehsan’s training camp in Chatham, New Jersey, forgoing any offers of more pleasant accommodations within an opulent hotel setting.

Duran chose the Concord Hotel in Kiamesha Lake, New York, where he had trained for Buchannan.

At the initial press conference, things were calm and professional with both fighters sitting far away from each other.

Then things got much more heated.

A news crew recorded a video of Duran punching a photo of Ortiz pasted to his heavy bag. In the interview, Duran was asked if he had a message for Ortiz.

Photo composition: Duran (The Ring Magazine), Ortiz (Stanley Weston Archive/Getty Images)

His eyes glowing with malevolence like two burning coals set into his skull, he looked into the camera and said threateningly, “TE VOY A ARRANCAR LA CABEZA.”

The reporter asked the interpreter what Duran said, and the answer was, “I’m going to rip your head off.”

That same film crew visited Ortiz in his training camp at Ehsan’s later that day.

Carlos emerged from a round of hard sparring. He took the head gear off and, sweating profusely, climbed out of the ring to speak to the reporter as Bentham put a white towel over his head.

When Ortiz was told that Duran had a message for him, the reporter played the video.

Ortiz watched and listened intently as Duran made his threat.

Ortiz’s face was at first deadpan. As he digested the threat, it spread through him like white-hot electricity. He was visibly seething with rage as his gloves were pulled off. His face was frozen into a silent mask of fury.

The reporter asked, “What message do you have for Duran, Carlos?”

Ortiz raised a taped fist to the camera and snarled, “TE ROMPERE COMO UNA MUÑECA DE TRAPO.”

He turned abruptly without saying another word and stormed off to the shower.

Frantically, the reporter asked the TV crew interpreter what he said.

Nervously, the interpreter paused, and with a slight tremolo in his voice said, “What Carlos Ortiz said was, ‘I’m going to break you like a rag doll.’”

The fight sold out in one day.

Duran’s training camp was intense, with 170 rounds of sparring completed one week before the fight. Ortiz banked similar numbers.

At the morning weigh-in, Duran came in at 134½ pounds and Ortiz at 135 on the nose.

They went back to their hotels to eat, rest and get ready for the second weigh-in and the fight.

FIGHT NIGHT

Al Bernstein, Iceman John Scully, Joe Goosen and Harold Lederman are calling the fight.

The atmosphere in the Garden is bristling with excitement and anticipation for the main event.

Between the loyal Panamanian fans and the Puerto Rican faithful, the different factions of hardcore partisan boxing fans have been whipped up into a state of controlled hysteria. Several pushing fights are broken up by security.

For the fans, it is Panama against Puerto Rico. Duran and Ortiz know better. It is one champion against the other in a fight for survival between two lions.

Now the Garden is treated to Neil Diamond singing “Sweet Caroline.” The fans are singing along to the sweetness of Diamond’s popular song, and a more peaceful mood seems to prevail while the stage is set for the fireworks to come.

Duran (Photo: The Ring Magazine)

The song fades out, and the eerie quiet is broken by the sound of the Panamanian national anthem. It is now blasting through the arena, and the roar of the crowd rises as a spotlight is trained on the aisle coming out of the dressing rooms.

HERE COMES ROBERTO DURAN. The national anthem blends into Van Halen’s “Panama” as Duran shadowboxes his way toward the ring. The crowd is going wild.

Duran is wearing a black velvet robe and has his boxing gloves on the shoulders of Ray Arcel, with Freddie Brown behind him along with Nestor Quinones, Senor Carlos Eleta and former Panamanian champions Ismael Laguna and Ernesto Marcel carrying all his title belts.

It is an amazing spectacle.

Laguna sits on the middle rope to hold it down as Duran makes his way into the ring. The crowd is going insane, and Duran allows himself a small smile as he holds his gloves aloft and Laguna and Marcel hold his title belts in the air.

Now the Puerto Rican national anthem begins, and the spotlight switches back to the aisle. The deafening cheers of the Puerto Rican faction shakes the Garden’s walls. HERE COMES CARLOS ORTIZ.

The anthem now blends into Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.” Ortiz’s long association with the city is evident as the crowd roars its approval, the atmosphere now at frenzy level.

The security forces and NYPD officers stationed throughout the arena are looking at each other in silent concern.

Ortiz is wearing an emerald green robe and is led down the aisle by Teddy Bentham, Bill Daly, Al Braverman and Whitey Bimstein. Jose “Chegui” Torres and Felix “Tito” Trinidad carry Ortiz’s title belts, with Jose “Monon” Gonzalez and the elderly Puerto Rican legend Sixto Escobar in tow.

Ortiz (Photo: Bettmann/Getty Images)

Carlos is snapping short punches over and under in the air as he rhythmically jogs down the aisle.

Jose Torres maneuvers around Teddy Bentham and gracefully climbs the stairs and sits on the middle rope, holding it down for Ortiz to enter. The whole entourage gets in the ring and the Garden light show is ablaze, dazzling and artfully illuminating both fighters and their corners.

The ringside bell resounds four times, and the crowd quiets down.

It goes to David Diamante:

“LADIES AND GENTLEMAN AND FIGHT FANS AROUND THE WORLD, ARE YOU READY? I SAID, ARE YOU READY?” (Thunderous applause.) “THE FIGHT STARTS NOW!

“Twelve rounds of boxing scheduled for the undisputed IBF, WBC, WBA, WBO AND RING MAGAZINE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD!

“The three judges scoring this bout are Steve Weisfeld, John McKaie and Ron McNair.

“Your referee is Luis Rivera.

“INTRODUCING FIRST, FIGHTING OUT OF THE BLUE CORNER, WEARING THE ALL BLACK TRUNKS, HE SCALED 134½ POUNDS, HAILING FROM HIS HOME COUNTRY OF PANAMA, THE REIGNING WBC, WBA LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD, EL HOMBRE DE LAS MANOS DE PIEDRA, THE MAN WITH THE HANDS OF STONE, ROBERTO DURAN!”

The screams of “DURAN! DURAN! DURAN!” are deafening, mixing with the thunderous applause that lasts 30 seconds.

Duran nods, his youthful shaven face focused and unsmiling. He throws a flurry of punches and raises both arms to the crowd with a scowling fight face.

“AND HIS OPPONENT, FIGHTING OUT OF THE RED CORNER, WEARING THE WHITE, RED AND BLUE TRUNKS WITH THE WHITE STAR, HE SCALED 135 POUNDS BANG ON, FIGHTING OUT OF PUERTO RICO BY WAY OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, THE REIGNING IBF, WBO AND RING MAGAZINE LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD, CARLOS ORTIZ!”

Madison Square Garden bursts into an emotional avalanche of screaming support for Ortiz, not just from the Puerto Rican fans that have filled the Garden but from all the local fans who remember all his fights here and adore him as a longtime New Yorker.

Ortiz is deeply moved and humbled by that response and briefly raises one boxing glove to the crowd in appreciation, addressing all sides of the garden and the upper balcony.

His face is focused and his eyes are glinting like a jungle cat waiting to spring.

Their robes are taken off and reveal both fighters in fantastic condition without an ounce of fat on either of them.

Ortiz only gained five pounds at the second weigh-in, Duran only 6½.

Both men and their chief seconds are called to the center of the ring. Ortiz with Teddy Bentham and Duran with Ray Arcel.

Rivera tells them both in Spanish and English, “I’ve given you both the rules of the New York State Athletic Commission in the dressing room. Obey my commands and protect yourselves at all times. No intentional fouls will be tolerated. Good luck to you both.”

Duran is glaring at Ortiz and Ortiz’s eyes are blazing right back at him. Rivera is holding their wrists and touches their gloves together.

Both fighters return to their corners, where they quickly cross themselves in silent prayer. And there’s the bell for the first round.

They both come out with their hands high, Duran presses forward very fast, attacking with both hands, trying to drive Ortiz back to the ropes.

Ortiz lands stiff jabs and moves well. Duran is not just blindly rushing in but skillfully pressing Ortiz. Duran takes up the slack and fires both hands hard and fast to the body, but Ortiz, just as skillful on the inside, trades heavy leather with him, which has the crowd on its feet. Duran turns up the juice and Ortiz blasts back at him in heated exchanges.

Finally, Ortiz spins out and Duran immediately pursues with a rapacious desire to trade heavy leather, and for a second he lowers his guard. As Ortiz pivots out on the turn, he drops Duran with a lightning-fast left hook under the chin.

The 20,000-plus crowd is on its feet instantly, screaming with a mix of shock and elation.

Commentator Joe Goosen yells out, “Shades of Esteban DeJesus!”

Ortiz runs, not walks, to a neutral corner before Rivera can even point the way.

The alternate referee is on the microphone shouting to be heard over the crowd and calls out the count of four. Duran is up and anxious to go tearing back into Ortiz but is held back for the mandatory eight-count. Rivera wipes Duran’s gloves on his shirt and waves them both back in as the bell rings.

10-8 ORTIZ

REST PERIOD: Ray Arcel is the voice in the corner and calmly tells Duran, “Keep the pressure on him just like you are doing, but be more alert going in and when he spins out. Keep your damn hands up and work your way in with your jab when you are closing the gap. Box him and the openings will be there for you.”

(Photo: The Ring Magazine)

Duran comes out blazing at the bell. He is a marauder on the attack, and it’s payback time for the knockdown. He is all over Ortiz, who is forced to fight on the back foot. Ortiz’s attempt to move laterally is nullified as Duran expertly cuts the ring off.

Now the fight is in the trenches and Ortiz willingly matches Duran’s aggression. They swap hard leather to the body, the sounds of the punches incredibly still audible despite the noise of the crowd. Neither takes a step back; both fire to the head and body. Both punch furiously.

They are still going at it after the bell rings. Every single person in the Garden is on their feet.

The referee is having a problem separating the fighters, and the inspectors jump into the ring as Duran and Ortiz keep punching. The timekeeper keeps banging the bell, and finally the corner men get both fighters back to their side of the ring. Rivera, with backup from a deputy commissioner, visits both corners and gives a stern warning to respect the bell and obey his commands.

10-9 DURAN for effective aggressiveness and clean punching.

Duran and Ortiz collide immediately in center ring like two bighorn sheep banging heads. Both corners are screaming at their charges to box and move, but their pleas are ignored.

It makes the Ward-Gatti trilogy seem tame. Both fighters plant their feet firmly and rip hooks and double hooks under and over, short right hands over and under. Both fighters are rocked.

But it is Ortiz who takes a half step back and shoots a right uppercut that seemingly stuns Duran. Duran retaliates with a relentless series of combinations, and it is now Ortiz who was stunned.

Ortiz manages to step around Duran with a hard double jab, but Duran catches Carlos over the second jab with a fast lead right, sending Ortiz to the seat of his pants just like he did against Sugar Ramos.

Again the crowd is electrified by the knockdown as Duran runs to a white neutral corner, as directed by Rivera. Ortiz is up at four; he is not wobbling in the slightest as he takes the mandatory eight-count. Duran is waved in by the referee.

Duran goes for the knockout, but Ortiz blocks and counters well. Ortiz nails Duran with three fast, straight punches between his gloves as Duran counters, cracking Carlos with another right-hand lead at the bell.

10-8 DURAN

REST PERIOD: John Scully says to the other commentators, “These are two of the greatest lightweights I have ever seen.” Goosen replies, “Those are some really hard shots they’re landing, I don’t know how they are standing up under that kind of fire. Tremendous skill being shown here tonight.”

In the corner, Ray Arcel says to Ortiz, “You’re fighting his fight. Box him and pick your shots.” Braverman says, “Goddamn it, stop this macho shit trading with this guy! What the fuck is wrong with you? Box him and make him pay on the way in.” Arcel shoots him a look and he stops talking.

Duran keeps the pressure on, now working behind his jab, which is slipped and countered by Ortiz’s razor-sharp timing. Duran, a bit too anxious, keeps eating Ortiz’s jabs and one-twos. When Duran gets in close, he tries to rake Ortiz with combinations, but Ortiz expertly blocks the body shots with his powerful forearms. Duran continues to pursue, but Ortiz is a half step better and near the end of the round he lands a tremendous left hook to the top of Duran’s head. Duran wobbles but does not drop at the bell.

10-9 ORTIZ

Emboldened, Ortiz goes after Duran, jabbing his way in and trading leather as Duran is backed to the ropes. Duran beckons him in and fires back – they’re in another shootout. Ortiz gets in a vicious left hook to the body that Duran really feels and is forced to clinch. The referee breaks them for the first time in the fight.

The fighters work their way into center ring and Duran is all over Carlos, blazing away with everything in his arsenal. Ortiz fires back with all his skill, and both display the finest points of offense and defense. The crowd is ecstatic at the skill and bravery on display.

Duran’s punching power is evident as the first signs of wear and tear show on Ortiz – welts on his body and swelling on the side of his left eye. Duran buckles Ortiz’s legs with a three-punch combination as the clock ticks down. The crowd is up again. There’s the bell.

10-9 DURAN

REST PERIOD: In Duran’s corner, he says to Quinones, “¿Qué es lo que sostiene a ese hombre?” (“What is holding him up?”) Nestor replies, “He is Carlo Ortiz, that’s what.”

(Photo: Bettmann/Getty Images)

In Ortiz’s corner, Teddy Bentham is working the enswel on the purple bruise near Ortiz’s left eye to get the swelling down and says to Carlos, “Now would be a good time to get him out of there.” Ortiz nods in agreement.

Ortiz comes out stepping and moving with his jab; he hooks off the jab, adding uppercuts to his combinations. One of them stuns Duran on the way in. Duran fires back viciously, but Ortiz breaks his rhythm with the stiff jabs.

Duran walks through it all, taking hard right hands and left hooks, and stuns Ortiz with a tremendous right hand to the injured eye, which splits the swelling bruise wide open.

Desperately returning fire, Ortiz explodes with all he has and lands a tremendous right hand to the jaw. Duran’s hands drop. Ortiz is all over him with a flurry. He slams the hardest left hook of the fight onto the right side of Duran’s head, dropping El Cholo to his knees.

Rivera points to the farthest neutral corner, but Ortiz goes to Duran’s corner by mistake, as he cannot see out of his left eye.

The count from the alternate referee reaches five, but Rivera stops the count to redirect Ortiz, who then stands in the neutral corner, blood dripping onto his chest.

The count resumes, and Duran gets up on shaky legs at seven.

The Garden is absolute bedlam now; you can’t hear the person next to you speaking.

Rivera, himself a retired boxer, looks at both fighters and is in the same mental moment as the referees in the Gatti-Ward wars. He gives them both one more chance and tells both fighters exactly that.

Both Duran and Ortiz know this is it: Do or die.

Rivera waves them in, and Ortiz knows Duran is dead meat if he can see well enough to get to him.

Ortiz empties his whole arsenal on his stunned adversary. Every fight he ever had on the street, in the gym, and all his pro bouts against the toughest in the world come into play at this moment of truth.

He has Duran wobbling again and goes in for the kill. The Garden is going insane. Duran digs down deep into his lion’s heart and he knows the end is near. Everything that made him a champion, every moment of excruciating poverty he had to endure, everything he ever had to do to help his family, swim two miles with a sack of melons around his neck just to eat, and all of his wars in the ring have put some fossilized hard bark on him.

He tries to weather the storm in a crouch; he looks through dazed eyes and sees an opening and nails Ortiz with the hardest right hand he has ever thrown.

It lands on the cut eye and opens it to the bone. Blood from the widened cut explodes everywhere, all over the canvas and the ref’s shirt.

Ortiz takes the shot and his powerful legs hold him upright. Duran is still wobbling. But Rivera is so shocked by the severity of the cut that he jumps in and stops the fight.

His shirt looks like he was in a slaughterhouse.

The doctors rush into the ring; one for Duran and the other for Ortiz.

Fan fights and mini riots have already ensued. The cheers and the ignorant boos shake the garden.

Duran goes over to Ortiz and gives him a blood-smearing embrace. Ortiz hugs him back. Both fighters ignore their teams’ efforts to get them back to the corner.

The commentators agree with the stoppage due to the cut but also admit that Duran was close to being stopped himself.

The riots and fights in the audience get worse until Ortiz, with Duran’s arm around him, grabs the microphone from David Diamante before he can even announce the TKO.

Ortiz emphatically addresses the crown in Spanish and the chaos seems to diminish. The Translator relays his message: “ROBERTO DURAN IS MY BROTHER. LET’S SHOW RESPECT NOW, PLEASE… FOR ME. IT WAS A GREAT FIGHT AND WE WILL FIGHT AGAIN.”

Duran then politely takes the microphone and addresses the crowd. As he speaks, the remaining fights break up and the shouts of anger are replaced by cheers. The translation fills the Garden: “CARLOS IS A GREAT WARRIOR. HE IS MY BROTHER TOO. I PROMISE I WILL GIVE HIM A REMATCH.”

As the now-unified fans give them a standing ovation, the fighters embrace.