Boxing’s Real Ring Is the Mind

Dan Goossen, manager of bantamweight Frankie Duarte, unwraps the long, sleek, black robe and holds it up in front of his fighter.

On the back, it reads:

“Frankie”

“Frankie”

“Frankie”

Said Goossen: “That’s so the people will know how to cheer.”

Duarte, 32, a broad smile on his face, slips on the robe he will wear into the Forum ring Tuesday night when he meets World Boxing Assn. champion Bernardo Pinango of Venezuela in a 15-round title fight and flicks a few jabs at a nearby mirror.

“It’s got sex appeal,” said Duarte, admiring his robe.

A good manager knows how to put his fighter in the right frame of mind.

Over in another corner of the Inglewood hotel where both fighters are staying, Luis Spada, Pinango’s manager, is talking to a group of reporters about his fighter’s two title defenses, against Ciro DiLeva in Italy and Simon Skosana in South Africa.

“He destroys you a little every round,” Spada said of the 26-year-old Pinango . “When he fought DiLeva, he had one of DiLeva’s eyes closed completely. Against Skosana, he opened up a deep cut under the left eye.”

Did he know, Spada is asked, that Duarte has been troubled by eye cuts in most of his recent fights, that his biggest liability is his tendency to bleed easily and heavily?

Spada changes the subject. No need to elaborate. He has gotten his message across.

A good manager also knows how to put his fighter’s opponent in a bad frame of mind.

Over in another corner, Pinango is asked whether he knows Duarte has a reputation as a bleeder. He shakes his head from side to side, acting as though it is the first time he has heard such a thing.

R-i-i-i-ght! You’re defending a world title and you haven’t even been curious enough to inquire about the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent?

Ah, the fight game. There’s nothing quite like it in all of sports. Not with all the mind games that go along with it.

Muhammad Ali used to say that he won many of his fights before he ever stepped into the ring. With all his pre-fight taunts and name-calling and predictions, he often won the mental battle long before he ever had to worry about the physical struggle.

And so often in boxing, the frame of mind is more important than the frame of the body. It’s not a question of how well you can throw a ball or catch one. There are no teammates to depend on. It’s just you and your opponent, mano a mano, half naked on center stage, sometimes with your life on the line. Usually with the quality of your life hanging on the outcome.

You must totally dominate to win, so you look for every edge.

At the hotel in Inglewood, Duarte and Pinango are called together in the lobby by a photographer who wants to shoot them squaring off against each other.

They don’t smile. They don’t shake hands. They don’t even act as though they notice each other.

They notice.

When they separate and Duarte’s people pile into an elevator, every nuance of the meeting is hashed and rehashed. He seemed scared, they say of Pinango. He seemed surprised Frankie was taller than him. He kept watching Frankie out of the corner of his eye.

Mind games.

But what else is there to go on? This isn’t a Super Bowl where experts can pull out a mountain of statistics and predict the outcome based on first downs rushing, sacks allowed or interceptions thrown.

Some fights are predictable. Like Mike Tyson against anybody short of King Kong.

But in a fight like Pinango-Duarte, two highly successful men without a common opponent, where different styles can have different results, who knows? Who really knows?

A bystander watches Duarte spar. Looks too slow to me, he says.

Compared to what? You never box in the gym the way you do in an actual fight, says Joe Goossen, Duarte’s trainer.

Another bystander said Duarte (41-6-1 with 32 knockouts) doesn’t have a chance. He’s talked to two people who’ve seen Pinango fight. On film.

Nobody knows. And yet everybody has an opinion. An awful lot of bets will be made and an awful lot of money will change hands on the flimsiest bits of information.

One of Duarte’s people reports Pinango looks overweight. That draws smiles in the Duarte camp.

Pinango (22-2, 14 knockouts) said he’s already thinking about his next two title defenses, announcing he’ll then retire, presumably as champion. His manager smiles.

Mind games.