Duran, Wanting More, Takes On Barkley : Ex-Champion, Now 37, Seeks a Fourth Title

At the dawn of the 1980s, Roberto Duran was stepping out of the ring a loser after telling Sugar Ray Leonard, no mas . No more.

But as the sun sets on the ‘80s, here is Duran, still in the ring, still asking for mas, mas .

At 37, his legendary “hands of stone” having turned, in the opinion of some, to hands of clay, Duran will return to the ring tonight in search of a fourth world title. The Panamanian will face Iran Barkley, the World Boxing Council’s middleweight champion, in a 12-round match at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

Barkley is favored, but the doubters are out in force on both sides.

Barkley couldn’t have a more fitting first name than Iran, considering how explosive and unpredictable his career has been.

He surprised a lot of people by knocking out highly touted Michael Olajide last March.

Then he shocked people last June when, bloody and seemingly beaten, he reached back for a devastating, third-round knockout punch against Thomas Hearns to win the WBC title.

“People said it was a lucky punch,” Barkley said, obvious bitterness in his voice. “Thomas Hearns didn’t think it was a lucky punch. There is no such thing as a lucky punch.”

This fight represents vindication for the 28-year-old Barkley, but not for himself so much. No, this one’s for Davey Moore.

Nearly six years ago, Duran knocked out Moore to win the World Boxing Assn. junior middleweight championship.

Moore and Barkley went even farther back, to common roots in the South Bronx. Barkley was a sparring partner and Moore’s best friend. And he always felt that Duran cheated to beat his old buddy by thumbing him.

Moore never got a rematch. Then, last June, just three days before the Barkley-Hearns fight, Moore was killed in a freak accident when his unoccupied Jeep ran over him in his driveway.

In Barkley’s mind, Moore gets his rematch tonight.

“Davey plays a big part in this,” Barkley said. “This is going to be vindication for everything. I told myself a long time ago that Duran would venture into the middleweight division someday and we would meet.”

Barkley believes that Moore was never the same after the Duran fight. “It’s not that Duran killed Davey,” Barkley said. “But he killed his spirit.”

Duran, who has also held the undisputed world lightweight and WBC welterweight championships in his 21-year ring career and is the only man to ever beat Sugar Ray Leonard, in the first of their two fights, isn’t impressed with Barkley’s crusade.

“Barkley better fight for himself, not Davey Moore,” said Duran through an interpreter. “Davey Moore is dead, but I didn’t kill him.”

Also featured on tonight’s card are five ’88 Olympians making their pro debuts--four Americans and welterweight Robert Wangila of Kenya, in separate four-round fights.

The star of the group is the Olympic heavyweight gold medalist, Ray Mercer, from Augusta, Ga., who will fight Jerry McGhee of Welch, W. Va. Mercer has yet to throw a punch for pay but has already set his sights on heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

“I’m going to try to fight every two weeks,” said Mercer, who is already 27. “I can see myself fighting Tyson in about 18 months.”

Wangila, another winner of gold in Seoul, will face Sidney Gomez of Brazil.

The bantamweight gold medalist, Kennedy McKinney of Memphis, will go up against David Allers of of Springfield, Mass.

Andrew Maynard, the light-heavyweight gold medalist from Cheverly, Md., meets Troy Jackson of Rockville, Md.

And Michael Carbajal of Phoenix, silver medalist in the light-flyweight division, will meet Willy Grigsby of St. Paul, Minn.