Although no world title was at stake, the scheduled 12-round catchweight contest carried major significance. The winner would move into position for a shot at WBA junior middleweight champion Davey Moore. Duran weighed 152 kilos, while Cuevas got here in at 149. Each fighters were guaranteed $50,000 plus a share of the closed-circuit television revenue, and the event produced a live gate of $408,000.
From the opening bell, Duran boxed with the precision that had made him certainly one of the game’s all-time greats. He established a pointy left jab, controlled the gap and repeatedly beat Cuevas to the punch, stopping the hard-hitting Mexican from setting his feet.
Cuevas tried to force exchanges, but Duran calmly slipped punches, answered with crisp combos and showed little concern for his opponent’s feared power. By the tip of the second round, it was clear Duran was dictating every aspect of the fight.
Duran took complete control within the third round. A crushing left hook rocked Cuevas, and a right uppercut moments later left the previous champion badly shaken. Cuevas continued pressing forward, but his punches lacked their usual authority as Duran picked him apart with superior timing, accuracy and ring generalship.
The top got here at 2:26 of the fourth round. A strong right hand badly hurt Cuevas and drove him toward the ropes. Duran poured on the attack, scoring the primary knockdown and forcing referee James Jen Kin to manage a count. When the motion resumed, Duran wasted little time, drilling Cuevas with a right-left-right combination that sent him to the canvas for the second time.
Cuevas climbed to his feet, but manager Lupe Suarez immediately threw within the towel to spare his fighter further punishment. The official result was a fourth-round technical knockout, the 56th knockout victory of Duran’s remarkable profession.
The victory answered lingering questions on whether Duran remained an elite fighter after the Leonard and Laing setbacks. Relatively than being remembered as one other faded former champion, “Hands of Stone” had reminded the boxing world why he was considered certainly one of the game’s biggest competitors.
Duran improved to 75-4 and earned the chance he wanted. Later that 12 months, he challenged the unbeaten Davey Moore for the WBA junior middleweight championship and stopped him in eight rounds to capture a world title in a 3rd weight class, completing certainly one of boxing’s finest profession revivals.
Cuevas fell to 29-8. Once certainly one of the game’s most feared punchers, he never again reached championship level, fighting only sporadically before retiring in 1989.
Today, Duran’s destruction of Cuevas is remembered because the performance that reignited his Hall of Fame profession. It erased much of the doubt surrounding his future and set the stage for his memorable championship overcome Moore later that 12 months.
