The Story within the Story: Christian Giudice and Writing the Book on Duran

By Lee Groves from Max Boxing

Roberto Duran is unquestionably among the top 10 fighters who has ever lived. His reign of terror as lightweight champion established him as a legend while he was still in his mid-20s and in winning 72 of his first 73 fights he was the living, breathing personification of “machismo.” His unforgiving coal-black eyes, his wild jet-black hair, his satanic-looking goatee that encircled a vicious sneer and his fire-breathing intensity enabled him to become a transcendent figure in the United States despite the fact he spoke little English. His performances in the ring spoke for him and his accomplishments paved the way for his enshrinement at the International Boxing Hall of Fame this June.
Given all this, it is difficult to believe that no one had written a book about Duran’s life. But Christian Giudice, a 32-year-old sportswriter who grew up in Haddonfield, N.J., took up the challenge and wrote “Hands of Stone: The Life and Legend of Roberto Duran.” The 320-page missive takes a comprehensive look at Duran’s life inside and outside the ring. It details Duran’s impoverished upbringing in a single-parent household and the struggles he underwent just to survive. It covers virtually all of the famous stories surrounding Duran:

  • The “no mas” fight with Sugar Ray Leonard.
  • The time he knocked down a horse with a single right.
  • The low blow against Ken Buchanan.
  • His road to redemption following the Leonard debacle.
  • The final miracle against Barkley to win his fourth divisional belt.
  • The long decline that ended with a 50-year-old Duran losing his second decision to Hector Camacho.

Giudice began his sportswriting career seven years ago with the Gloucester County Times in Woodbury, N.J. and Fightnews.com, then did freelance work for various publications such as The Naperville Sun, The Jerusalem Post, the Ann Arbor News, Boxing Digest and South Jersey Sports Magazine. Giudice said there was no specific incident that led him to write the Duran book.

“At the time I was writing for the GCT newspaper and also doing Fightnews.com features,” he said. “Nevertheless, I knew that I wanted to do something definitive beyond the Internet coverage. I don’t believe there was a ‘thunderbolt moment,’ but I figured it to be the perfect time in my life to tackle a book project. I had done research on Duran and was fascinated that there was nothing written on him. The fact that I would be the first one to cover this guy was really what piqued my interest. To this day I still don’t understand why there was nothing (in the U.S.) written on the man.”

Guidice would spend nearly the next six years of his life working on the book, and his youthful zest allowed him to surmount challenges that might have daunted others. The fact that he couldn’t speak Spanish was one such challenge, at least in the beginning.

“In a way I was fortunate that at the time I was ignorant to those ‘barriers’ that might have deterred others,” Guidice said. “At 25, I knew I wanted to travel and that this was a story that needed to be told. I knew that I wanted to write Duran’s biography even if I didn’t know Spanish. The only barrier seemed to be the language issue and that some were jaded because Duran wasn’t exactly a media-friendly guy in his heyday. So that turned people off. Also, Duran is extremely hard to nail down for a couple minutes let alone a lengthy project.”

Guidice flew down to Panama during the summer of 2002 to begin his pursuit of Duran and the result was a series of articles for Fightnews.com that chronicled his travels.

“Being a writer for Fightnews.com gave me a necessary outlet when I reached Panama,” he said. “Being able to publish those earlier pieces helped me get essential connections in Panama, and also made people realize that I was serious about this project. I went down to Panama with no Spanish, a laptop, some articles on Duran and a book on Noriega. When I was going through security in Panama, a woman saw my book on Noriega, held it up for everyone to see and started to laugh at me. As soon as I got off the plane, I got in a cab and went to find a hotel. The cab driver actually stopped in front of Duran’s house on the way to the hotel. I would stay there for three months, talk to Duran for a couple minutes here and there, and then head back home with a few articles I had sent back to Fightnews.com.”

Giudice discovered that if he wanted to pursue this project to the fullest, he had to learn the language. He knew that translators wouldn’t always be present and Duran is known to appreciate those who attempt to converse with him in his native tongue.

“I knew that the only chance to write this book would be to learn Spanish,” Guidice said. “I went back to Temple, enrolled in a Latin-American program and studied the language for 6-8 hours a day. I knew that if I was going to earn Duran’s respect, I had to speak the language. I ended up going back and conducting over 100 interviews in Spanish. Breaking the language barrier was the key.”

Giudice was impressed by the passion his countrymen had for Duran, and his accessibility is one of the biggest reasons he remains “the man” in Panama.

“I met Duran several times at fight cards in Panama,” he said. “In Panama, he is obviously an icon. He refuses to keep his distance from ‘his’ people. Everyone in the country knows him. I mean they know every little fact about the man. It was fascinating to get in a cab and have the driver tell me about Duran’s family and his favorite beach to go on Sundays. They are very protective of his legacy, as they should be. How many Roberto Durans will grace this earth? There surely won’t be another like him.”

So what is Duran really like? If one goes by what he sees at press conferences, sparring sessions and inside the ropes, Duran would be seen as a savage. Duran was a big believer in going all-out in sparring sessions and those who showed disrespect would receive an even bigger beating than those who simply worked with him. His menacing aura left some opponents petrified and his mastery of psychological warfare practically won him the first fight against Leonard as a furious “Sugar Ray” chose to engage Duran toe-to-toe instead of utilizing his speed advantage.

But outside the ring, Giudice said Duran is a completely different person.

“Well the preconceived notion that he is a callous party-loving guy is not close to the guy I met,” he said. “Also, I was not privy to the Duran of the 1970s and 1980s. To tell you the truth, my intention was not to dig up all of the stories about Duran and his party lifestyle. I met a guy in his fifties who spent his nights playing pool and watching DVDs on his big-screen TV. There were times that he didn’t want to be bothered, and he made it clear. The biggest surprise about the man is how sensitive and generous he is. I found out that he is a symbol for people in Panama who grew up with nothing. They know what he did for the poor people and they won’t forget it.”

Giudice’s book is well written and meticulously researched, and he worked hard to chronicle as many viewpoints of Duran as possible. One of his more surprising “gets” was an interview with Greg Potter, who was knocked out in one round in Panama City in Duran’s first fight after winning the lightweight title from Ken Buchanan.

“I literally tried to track down every opponent of Duran’s from Carlos Mendoza – his debut opponent – to Wilfred Benitez,” Guidice said. “Some guys were impossible to find or didn’t want to be found, while others were easy to locate at local boxing shows. To this day, each one of them knows what fighting a name like Duran did for their careers.”

When the time finally came to write the book, Giudice found the process incredibly isolating. Many days he would struggle to squeeze out paragraphs while on other days the words poured out.

“Nothing was easy,” he said. “I could never get used to the seclusion part of writing the book. Some days I would get a page done and others I was able to hammer out five to 10 pages. At times it was excruciatingly slow, but as I realized that the book could become a reality, it started to flow.”

Giudice’s book has received mostly positive reaction, and the kind words have convinced him that his hard work had paid off.

“So far I have received mostly positive reviews from boxing writers, especially from the U.K.,” he said. “When educated boxing people read this book and send e-mails about how they enjoyed it, that’s what really makes the project worthwhile. Going into this I knew it meant that I would struggle for a while and then hopefully the book would prosper. More importantly, I wanted to give a face to Duran beyond that of ‘no mas.’ I wanted to erase that stigma and show who this man was outside the ring. I believe I did that, and I hope others do, too.”

Now that Giudice has experienced the fruits of his successful first book, he wants to take another bite.

“If I had the opportunity, I would love to write another boxing book in Latin America,” he said. “I would love to do something on boxing in Cuba or Alexis Arguello, Wilfred Benitez or Carlos Monzon. I think there will be a need for one on Arturo Gatti, so yes, I am anxious to start my second project.”

Giudice’s second book, whatever subject it might cover, will have a very tough act to follow.

See the original article here.

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