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The movie ended with Duran/Leonard "No Mass."
A couple different versions of how it ended, part of which I watched in the ESPN 30 for 30 about Duran vs Leonard, which detailed the heated rivalry and then too several years later how they eventually buried the hatchet and became friends. The ESPN 30 for 30 segments are usually very very good... this one was definitely one of their best.
So Duran's promoter signed the deal with Don King, without Duran being informed that he would have to cut weight for the rematch with Leonard or else give up the belt. So Duran initially was furious about it... didn't want to lose 40 pounds (or whatever it was) within like a 4-month period and fight at a lower weight, but the deal was signed (without him knowing) and it was either go through with it or relinquish the belt. Okay, he cuts weight... starving himself basically and fasting right up until the official weigh-in. No sooner than he's cleared to fight, he starts eating like a mad man... we're talking out of control.
He goes into the fight several hours later, and he's sick to his stomach. He ate too much, he's bloated. And Leonard's ploy for the rematch was to move and jab, keeping Duran chasing him and forcing him to expend a lot of energy. Except Duran is in no condition now to chase. His stomach starts cramping. Leonard sees an opponent who ain't ready to fight that kind of fight, and he's winning every round. It gets to the point where it becomes embarrassing... Leonard is hotdogging and showing off, making fun of Duran.
Duran finally says that's it, "no mass." He quits midway through the fight.
To this day, Duran maintains that his stomach cramps were what forced him to quit, and he also says he didn't say "no mass." He maintains that he just simply said something along the lines of "I can't continue doing this." Either way, the verdict was still the same - Duran quit and lost the belt. And he would never return to the ring the same ferocious fighter he once was, although he did make a comeback.
Leading up to the first fight, Duran was a major trash talker... he got personal with Leonard, making lewd and suggestive comments about his wife. It was the product of his upbringing... he came from nothing, stole food to get by, living in squalor. Boxing was his ticket... he was good at fighting, something he got plenty of practice at as a kid. And then here's Leonard - who Duran saw as this elite, entitled American poster boy for the sport. Duran thought he was soft, and he wanted to get into Leonard's head. And he did in that first fight. It was an epic battle, but Duran came out just a few points better according to the judges. That second fight however... Leonard knew how to beat him. He refrained from the personal attacks leading up to the second fight, but would have the last laugh the night of the fight, taking Duran completely out of his normal style and forcing him to box as opposed to more of a street fighting style. Duran was a great fighter, a great puncher. But he simply couldn't adjust to the more nuanced style that Leonard forced him to become, and that's basically what gave Leonard the fight.
Lots of memories... loved boxing back in those days, before it became the joke that it eventually turned into. When Tyson came onto the scene back in the mid-late 80's, I thought maybe there would be renewed interest that the sport could sustain. But then PPV and money and spending 40 bucks to watch 2 rounds before a TKO became the norm, big payouts, this huge promotional deal that suddenly made pro wrestling look more legitimate.
The sport is in the process of changing again, trying to bring back to more of a made-for-tv feel to draw in the younger audiences, but I think the culture today is all about cage fighting and UFC. I'm personally not seeing anything remotely interesting enough to lure me back in as a fan.