Esteban De Jesus 'I Beat Duran So Easy'

'Esteban De Jesus Drops Roberto Duran'

The Assoictaed Press scored the bout {5-4-1} for Esteban De Jesus.

Official Scorecards
* Referee, Arthur Mercante......5-4-1 (Esteban De Jesus)
* Judge, Harold Lederman........6-3-1 (Esteban De Jesus)
* Judge, Bill Recht..................6-2-2 (Esteban De Jesus)

The Associated Press;

Time and and again, Esteban De Jesus beat Roberto Duran to the punch,
with quick right hands over Roberto's left hand, and sharp left hooks.

Esteban's trainer Gregorio Benitez had prepared his fighter to come out
like a small version of Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier, by throwing
hard left hooks in the early rounds, to confuse the Panamanian Duran.

It worked to perfection, as early in the 1st-Round, the Puerto Rican
Lightweight dropped the WBA Champion with a perfectly timed left hook
to the jaw.

Then while the WBA Lightweight Champion was looking to block the left hooks,
Esteban would switch to quick overhand right hands to the jaw. The fight
plan worked to perfection, as Duran seemed to have no idea of what
was coming next.

Roberto, a relentless 'free-swinger', missed with his punches all night, except
for a few hard puches that landed in the later rounds. Duran's
'primitive style' which worked perfectly against 'stylist' Ken Buchanan,
did not work against the 'compact buzz-saw' Esteban De Jesus.

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Look how young these 21 year-old kids looked.

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What the boxing experts said after Esteba De Jesus defeated Roberto Duran.

A) A tough cookie, who took control of the bout early, and never looked back
B) Smart, poised and an incredible performance
C) Smooth
D) Esteban is an economical fighter
E) Fought like a fine craftsman
F) Great hand-speed and incredible footwork baffled the Lightweight Champion
G) Not only did he take control early, he kept it up all night
H) He showed us what Roberto Duran really is, a primitive fighter
I) The left hook has power, but that right hand is a thing of beauty
J) He made Duran miss all night
K) Duran had no idea what hit him, as he was beat to the punch in almost every round

The Associated Press, scored the bout, 5-4-1 for Esteban De Jesus. Esteban, is a
compact fire-plug, and fought like Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier in the early
rounds, by winging left hands (half-hook/half-uppercut). By the time Roberto Duran
came out of his daze in Round 6, he was so far behind that he needed a ladder just
to get to 'even ground'. It was Esteban De Jesus' fight to win from that point on, as he
maintained control, except for a few shaky moments in Round 8, where the Panamanian
landed several hard body punches.

The announcement of the decision after the bout was a mere formality, as the
9144 fans at Madison Square Garden already knew who had won.

 

Friday Night - February 16, 1973

Roberto Clemente Stadium

Attendance; 7000

'vacant' NABF Lightweight Championship

Esteban 'Vita' De Jesus - 34-1-0 {18 KO's} - #1 Lightweight
vs.
'Lightning' Ray Lampkin - 19-0-1 {6 KO's} #5 Lightweight

21 1/2 year-old - Puerto Rican Lightweight - Esteban De Jesus picked where he left off
last November 1972, when he 'upset' WBA Champion - Roberto Duran in a non-title bout.

This time, Esteban dropped the 25 year-old - American Lightweight - Ray Lampkin in the
1st-Round with a hard right hand over the top. And, Esteban followed that up with another
hard right later in the round, to drop the Ray Lampkin again for a 'flash-knockdown'.

From that point on, thru the next 5-Rounds, the powerful Puerto Rican beat a steady
drum-beat of left hooks, on the sophisticated Lampkin. Plowing straight ahead, Esteban
whacked away with hard punches, as Lampkin jabbed and retreated.

But in Round 6, the visiting American started to find a home for his left jab, and also
a few rib-jarring looping left hands to the body of De Jesus. The change in attack from Lampkin,
bothered Esteban, has he could not match Lampkin in hand or foot-speed.

In Rounds 7, 8 and 9 - Ray Lampkin slowly worked his way back into this scheduled
12-Rounder, and had many of the 7000 pro-De Jesus fans at the Roberto Clemente Stadium
a little more than worried.

In a 'rock-em-sock-em' 10th Round, both fighters pounded away, tossing out their boxing skills,
in exchange for brute slugging. Esteban had the power, but he missed many punches, as Lampkin
would not back down. The American 'whistled in' his own right hands to Esteban's face, in what
was the best round of the fight.

Heading into the 'Final Round', Esteban came out winging, and early in the round he put a
'punctuation mark' on the bout, by dropping Ray Lampkin with a powerful left hook to the chin.
The American was up at the '2-Count' and was not badly hurt, but if anything - it cost him the
round and the 12-Round Decision for the NABF Lightweight Championship.

The Decision was announced as Unanimous.

 

Ed,

It was Carlos Eleta who would not sign a contract to fight Esteban De Jesus in
1973, and he had the Panama WBA Officials on his side.

As a matter of fact, they only offered Esteban De Jesus $7500 as a fight purse
fee to come to Panama. Gregorio 'Papa' Benitez, Esteban's Manager said 'NO'.

In the meantime, they were trying to negotiate a deal with Madison Square Garden
to stage a Ken Buchanan vs. Esteban De Jesus bout for September 1973, with
both fighters getting approximately $65,000 each.