NEW YORK -- Roberto Duran, who battled back from boxing oblivion to win the World Boxing Association junior middleweight title, said Tuesday he will relinquish it in order to fight Thomas Hearns for his World Boxing Council version of the 154-pound title on June 15.
Duran, the veteran from Panama who has won titles in three different weight classes, has been ordered by the WBA to make a mandatory defense against No. 1 ranked Mike McCallum. Duran, however, told the WBA he wants Hearns first and will give up the title in order to meet him in a 12-round WBC title fight.
Duran, who has yet to defend the title he won by stopping Davey Moore in eight rounds last June, will ask the WBA executive committee to grant him another extension at their meeting in Las Vegas, Nev., on March 31. Even if he receives the required three-fourths vote of the committee, his appeal is expected to be rejected by WBA President Gilbert Mendoza of Venezuela.
Duran was given permission to go up in weight and fight for Marvin Hagler's world middleweight title last November and he lost a 15-round decision. He was to have signed to fight McCallum by Feb. 10 but was granted a 2-month extension because of a hand injury.
'Roberto says he will give up the title on or before June 15,' said Luis Spada, Duran's manager. 'We will wait until after the WBA committee meeting on March 31 to determine our course of action but Roberto is prepared to give up the WBA title and fight for Thomas Hearns' WBC title. The WBC already has sanctioned it as a title fight under its rules.'
Duran appeared to be finished two years ago when he had consecutive losses to Wilfred Benitez and Kirkland Laing and looked unimpressive in outpointing lightly regarded Jimmy Batten. But he knocked out former WBA welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas in four rounds to earn another title shot and then dethroned Davey Moore with a savage beating last June.
The promoters of the Hearns-Duran bout, Walter Alverez of Miami and Gold Circle of Detroit, said no site has been selected. A spokesman said the sites had been narrowed to one foreign and one United States location and that a decision would be made within a week. The fight will be telecast on closed circuit and on a pay-per-view basis.
Hearns, the former WBA welterweight champion, won the WBC super welterweight (154-pound) crown on Dec. 3, 1982 with a 15-round decision over Wilfred Benitez. He suffered two hand injuries while training and has made only one title defense, a 12-round decision over Luigi Minchillo in Detroit on Feb. 11.
Hearns is 38-1 with 32 knockouts. His only loss was a 14th round TKO to Sugar Ray Leonard in a world welterweight title unification bout in September, 1981.
Duran, the former world lightweight and WBC welterweight champion, won the WBA junior middleweight title last June with his TKO of Moore. He has not yet made a title defense. Duran is 76-5 with 57 KOs.
McCallum was at the news conference and was livid at the proceedings. Both Hearns and McCallum are managed by Emanuel Steward.
'I want to fight Roberto Duran,' said McCallum, a native of Jamaica now living in Brooklyn, N.Y. 'I'm the No. 1 contender and the WBA has ruled that he's supposed to face me. They already gave him a 2-month extension in February and now they're playing more games with me.'
A spokesman for Gold Circle said Duran's relinquishing the title on June 15 would enable McCallum to fight No. 2 ranked Sean Mannion for the WBA title. But McCallum said he was interested only in Duran right now.
'I did everything in my power to get a title fight against Roberto Duran for Mike McCallum,' Steward said. 'But you can't make someone fight. I have no control over it. I decided that if Roberto Duran would not fight Mike McCallum that Mike McCallum would be covered. It would be very difficult for us to wait for the WBA to strip Duran. He's a legend in South America and it might be months before anything would be resolved. This way, at least Mike gets a title shot.'
Both Hearns and Duran are hoping their June 15 bout will lead to huge money fights. Hearns is aiming at Hagler's middleweight title and said Tuesday the fight against Duran probably would be his last in the 154-pound division. Duran is looking to face Leonard, who is expected to end a 2-year retirement when he meets Kevin Howard in May.
Duran won the WBC welterweight title with a 15-round decision over Leonard in June, 1980, but lost the title to Leonard five months later when he quit in the eighth round of their rematch, complaining of stomach cramps.
