In his last battle, William Joppy reclaimed the WBA middleweight title by defeating Julio César Green, who had upset him the previous year to win the belt, in a rematch. For the first defense of his second reign, 28-year-old Joppy faced former four-division world champion Roberto Durán, who was two decades older than his opponent and had gone professional in 1967, three years before Joppy was born. Durán had not fought for a major world title since challenging Sugar Ray Leonard for the WBC super middleweight gold in December 1989, and he has had limited success since then, defeating unknown journeymen and losing the three big fights (two against Vinny Paz and one against Héctor Camacho).
Durán, who had been struggling financially, accepted Joppy’s promoter Don King’s offer of a $250,000 payout. After his payday became public, a Florida judge issued an injunction against King and Showtime (who was to broadcast the fight), claiming Durán owed $41,000 in child support to the mother of his 10-year-old son,[1], while the IRS sought to seize a portion of the purse due to Durán’s $300,000 in unpaid taxes.[2]
When the match was first advertised, it was scheduled for June 6 as the featured undercard contest on an event headlined by Evander Holyfield vs. Henry Akinwande for the heavyweight title. However, when Akinwande tested positive for Hepatitis B the day before the bout, the entire event was canceled.[3] The Joppy-Durán fight was then rescheduled for August 29 (and later moved up a day to August 28), with a Bernard Hopkins-Robert Allen IBF middleweight championship bout as the co-headliner.[4]
Durán, who looked his age, was overwhelmed by Joppy, who threw blows at will. After easily winning the first two rounds on the scorecards, Joppy wobbled Durán early in the third round and proceeded to brutalize Durán, who offered little offensively or defensively, for the remainder of the round until referee Joe Cortez stopped the fight with six seconds left in the round and awarded Joppy the technical knockout win.
Durán all but formally announced his retirement after the fight, saying simply “I am finished,” however he returned the next year and fought until 2001. Said Joppy of the victory. “This was a bittersweet triumph for me since Roberto Duran is a true legend. I have watched him fight since I was a child. But now is my time. He has reached the end of his career. “I want mine.”[5]
