When Roberto Duran was training to fight Carlos Palomino at Madison Square Garden, he worked out at Howard Albert's gym, an old factory loft in the Garment Center, just a few blocks from the new Garden.
It was summertime, and sweltering, and every Latino worker in the garment area-- and their families-- would go to watch their hero train at lunchtime.
The gym was like a steam room, and jammed cheek-to-jowl with the adoring. . They pressed so close; they barely left Duran enough room to do his floor exercises. And then he went into the ring to shadow box.
Spanning what looked like a crowded subway, you could see chests swell and faces full of pride. Plump mothers holding babies in their arms stood right at the
ring apron, while their little children looked up saucer-eyed at this god.
In the midst of all of this, somebody in the back--unbelievably! -- kept yelling at Duran in Spanish: "PIPINO CUEVAS WILL KILL YOU!
Duran paid him no mind and continued to shadow box. But the heckler was relentless: "PIPINO CUEVAS WILL KILL YOU! "PIPINO CUEVAS WILL KILL YOU!
Finally, Duran fixed a glare at him, stretched as far over the ropes as he could--just above the glowing faces of mothers and infants--and yanked down his trunks, grabbed his nuts, and roared in Spanish: "PIPINO CUEVAS CAN SUCK MY COCK!