Ring Observer Boxing by Scoop Malinowski
By Scoop Malinowski
Former pro Kenny Abbott got the opportunity to spar with all time great, four-division boxing champion Roberto Duran in Miami at the Fifth Street Gym.
“My trainer and manager Angelo Dundee got me sparring with Duran in 1978 I believe was the first time. I also worked with Aaron Pryor for years. I had a very bad car accident and had to quit, broke my back and neck and about three hundred stitches in my eye brows.”
Abbott, who turned pro in 1978 and won his first seven fights, says he noticed the extraordinary qualities of Duran from an up close and personal view. “I was always amazed at how hard he trained, several times I stopped working out just to watch him and you should’ve seen him jump the rope, I worked with him several times probably more like dozens of times and I will never forget the first time. It was in Miami and when I got to the gym Angelo Dundee told me I was going to spar with Duran. When the bell sounded I started moving around trying to keep him at a distance and I could see the bell, it had a big hand on it and I could see when it was going to ring, and Roberto was treating me like someone who couldn’t fight, had his hands down and so on. Well I saw when the bell was fixing to ring and threw a combination of punches [chuckles] And the bell ended the round and he started hollering in Spanish like he was mad as hell, and Dundee started speaking with him in Spanish and told me he wanted to box a few more rounds with me. Angelo said he going to be out to get your ass, and I said okay. Well the bell sounded again and we started and this time he had his hands up high and was moving his head and we had a good round going for the people watching. Then I started hearing a wild animal-like noise , like hissing and growling and I looked in his eyes and it was him, it freaked me out for a bit and I will never forget that in my life. And I worked with him a few years later for the Davey Moore fight at the Garden, with Luis Resto working with him also.”
In 1979 Abbott lost two fights – to Dario DeJesus and Willie Brown – before winning his final pro fight two years later after the accident in 1981, a split decision vs James Donnelly. Abbott’s final pro record finished at a respectable 8-2 with four knockouts.
Though a world title was not in the cards for Abbott, he experienced success outside of professional boxing. “I have had a great life, and ended up plastering, and did a lot of farming, but I always wished I would’ve never of got hurt and could have finished the fight game. I worked with several world champions and held my own with anyone.”
Another accomplished world champion Abbott sparred with extensively was Junior Welterweight kingpin Aaron Pryor. When asked who he felt would have won a hypothetical Duran vs Pryor showdown, Abbott replied with a classy, dignified answer which some champions of today could learn from. “I appreciate you writing that about me, but I don’t want to answer that question, I have too much respect for both men, and all of their fans, and family but what a war that fight would’ve been!”
Today, Abbott lives in Conyers, Georgia where he farms fruit and vegetables, is a sheet rock finisher, metal framer and painter: “Never afraid to work and I love working, I am not going to quit, once you quit, that ten count starts.”
Duran started his illustrious ring career in 1968 and achieved a pro record of 103-16 with 70 knockouts. Duran and Jack Johnson are the only champions to box in four different decades. The Panamanian marvel’s last fight was in 2001, a decision loss to Hector Camacho in Denver, Colorado. My Biofile interview with Roberto Duran
