In the dream Lanas was flustered because he couldn't find his boxing equipment. He rummaged through a laundry closet, looking for his boxing trunks. He arrived late to the arena. He found that Duran was much shorter than he had expected -- the size of a gnome, only a few feet tall. He couldn't tell you what Duran looked like because the fighter from Panama was wearing oversized headgear.
Fully awake, Lanas went to boxing practice the next morning. He told members of the Mount Prospect Boxing Club about the funny dream he had the night before.
About 10 years after that dream, Lanas got a chance to fight the authentic, full-size Duran. Lanas had won the 1982 Chicago Golden Gloves welterweight title and had an impressive professional career.
It was a "Rocky" story. Duran's handlers seemed to pull the 26-year-old Lanas' name out of a hat. Lanas was not a top-10 ranked middleweight. Duran was set to challenge Iran Barkley a few months after for the world middleweight championship. It was clear that Duran's people were looking for a tune-up fight, an easy opponent for the 37-year-old Duran whose nicknames were "Hands of Stone" and "El Cholo."
But Duran didn't get the easy opponent he wanted.
Many who saw the bout at the International Amphitheatre on Oct. 1, 1988, felt that Lanas beat Duran, that he had outpointed one of the great boxers of that era. Duran even hit Lanas below the belt in what could be construed as a dirty tactic to slow Lanas down. Duran had done the same to Ken Buchanan when he beat the Scotsman years before to win the lightweight title.
The local press didn't give Lanas credit for a strong showing. Instead they berated Duran, saying that the former lightweight champ was finished as a fighter. One sportswriter wrote: "Stick a fork in Roberto Duran. He's done."
But it turned out that Duran wasn't cooked. He beat Iran Barkley to capture the WBC Middleweight title just four months later in Atlantic City.
(By Tim Kane)
