One of my favorite boxers when I was young was Panamanian Roberto Duran. He was nicknamed, “Hands of stone.” He was tough and relentless when he boxed. He has been rated as one of the top ten boxers of all time. He was nearly unstoppable early in his career. When I followed him closely through the late Seventies and into 1980 he had a record of 71-1. In June of 1980 he beat Sugar Ray Leonard who was undefeated and the reigning Welterweight champion. It was a huge victory for Roberto, despite receiving much less money for the fight than Sugar Ray did. Sugar Ray was a big fan favorite at the time.

Just five months later the two had a quickly arranged second title match. This time Sugar Ray Leonard had a much different strategy for the constantly aggressively stalking Panamanian. The strategy was to jab and move, and move and move. The time of the fight arrived and the strategy worked wonderfully for Sugar Ray as Roberto couldn’t really catch him during the boxing match. After a few rounds of chasing, Roberto Duran was getting frustrated that he could not hit Sugar Ray. The fight was close on the scorecards, but by the end of round six, Sugar Ray had a slight lead.

In the seventh round Sugar Ray began taunting and mocking frustrated Roberto. Duran’s visible frustration was growing and growing. In the middle of round eight, with his irritation at a peak, Duran suddenly stopped fighting and repeatedly said, “No mas.” He returned to his corner and the fight was over. In the middle of a championship fight, my champion quit. How could he do that? Why would he do that? Why did he do that? Suddenly the fight was over and there was a new champion, Sugar Ray Leonard. I have thought about this boxing match numerous times in my life. I have concluded that Roberto had not made the decision to never quit. Quitting is completely different than defeat. Defeat can be a stepping stone, a master teacher, an opportunity to learn and grow. Quitting denotes fear and failure.

 Roberto had left the door to frustration open. When frustration peaked, he just gave up. It was a shock to the world. I am certain to this day he regrets his decision to quit.

In our lives, there will be times when we will be tempted to do the same. There will be times when we will be frustrated and feel we are losing or behind. We will be tempted to quit. We must decide now to fight to the end. We must decide to never quit. We must decide to never give up. God will never quit on us, and we must never quit on Him.