PART ONE:
Boxing through the eyes of a cutman!

April 27, 2004

By Trinidad Guzman

Photo: Roger Williams

Jacob “Stitch” Duran is one of the most prominent cutmen, not only in boxing, but also in the mixed martial arts “UFC” competitions as well as Japan's widely popular sport of K1 kickboxing. Most people would be exhausted by that amount of time consuming work but Duran does not stop there, he is also a representative for the non-profit organization “Retired Boxers Foundation” and once a week co-hosts with his partner Nick Ward a local Las Vegas radio program “The Thirteenth Round” dedicated to the sweet science.

If that was not enough, the fifty-two-year old Duran is also credited with being the pioneer of the widely talked about documentary “A Boxers Nightmare” which features some of the biggest players within the sport of boxing conversing about the changes that they feel are needed to thrust boxing into the twenty first century and protect its most prized possessions… the fighters! Fightnews was able to sit down one-on-one with “Stitch” and in this four part in-depth series get his take on everything from his groundbreaking film to the secrets of becoming a quality cutman in the cutthroat boxing industry.

How did you get your nickname “Stitch”?
The name “Stitch” goes back to about 1980, I was involved in kickboxing and I was working with a fighter as a cutman, I ended up stopping his cuts, I butter flied them, the guy said “Hey man you saved me some stitches, thanks Stitch” and ever since then the name “Stitch” has stuck with me.

Would you say that more people recognize you by your nickname “Stitch” then Jacob Duran?
Believe it or not the majority of the people don’t even know my real name! Everyone knows me as “Stitch”. One time I was at a local fight at the Orleans and I was working with a kid named Michael Clark, I walked into the arena and there was a guy looking for “Stitch” and someone recommended Jacob Duran to him but he said that he wanted “Stitch” he didn’t realize that “Stitch” and Jacob Duran were the same guy!

Earlier you mentioned kickboxing; did your experience with kickboxers lead you to getting involved with the sport of boxing?
Most people in boxing don’t realize that back in 1964 I was in the Air Force and was stationed in Thailand for about a year. I went down town with some friends to watch some fights and I saw kickboxing for the very first time and one of the fighters got knocked out with a kick to the head, I said, I have got to study this, the next day I started training. That is where I got my solid background; I trained there for about a year and became one of the first Americans to be certified by the Thais to teach Muay Tai kickboxing in the Untied States.

Where did you go after your one-year of duty was up in Thailand?
When I got out of the Air Force I lived in Fairfield California and decided to open up my own gym named ASK (American School Of Kickboxing) where I trained kickboxers as well professional boxers.

Was working at your gym your sole occupation at the time?
No, I also had a great job in sales, with a company car and all of that stuff, but I always wanted to work in Las Vegas as a cutman. About three years before I moved out here I put in for a transfer with my sales job for any opening in Las Vegas. My company called me and told me that they had an opening in downtown Las Vegas but I had to be there in one week! I couldn’t make it in one week but was able to get an extension for two weeks and in those two weeks I sold my house, closed my school and moved my family to Las Vegas. I also took a $25,000 a year pay cut just to move here to Las Vegas.

Did you have some serious reservations about packing up and leaving everything behind?
My family and I talked about the move and they were and have always been very supportive of me. They understood that this was my destiny and we made the move. My family and I are all ambitious, I have always followed my dreams, I have never been scared to try anything. I grew up as a migrate worker working in the fields of Planada, it’s a small California town with about fifteen hundred people that are all farm workers. I grew up idolizing the great Cesar Chavez and what he did for the hard working farm workers I would like to do for the hard working boxers. I was confident in the move that I was making.

When did you decide to make the transition from working with kickboxers to boxers?
It happened in the late 80’s, I was always working with boxers in the Sacramento area and had a lot of experience being a cutman from my kickboxing fights, because you get a lot of cuts from elbows knees and that sort of thing, when I saw that blood I liked it, I liked the position that I was in, so I started to study some of the great cutmen that were in boxing and started to practice how to wrap fighters hands.

Do you remember your first shot at the “big time”?
My first world title bout was with Tony “The Tiger” Lopez, he fought Julio Cesar Chavez in Monterey Mexico, one of my fortes is wrapping a good hand and I wrapped his hands in training, he liked it so much that he invited me to work his corner for the Julio Cesar Chavez fight.

You mentioned that during your transition from kickboxing to boxing that you studied some of the great cutmen in the sport, did you have a particular cutman that you focused on or that became a mentor to you?
Well you know, Chuck Bodak, in the later part of my career, since I have moved here to Las Vegas has really taken me under his wing and helped me out to become a good cutman. He has been very instrumental in helping me. Miguel Diaz has also been very helpful and given me some pointers, but a lot of being a cutman is just common sense.

What about earlier in your career?
I read a lot of books on cuts, hands, and bone structure and like most guys who want to get into the sport to become a cutman I kind of just winged it. I did learn from some of the great cutmen that were out there that there were things that you could do as a cutman and things that you couldn’t. There are a lot of cutmen out there who do things that are not right because they don’t know how to do them!

You pointed out that there are a lot of cutmen out there who routinely make errors when dealing with a fighters cut, can you give us some examples of the types of mistakes that you see being committed by other cutmen on a regular basis?
I can tell you, something that really grabs my attention is when you see a cutman use a towel to wipe up water off of the ring canvas and then use that same towel to work on a fighters cut! Another thing that I don’t like, but is widely practiced in boxing, is when a cutman places the cotton swab by their ears and also putting them in their mouths. I have NEVER done that because of the safety factor, that swab goes into an open wound! Those are some of the things that I see, some cutmen just do not know what they are doing and end up getting too excited in the corner. You can often see a cutman use the enswell in a pushing motion, rubbing the enswell across the fighter’s face, that’s not really the purpose of the enswell.

What would be the correct way to use the enswell?
The purpose of the enswell is to put cold pressure on an area that is swelling, when you do that you are eliminating some of the blood flow. You hear guys say that they will move the mouse away from the fighters eye but you can really do that, you can’t move it, the only thing you are going to do is disperse blood a little bit further. This is another misconception; there are a lot of misconceptions in boxing Trinidad that cutmen as well as trainers continue to follow, they do not know what is right and what is wrong!

In your opinion what is needed to curve this type of behavior that you see inside the ring?
Education is the whole key. That is one of the reasons I filmed the documentary “A Boxers Nightmare” which covers some of the things that go wrong in boxing that need to be addressed, I have some of the best people involved with boxing that address some of the issues. I also would like to do a follow up to “A Boxers Nightmare” with a three tape series entitled “Cuts, Cornermen and Confidence” to get all of the correct facts out there and present them in a way where a young, upcoming cutman could study this film and see what’s right and what’s wrong, as it stands right now, fifty bucks and you got yourself a license to be a cutman, I don’t like that idea because you are dealing with the health and safety of a fighter.

Since we covered some of the negative aspects concerning the art of being a cutman, what are some of the traits that you feel make a first-class cutman?
Patience, having composure, having a good relationship with the fighter and understanding the health and safety of a fighter. That’s really the whole key to everything. You need to look at the bone structure of the fighter and know the medicines that you have and when to use them, which is very important! Also the ice packs, when to use them and when not to use them, but before you get into the ring, I feel that to become a good cutman is to wrap a good hand, I wrap an excellent hand.

I bet Tony “The Tiger” Lopez would certainly agree with you.
In fact, when I wrapped Tony “The Tiger” Lopez’ hands for that bout, Emanuel Steward, who was working with Chavez at the time, was in our dressing room when I was wrapping Lopez’ hands and told me that my hand-wrap was one of the best he had ever seen in his life!!

Is it common practice for a fighter’s cutman to also wrap his hands?
It happens a lot of times, you give the fighter an option, just because you are a cutman doesn’t mean that you are going to warp a good hand, just because you are a trainer doesn’t mean you can wrap a good hand. A fighter can try them both, or two or three different people and see which is the best wrap for him to use.

You brought up the point about a good cutman knowing what type of medicine he can use and when to use it, can you tell us what types of medicines cutmen are allowed to use here in Nevada?
Sure, this is all pretty much worldwide; you have your most common medicine Adrenaline Chloride One One Thousand, which is the one that you place on the swab and put directly on the cut, that is a constrictor; it closes up the blood vessels. I would say 98% or 99% of the time that is your most commonly used application. There is also Avitene and Thrombin. Both of these are coagulates, you apply that after the cut has already stopped bleeding. That is used mainly to keep the blood coagulated. Those are the three items and nothing more.

Have you ever witnessed a cutman using the wrong medicine at the wrong time?
Well, Illegal medicines!!

Illegal medicines?
One time I was working with Livingstone Bramble for a bout held in Minnesota, the kid he was fighting got a nasty cut on his cheek area, Monsat Solution is a product that has been banned due to the severity of it. When you use this solution it gives a real dark base wherever it is applied, what it is doing is it burning the skin tissue. I thought the fight was going to be stopped, but after the fight I noticed that this kid had been using this solution and that is the reason that the cut stopped bleeding.

I assume that it stops cuts very quickly?
Without a doubt, but it creates severe scar tissue that will actually need to be scraped off of the fighter. In fact, I ran into that kid here in Vegas awhile after the fight and he told me that he had to have that scar tissue scraped off of his face before the doctor could stitch him up.

If I recall correctly, the state of Minnesota does not have an athletic commission?
There’s no commission.

There was nothing you could do about this illegal solution being used in the fight?
Well, for the poor kid I told him, I educated him about this solution. Being a martial artist and a martial arts instructor, my job is to teach and educate people, that is just one of the responsibilities that I feel I have as a person. I told that kid “Don’t EVER let that guy work your corner again and don’t EVER let ANYONE put that on you because it will destroy you!”

Is it safe to say that you would never see such a thing with a commission like we have here in Nevada and other major boxing cities?
No, no, that is the good thing about having good commissions like Nevada and California, they are good at what they do. The medical doctors that they have, for example Doctor Margaret Goodman and Doctor Homansky here in Nevada, are quite aware of what goes on and you won’t see that type of thing.

Questions? Comments? Please e-mail Trinidad Guzman