IF OLEKSANDR USYK is the world’s finest active fighter, in his cornerman Russ Anber there exists a thread that leads all the way back to Ray Arcel and Roberto Duran.
It was in Montreal where Arcel oversaw Duran’s finest victory, over “Sugar” Ray Leonard, and it was there where Anber, widely recognised as one of the world’s most skilled cuts men and hand-wrappers, most consistently learned his trade.
“I’ll never have the dulcet tones and the calmness that Ray Arcel had,” Anber, 61, tells Boxing News. “[But] he taught me to conduct myself with class. How to be ready in the corner. How to talk to a fighter in the corner. How to look the part in the corner. Respect for the sport.
“If I didn’t take from Ray Arcel, I’d be even louder and crazier. He calmed me down a little bit. I understand what Ray and Freddie Brown both did, working a corner – especially working with a guy like Roberto Duran. I’ve asked Duran this personally. Ray Arcel and Freddie Brown [were the best he worked with] because they commanded respect.
“I was lucky enough to have breakfast with them in Montreal, for the Duran-Leonard fight [in June 1980]. I tried to pick their brains as best I could. The one thing I copied – the last fighter I did this with was Jean Pascal – was something Ray Arcel used to do. Keep them on the stool until the bell
