Las Vegas, NV– In the sports of MMA and boxing, there are some interesting and popular figures that make up the landscape. Fighters such as Georges St. Pierre and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. are celebrities at the highest level. The same can be said for notables such as Dana White and Don King, whose personalities have made them as big as the fighters they promote. Then there is ‘Stitch’ Duran who doesn’t fight, doesn’t promote and yet he’s known and beloved worldwide by sports fans everywhere. What does this humble man do that makes him so popular? He preps fighters before they go into battle and more importantly, he patches them up and keeps them going when a Stitch in time is all they need.
THIS DURAN IS NOT LACKING FIGHTS!
Jacob Duran, or ‘Stitch’ as he is more commonly known, is one the most recognizable and popular cutman in the world of MMA and boxing. An expert in his chosen field, he has successfully turned cotton swabs and Vaseline into an art form that has transcended outside the cage and ring. There’s so much to this success story; his life is being chronicled in a book to be released in the fall. I was lucky enough to talk to the man recently about this and so much more.
ONCE STUDIED MUAY THAI
A son of Mexican immigrants, Stitch was born and grew up in Central Valley, California. Oddly enough, his original love of sport was not in the combat arts, but rather another passion within the Hispanic community, baseball. It was his dream to play baseball for a living, but when he got older and realized the dream wouldn’t become reality, he joined the Air Force, which took him to Thailand in 1974. Little did he know the cultural exchange he was about to experience would change his life forever?
While stationed there he discovered kickboxing and was so fascinated, he decided to get involved. He studied a combination of Taekwondo and Thai Boxing for the duration of his stay and when he returned to the states he continued his training while a student in community college. Inevitably he trained and worked with such fighters as former legendary World kickboxing champion Dennis Alexio and another fighter named Dave Rooney. It was Rooney who gave Stitch the nickname.
GOOD FILM ON BOXERS NOT WELL RECEIVED
He’s also produced a documentary entitled ‘Boxer’s Nightmare,’ which focuses on the many pitfalls, including finances, that seem to besiege fighters once their careers are over. Unfortunately, to this point it has fallen on deaf ears because “the powers that be, which are the one’s making money on the fighters don’t want it to interfere with their business.”
CUTMAN WITH A CLOTHING LINE!
To truly understand how popular this humble giant has become is summed up in the following story. The wife of a U.S. Marine stationed in Afghanistan bought the Signature Stitch Duran Tapout shirt for her husband. She contacted Stitch to tell him how much her husband and his fellow Marines loved the shirt and it’s saying, ‘Listo Para La Guerra’, which is Spanish meaning ‘Ready for War’. Stitch was so moved by this, he decided he wanted to send shirts for the entire unit. When he brought it to the attention of the guys at Tapout, they volunteered to ship the shirts, thus 50 shirts went out.
“STITCH” CAN BE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WINNING & LOSING!
For a fighter, the cutman can mean the difference between a win and a loss. That’s why more often than not, whether it’s stateside or overseas, if either the UFC or a major boxing event is taking place, chances are Stitch Duran is working a fighter’s corner!
“Slammin’ Sammy” Perez