DENVER -- It wasn't so much a fight for the ages as of the ages.

	Roberto Duran, right, lands a right to the chest of Hector Camacho in his last fight in July. Duran lost the bout.

In a bout that seemed to feature as much clutching as punching, Hector Camacho used a steady mix of right jabs to set up his left hook in a unanimous 12-round decision over 50-year-old Roberto Duran on Saturday night.

Camacho, 39, received winning scores of 114-112, 118-108 and 118-108 to improve to 75-4. He captured the fringe National Boxing Association title Duran carried into the ring.

"I was fighting a great legend," Camacho said. "I'm very proud to beat him and I'm very proud of him. I admire him. He wasn't easy to hit."

The fight, billed as "When Legends Collide," could be the last for Duran, a Panamanian known for his "Hands of Stone." Since 1967, he has fought at least once every year except 1985, and his 104-16 record spans five decades.

Duran hedged when asked if he will fight again.

"I don't know. I have to think about it," he said. "If Camacho can't knock me out, who can?"

Unlike the first bout won by Camacho in 12 rounds in 1996, this one was not close as Camacho, a former WBC super featherweight and lightweight champion, dictated the pace from the start.

A flurry of punches would inevitably be followed by clinching in the center of the ring, drawing boos from the announced crowd of 6,597 at the 19,000-seat Pepsi Center.

"After the fifth round is when I got most tired and that is when the altitude got to me," said Duran, who lost about 30 pounds to make his fighting weight of 162. "I wanted to throw more punches and I couldn't move as much as I wanted. ... I think I gave a good 12 rounds. He's a good champion, too."

The entrances contained more drama and showmanship than the actual fight as Camacho was carried to the ring on a platform while wearing a red-white-and-blue Indian headdress and feathered cape.

Duran took a more traditional entrance, walking to the ring in a velvet purple robe with gold trim.

Neither fighter staggered the other at any point, but Camacho clearly landed solid blows with more consistency in front of a partisan Duran crowd that tried to inspire the former world champ by chanting his name.

Derisive toward Duran during the week, Camacho was more fawning after the bout, calling Duran "a great man and a great friend."

"He's all-around great," Camacho said. "He's Mr. Miracle Man. I love this man."

Duran was a lightweight champion from 1972 until 1980 and won a piece of the welterweight title by outpointing Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980. He then lost the rematch when he quit in the eighth round of the "No Mas" fight that year.

He refused to retire and later won pieces of the super welterweight and middleweight titles.

Camacho, fighting at 159 pounds, appears to have more punches left in him. He looked bored at times and won for the 16th time in 17 fights since his last match with Duran.

"I thought I was controlling the fight because I was throwing more punches," Camacho said. "Maybe the third time around, I'll be able to knock him out."

On the undercard, veteran welterweight Oba Carr of Detroit outpointed Norberto Sandoval of Mexico in a unanimous 10-round decision.

Carr, who has lost title bouts to Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad, was cut below his right eye midway through the fight but was the runaway winner and improved to 53-4 in his 11-year career.

In the night's first bout, Demetrius Hopkins -- whose uncle is IBF-WBC middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins -- improved to 8-0 when he stopped overmatched Abdul Blackburn 1:34 into the third round.

Bernard Hopkins caused a stir last week when he grabbed a miniature Puerto Rican flag and threw it to the floor during a news conference promoting his Sept. 15 fight against Felix Trinidad Jr.