Roberto Durán

Roberto Durán
Data
Birth Name	Roberto Durán
Weight class	lightweight
nationality	Panamanian
birthday	June 16, 1951
place of birth	Panama City
style	Left delivery
size	1.70 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	119
Victories	103
Knockout victories	70
Defeats	16

Roberto Durán (* 16 June 1951 in Panama City as Roberto Duran Samaniego ) is a former boxer from Panama . He began his professional career in 1968 at the age of 16 and had his last fight in 2001 at the age of 50, making his career one of the longest in boxing. He boxed every year except 1985 and 1990. In the course of his career he won five world titles in four weight classes and defeated Jorge Fernando Castro , Iran Barkley , Sugar Ray Leonard , Esteban de Jesús , Ken Buchanan and Davey Moore , among others .

In 1999 he was named the best lightweight boxer of the 20th century by the Associated Press and in 2001 by Ring Magazine as the best lightweight of all time. In 2007 he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame .

Private and miscellaneous

He was born on June 16, 1951 in the El Chorillo neighborhood of Panama City. The aura emanating from Durán in his heyday is the subject of the song The Eyes of Roberto Duran by the American singer-songwriter Tom Russell . In 1986 he took on a small role in the episode Guilt for Guilt on the television series Miami Vice .

Since the end of his professional career, Durán has been running the restaurant "La Tasca de Duran" in Panama City. Durán's daughter Irichelle is a professional boxer.

At his best he brought good punching power, a hard chin, underestimated boxing skills, but above all an incomparable intensity into the ring, which made him a crowd favorite.

He was called "Mano de Piedra" (Stone Hand) because at the age of 14 he allegedly knocked out a horse with one blow. This story should be viewed with caution, but such anecdotes are simply part of boxing legend Durán. Another anecdote relates to Durán's wild and aggressive charisma. When asked if Durán reminded him of anyone, Joe Frazier, the former world heavyweight champion, is said to have replied: "Yes, to Charles Manson ". Also, gave Al Pacino in an interview that Durán him for his role in Brian de Palma had inspired "Scarface" as the unforgettable Tony Montana. "He has a kind of lion in him that I found very suitable for the role."

Professional career

He had his first professional fight on February 23, 1968. He won the lightweight title in June 1972 when he defeated the Scottish counter-boxer Ken Buchanan in Madison Square Garden in New York and won the WBA lightweight title. The second prominent opponent Durán's lightweight was the Puerto Rican Esteban de Jesús , who sent him to the ground in a non-title fight in 1972 and beat on points, but lost two World Cup fights later against Durán by knockout .

Durán made twelve successful title defenses before resigning the title in February 1979 to win the welterweight championship.

In New York's Madison Square Garden, where Durán had already performed several times, he first beat an ex-world champion in this class, the Mexican Carlos Palomino . In June 1980 he sensationally defeated the US Olympic champion and media darling Sugar Ray Leonard in Montréal , where he won an Olympic gold medal in 1976. Leonard had to admit defeat by a unanimous decision on points after a big fight over fifteen rounds. This fight is counted by boxing historians as one of the best fights of the century, even if Leonard had made the mistake of wanting to trade with the supposedly physically inferior Durán in the half distance.

In November of the same year there was a rematch in New Orleans . Durán, who had to boil a lot of weight in the weeks before the fight, gave up in the eighth round to the horror of his fans because he couldn't cope with Leonard's change of style to consistent counter-boxing and also felt mocked by his show performances. This fight became known as the so-called "No Más!" Fight and Durán initially announced his retirement from boxing.

It took him some time to recover from this debacle and put on more weight because he wanted to fight for the world title in light middleweight in his comeback attempt. His first fight for the WBC title in this weight class he lost on January 30, 1982 in Las Vegas against the Puerto Rican defensive specialist Wilfred Benitez on points.

He then lost surprisingly against the internationally relatively unknown Englishman Kirkland Laing. At that time it was believed that Roberto Duran's great career had already ended and his promoter Don King gave him the go-ahead. After beating Jimmy Batten on points in Miami , Durán signed a deal with promoter Bob Arum , King's big competitor in the American boxing business. That was the beginning of a great comeback in which he first knocked out the hard hitting Mexican ex-world champion Pipino Cuevas after four rounds in Los Angeles . This gave him the second opportunity to fight for the light middleweight title, this time against the undefeated but inexperienced WBA World Champion Davey Moore . Durán won his third title on June 16, 1983, by defeating Davey Moore in an incredibly brutal and one-sided fight in the eighth round by technical knockout, or formally massacre, on his 32nd birthday in Madison Square Garden in New York. Durán was so overwhelmed by his comeback success and the support of the large Latin American fan base in New York that he cried with happiness after the fight in the ring. Sugar Ray Leonard, who had commentated live for television, congratulated Durán on his great success in the ring.

Durán was now at the height of his popularity again, but he was not satisfied with that, and wanted to achieve the impossible. In November 1983 he fought in Las Vegas for the middleweight title against Marvin Hagler , who was considered unbeatable , but lost after a good performance over fifteen rounds on points. Durán, who is considered an unconditional fighter, had surprised Hagler with his more defensive tactics and had fought for a chance of winning the points on the judges' slips by the end of the thirteenth round, but ultimately had to bow to the physical superiority of the real middleweight Hagler. Still, Durán was the first of eight challengers to go full time with Hagler, and Hagler had to put up with harsh criticism from boxing journalists after his appearance.

In June 1984 Durán was stripped of the light middleweight title by the WBA because they did not agree with his fight against WBC World Champion Thomas Hearns . Durán was already severely knocked out in the second round for the only time in his long career.

Despite this severe setback, Durán tried again to work his way up the world rankings in the next few years. It was not until 1989 that Durán had a title fight again, in which he knocked down Middleweight World Champion Iran Barkley in February and defeated on points in one of the most dramatic fights of the 80s in Atlantic City . Durán was considered a blatant outsider before the fight, but won this fight with the help of his always underestimated boxing skills against the one head taller and much heavier Barkley. Ironically, Barkley had previously fought for the title by knocking out Thomas Hearns, whom he beat a second time on points a few years later.

The 38-year-old Durán did not keep the world title for long, but fought for the super middleweight title for the third time against his archenemy Sugar Ray Leonard in December 1989. The chance for revenge came too late for Durán: in an extremely disappointing and actionless fight he was outclassed as in the second fight, but this time did not give up prematurely.

After 1989 he only won one fight against a highly respected opponent, namely in 1997 against the Argentine Jorge Fernando Castro in Panama. Durán was visibly on the decline in the 1990s. In 1994 and 1995 he fought against the Italian-American Vinny Pazienza for the insignificant super middleweight title of the IBC and in 1996 against the shrill Hector Camacho Sr. for the middleweight title of the same association.

Due to financial problems, Durán was forced to continue boxing. After a quick knockout loss to William Joppy for the WBA world title in 1998, Durán, who at that time was only a shadow of days gone by, announced his retirement from boxing at the age of forty-seven. In 1999, however, he returned to the ring.

In June 2000 he won a pseudo title (NBA) in the super middleweight division against average boxer Pat Lawlor, but immediately lost it again to Hector Camacho , like Durán now an ex-star who was well past his prime.

Eventually Durán went to Argentina and promoted a CD of salsa music that he had recently recorded. Meanwhile, he suffered a serious traffic accident and only an operation could save his life. He then announced his final retirement from boxing at the age of 52.

Durán's five world championship belts were stolen from his home in Panama in 1993, and it was found that his brother-in-law was the culprit. Souvenir dealer Gonzalez Baez sold these belts to FBI agents working undercover. He said Durán asked him to do this because of financial difficulties. In September 2003, a judge ordered the belts to be returned to Durán.

Roberto Durán is one of the great Latin American sports idols and is considered by boxing historians to be one of the ten greatest boxers of all time. By winning world titles in four different weight classes, Durán is in an exclusive group of boxers who could become world champions in more than one weight class. In 2007 he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame .

successes

• Amateur record: 13 wins-3 losses
• Professional balance: 103 wins-16 losses

• June 26, 1972: WBA lightweight world champion (12 title defenses)
• January 21, 1978: WBC lightweight world champion
• June 20, 1980: WBC welterweight champion (1 title defense)
• June 16, 1983: WBA light middleweight champion
• February 24, 1989: WBC World Middleweight Champion

List of professional fights

103 wins (70 knockout wins), 16 losses (4 knockout losses), 0 draws
year	Day	place	opponent	Result for Durán
1968	February 23	Arena de Colon, Colon , Panama	Carlos Mendoza	Points victory (unanimously) / 4 rounds
	May 14th	Colón, Panama	Juan Gondola	Victory / KO 1st round
	15th June	Arena de Colon, Colon, Panama	Manuel Jiménez	Victory / KO 1st round
	June 30th	Gimnasio Neco de la Guardia, Panama City , Panama	Eduardo Morales	Victory / KO 1st round
	August 10	Panama City, Panama	Enrique Jacobo	Victory / KO 1st round
	August 25	Gimnasio Neco de la Guardia, Panama City, Panama	Leroy Carghill	Victory / KO 1st round
	September 22	Gimnasio Neco de la Guardia, Panama City, Panama	Panama Cesar De Leon	Victory / KO 1st round
	November 16	Arena de Colon, Colon, Panama	Juan Gondola	Victory / KO 2nd round
	December 7th	Gimnasio Neco de la Guardia, Panama City, Panama	Carlos Howard	Victory / TKO 1st round
1969	January 19th	Gimnasio Neco de la Guardia, Panama City, Panama	Alberto Brand	Victory / TKO 4th round
	February 1st	Estadio Nacional de Panamá, Panama City, Panama	Eduardo Frutos	Points victory (unanimously) / 6 rounds
	May 18	Gimnasio Neco de la Guardia, Panama City, Panama	Jacinto Garcia	Victory / TKO 4th round
	June 22	Gimnasio Neco de la Guardia, Panama City, Panama	Adolfo Osses	Victory / TKO 7th round
	21st September	Gimnasio Neco de la Guardia, Panama City, Panama	Serafin Garcia	Victory / TKO 5th round
	November 23	Gimnasio Neco de la Guardia, Panama City, Panama	Luis Patino	Victory / TKO 8th round
1970	28th March	Mexico City , Mexico	Felipe Torres	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	November 23	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Ernesto Marcel	Victory / TKO 10th round
	July 18th	Arena de Colon, Colon, Panama	Clemente Mucino	Victory / KO 6th round
	5th September	Gimnasio Municipal, Puerto Armuelles, Chiriquí, Panama	Marvin Castaneda	Victory / KO 1st round
	October 18	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Ignacio Castaneda	Victory / TKO 3rd round
1971	10. January	Toreo de Monterrey, Monterrey , Nuevo León , Mexico	Jose Angel Herrera	Victory / KO 6th round
	March 21st	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Jose Acosta	Victory / KO 1st round
	May 29th	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Lloyd Marshall	Victory / TKO 6th round
	July 18th	Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico	Fermin Soto	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	13.september	Madison Square Garden , New York City , New York , USA	Benny Huertas	Victory / TKO 1st round
	October, 16th	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Hiroshi Kobayashi	Victory / KO 7th round
1972	15. January	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Angel 'Robinson' Garcia	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	March 10th	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Francisco Munoz	Victory / TKO 1st round
	June 26th	Madison Square Garden, New York, USA	Ken Buchanan WBA World Lightweight Championship	Victory / TKO 13th round
	September 2nd	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Greg Potter	Victory / KO 1st round
	28th of October	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Magnifying Glass Ramirez	Victory / KO 1st round
	November 17th	Madison Square Garden, New York, USA	Esteban de Jesús	Loss of points (unanimously) / 10 rounds
1973	January 20th	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Jimmy Robertson WBA lightweight title defense	Victory / KO 5th round
	February 22	Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles , California , USA	Juan Medina	Victory / KO 7th round
	17. March	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena , Los Angeles, California, USA	Javier Ayala	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	April 14th	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Gerardo Ferrat	Victory / TKO 2nd round
	2th of June	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Hector Thompson WBA lightweight title defense	Victory / TKO 8th round
	4th of August	Roberto Clemente Coliseum, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico	Doc McClendon	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	September 8th	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Guts Ishimatsu WBA Lightweight Title Defense	Victory / TKO 10th round
	December 1	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Tony Garcia	Victory / KO 3rd round
1974	21th January	Palais des Sports, Paris , France	Leonard Tavarez	Victory / TKO 4th round
	February 16	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Armando Mendoza	Victory / TKO 3rd round
	March 16	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Esteban de Jesús WBA lightweight title defense	Victory / KO 11th round
	July 6th	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Flash Gallego	Victory / TKO 7th round
	September 2nd	Roberto Clemente Coliseum, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico	Hector Matta	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	October 31	Gimnasio Eddie Cortez, San José , Costa Rica	Jose Vasquez	Victory / KO 2nd round
	November 16	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Adalberto Vanegas	Victory / KO 1st round
	21st December	Plaza de Toros El Zapote, San José, Costa Rica	Masataka Takayama WBA lightweight title defense	Victory / KO 1st round
1975	February 15th	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Andres Salgado	Victory / KO 1st round
	March 12th	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Ray Lampkin WBA Lightweight Title Defense	Victory / KO 14th round
	3rd of June	Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach , USA	Jose Peterson	Victory / TKO 1st round
	August 2nd	Roberto Clemente Stadium, Managua , Nicaragua	Pedro Mendoza	Victory / KO 1st round
	13.september	Gimnasio Jose D. Crespo, Chitré , Panama	Alirio Acuna	Victory / KO 3rd round
	30. September	Nassau Coliseum , Hempstead (New York) , USA	Edwin Viruet	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	20th of December	Roberto Clemente Coliseum, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico	Leoncio Ortiz WBA lightweight title defense	Victory / KO 15th round
1976	May 4th	Miami Beach, USA	Saoul Mamby	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	23. May	Erie County Field House, Erie , Pennsylvania , USA	Lou Bizzarro WBA Lightweight Title Defense	Victory / KO 14th round
	July 31	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Emiliano Villa	Victory / TKO 7th round
	September 15th	Hollywood Sportatorium, Hollywood , Florida , USA	Alvaro Rojas WBA lightweight title defense	Victory / TKO 1st round
1977	January 29th	Fontainebleau Miami Beach , Miami Beach, USA	Vilomar Fernandez WBA lightweight title defense	Victory / KO 13th round
	May 16	Capital Center, Landover , USA	Javier Muniz WBA lightweight title defense	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	6th of August	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Bernardo Diaz	Victory / KO 1st round
	17th of September	Philadelphia Spectrum , Philadelphia , USA	Edwin Viruet WBA lightweight title defense	Points victory (unanimously) / 15 rounds
1978	21th January	Caesars Palace , Las Vegas , USA	Esteban de Jesús WBA -Lightweight title defense, WBC -Lightweight World Championship	Victory / TKO 12th round
	April 27	Madison Square Garden, New York, USA	Adolfo Viruet	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	September 1	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Ezequiel Obando	Victory / KO 2nd round
	December 8th	Madison Square Garden, New York, USA	Monroe Brooks	Victory / KO 8th round
1979	April 8th	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, USA	Jimmy Heair	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	June 22	Madison Square Garden, New York, USA	Carlos Palomino	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	September 28th	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, USA	Zeferino Gonzalez	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
1980	13th January	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, USA	Joseph Nsubuga	Victory / TKO 4th round
	February 24th	Tropicana Las Vegas , Las Vegas, USA	Wellington Wheatley	Victory / TKO 6th round
	20th June	Montreal Olympic Stadium , Montreal , Canada	Sugar Ray Leonard WBC World World Championship	Points victory (unanimously) / 15 rounds
	25. November	Louisiana Superdome , New Orleans , Louisiana , USA	Sugar Ray Leonard WBC world weight defense	Loss / TKO 8th round
1981	August 9	Public Auditorium, Cleveland , Ohio , USA	Nino Gonzalez	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	September 26th	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, USA	Luigi Minchillo	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
1982	January 30th	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, USA	Wilfred Benitez WBC World Light Middleweight Championship	Loss of points (unanimously) / 15 rounds
	September 4th	Cobo Center , Detroit , Michigan , USA	Kirkland Laing	Loss of points (majority decision) / 10 rounds
	November 12th	Orange Bowl Stadium , Miami, Florida, USA	Jimmy Batten	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
1983	January 29th	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena , Los Angeles, California, USA	José Cuevas	Victory / TKO 4th round
	June 16	Madison Square Garden, New York, USA	Davey Moore WBA World Light Middleweight Championship	Victory / TKO 8th round
	November 10th	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, USA	Marvin Hagler WBA / WBC / IBF World Middleweight Championship	Loss of points (unanimously) / 15 rounds
1984	15th June	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, USA	Thomas Hearns WBC World Light Middleweight Championship	Defeat / KO 2nd round
1986	31 January	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Manuel Zambrano	Victory / KO 2nd round
	April 18	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Jorge Suero	Victory / KO 2nd round
	23rd June	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, USA	Robbie Sims	Loss of points (majority decision) / 10 rounds
1987	May 16	Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida, USA	Victor Claudio	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	12th September	Knight International Center, Miami Beach, Florida, USA	Juan Carlos Giménez Ferreyra	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
1988	February 5th	Boardwalk Hall , Atlantic City , New Jersey , USA	Ricky Stackhouse	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	April 14th	Tropicana Casino & Resort Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA	Paul Thorn	Victory / abandonment 6th round
	October 1	International Amphitheater , Chicago , Illinois , USA	Jeff Lanas	Points victory (majority decision) / 10 rounds
1989	February 24th	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA	Iran Barkley WBC World Middleweight Championship	Points victory (majority decision) / 12 rounds
	December 7th	The Mirage , Las Vegas, USA	Sugar Ray Leonard WBC World Super Middleweight Championship	Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds
1991	March 18th	The Mirage, Las Vegas, USA	Pat Lawlor	Loss / TKO 6th round
1992	30. September	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York, USA	Tony Biglen	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	December 17th	Cleveland, Ohio, USA	Ken Hulsey	Victory / KO 2nd round
1993	June 29th	Hollywood Casino, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi , USA	Jacques LeBlanc	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	17th August	Hollywood Casino, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA	Sean Fitzgerald	Victory / KO 6th round
	December 14th	Hollywood Casino, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA	Tony Menefee	Victory / TKO 8th round
1994	February 22	Marseille, France	Carlos Montero	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	March 29	Hollywood Casino, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA	Terry Thomas	Victory / TKO 4th round
	25th June	MGM Grand Garden Arena , Las Vegas, USA	Vinny Pazienza	Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds
	October 18	Hollywood Casino, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA	Heath Todd	Victory / TKO 7th round
1995	January 14th	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA	Vinny Pazienza	Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds
	June 10th	Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City , Missouri , USA	Roni Martinez	Victory / TKO 7th round
	21st December	Fort Lauderdale , Florida, USA	Wilbur Garst	Victory / TKO 4th round
1996	20. February	Mahi Temple Shrine Auditorium, Miami , Florida, USA	Ray Domenge	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	June 22	Etess Arena, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA	Hector Camacho Sr.	Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds
	August 31	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Ariel Cruz	Victory / KO 1st round
	September 27th	Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort, Chester, West Virginia , USA	Mike Culbert	Victory / TKO 6th round
1997	February 15th	Mar del Plata , Buenos Aires , Argentina	Jorge Fernando Castro	Loss of points (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	14th June	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Jorge Fernando Castro	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	15th of November	Carousel Hotel & Casino, Temba, South Africa	David Radford	Points victory (unanimously) / 8 rounds
1998	31 January	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Felix Jose Hernandez	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
	August 28th	Las Vegas Hilton , Las Vegas, USA	William Joppy WBA World Middleweight Championship	Defeat / TKO 3rd round
1999	6th March	Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Omar Gonzalez	Loss of points (unanimously) / 10 rounds
2000	June 16	Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama	Pat Lawlor	Points victory (unanimously) / 12 rounds
	12. August	Yakama Indian Reservation, Toppenish , Washington , USA	Patrick Goossen	Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds
2001	July 14th	Pepsi Center , Denver , Colorado , USA	Hector Camacho Sr.	Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Roberto Durán on BoxRec