Roberto Durán
Roberto Durán ![]() |
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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 | |
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1968 | February 23 |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 4 rounds | |
May 14th |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
15th June |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
June 30th |
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Eduardo Morales | Victory / KO 1st round | ||
August 10 |
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Enrique Jacobo | Victory / KO 1st round | ||
August 25 |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
September 22 |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
November 16 |
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Victory / KO 2nd round | ||
December 7th |
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Victory / TKO 1st round | ||
1969 | January 19th |
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Victory / TKO 4th round | |
February 1st |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 6 rounds | ||
May 18 |
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Victory / TKO 4th round | ||
June 22 |
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Victory / TKO 7th round | ||
21st September |
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Victory / TKO 5th round | ||
November 23 |
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Victory / TKO 8th round | ||
1970 | 28th March |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
November 23 |
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Victory / TKO 10th round | ||
July 18th |
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Victory / KO 6th round | ||
5th September |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
October 18 |
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Victory / TKO 3rd round | ||
1971 | 10. January |
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Victory / KO 6th round | |
March 21st |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
May 29th |
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Victory / TKO 6th round | ||
July 18th |
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Victory / TKO 3rd round | ||
13.september |
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Victory / TKO 1st round | ||
October, 16th |
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Victory / KO 7th round | ||
1972 | 15. January |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
March 10th |
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Victory / TKO 1st round | ||
June 26th |
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![]() WBA World Lightweight Championship |
Victory / TKO 13th round | ||
September 2nd |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
28th of October |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
November 17th |
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Loss of points (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
1973 | January 20th |
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![]() WBA lightweight title defense |
Victory / KO 5th round | |
February 22 |
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Victory / KO 7th round | ||
17. March |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
April 14th |
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Victory / TKO 2nd round | ||
2th of June |
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![]() WBA lightweight title defense |
Victory / TKO 8th round | ||
4th of August |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
September 8th |
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![]() WBA Lightweight Title Defense |
Victory / TKO 10th round | ||
December 1 |
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Victory / KO 3rd round | ||
1974 | 21th January |
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Victory / TKO 4th round | |
February 16 |
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Victory / TKO 3rd round | ||
March 16 |
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![]() WBA lightweight title defense |
Victory / KO 11th round | ||
July 6th |
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Victory / TKO 7th round | ||
September 2nd |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
October 31 |
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Jose Vasquez | Victory / KO 2nd round | ||
November 16 |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
21st December |
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![]() WBA lightweight title defense |
Victory / KO 1st round | ||
1975 | February 15th |
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Victory / KO 1st round | |
March 12th |
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![]() WBA Lightweight Title Defense |
Victory / KO 14th round | ||
3rd of June |
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Victory / TKO 1st round | ||
August 2nd |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
13.september |
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Victory / KO 3rd round | ||
30. September |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
20th of December |
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![]() WBA lightweight title defense |
Victory / KO 15th round | ||
1976 | May 4th |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
23. May |
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![]() WBA Lightweight Title Defense |
Victory / KO 14th round | ||
July 31 |
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Victory / TKO 7th round | ||
September 15th |
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![]() WBA lightweight title defense |
Victory / TKO 1st round | ||
1977 | January 29th |
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![]() WBA lightweight title defense |
Victory / KO 13th round | |
May 16 |
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![]() WBA lightweight title defense |
Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
6th of August |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
17th of September |
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![]() WBA lightweight title defense |
Points victory (unanimously) / 15 rounds | ||
1978 | 21th January |
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![]() WBA -Lightweight title defense, WBC -Lightweight World Championship |
Victory / TKO 12th round | |
April 27 |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
September 1 |
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Victory / KO 2nd round | ||
December 8th |
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Victory / KO 8th round | ||
1979 | April 8th |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
June 22 |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
September 28th |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
1980 | 13th January |
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Victory / TKO 4th round | |
February 24th |
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Victory / TKO 6th round | ||
20th June |
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![]() WBC World World Championship |
Points victory (unanimously) / 15 rounds | ||
25. November |
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![]() WBC world weight defense |
Loss / TKO 8th round | ||
1981 | August 9 |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
September 26th |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
1982 | January 30th |
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![]() WBC World Light Middleweight Championship |
Loss of points (unanimously) / 15 rounds | |
September 4th |
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Loss of points (majority decision) / 10 rounds | ||
November 12th |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
1983 | January 29th |
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Victory / TKO 4th round | |
June 16 |
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![]() WBA World Light Middleweight Championship |
Victory / TKO 8th round | ||
November 10th |
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![]() WBA / WBC / IBF World Middleweight Championship |
Loss of points (unanimously) / 15 rounds | ||
1984 | 15th June |
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![]() WBC World Light Middleweight Championship |
Defeat / KO 2nd round | |
1986 | 31 January |
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Victory / KO 2nd round | |
April 18 |
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Victory / KO 2nd round | ||
23rd June |
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Loss of points (majority decision) / 10 rounds | ||
1987 | May 16 |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
12th September |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
1988 | February 5th |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
April 14th |
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Victory / abandonment 6th round | ||
October 1 |
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Points victory (majority decision) / 10 rounds | ||
1989 | February 24th |
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![]() WBC World Middleweight Championship |
Points victory (majority decision) / 12 rounds | |
December 7th |
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![]() WBC World Super Middleweight Championship |
Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds | ||
1991 | March 18th |
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Loss / TKO 6th round | |
1992 | 30. September |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
December 17th |
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Victory / KO 2nd round | ||
1993 | June 29th |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
17th August |
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Victory / KO 6th round | ||
December 14th |
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Victory / TKO 8th round | ||
1994 | February 22 |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
March 29 |
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Victory / TKO 4th round | ||
25th June |
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Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds | ||
October 18 |
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Victory / TKO 7th round | ||
1995 | January 14th |
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Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds | |
June 10th |
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Victory / TKO 7th round | ||
21st December |
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Victory / TKO 4th round | ||
1996 | 20. February |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
June 22 |
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Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds | ||
August 31 |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
September 27th |
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Victory / TKO 6th round | ||
1997 | February 15th |
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Loss of points (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
14th June |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
15th of November |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 8 rounds | ||
1998 | 31 January |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
August 28th |
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![]() WBA World Middleweight Championship |
Defeat / TKO 3rd round | ||
1999 | 6th March |
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Loss of points (unanimously) / 10 rounds | |
2000 | June 16 |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 12 rounds | |
12. August |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
2001 | July 14th |
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Loss of points (unanimously) / 12 rounds |
Individual evidence
- ↑ Roberto Durán on BoxRec
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Duran, Roberto |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Panamanian boxer |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 16, 1951 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Panama City , Panama |