To many fight fans he is the ultimate warrior; if you wanted a definition of tough guy personified you need look no further than Panama’s boxing legend: Roberto Duran. Not only is he many fight fans favourite but also favourite for many of his fellow practitioners of the ‘noble art’ the ultimate accolade. His spectacular career spanned over three decades and saw him become deified by his countrymen, then vilified, before redeeming himself the only way he knew how: in the ring.

Born in Chorillo, a desperately poor suburb of Panama City on 16 June 1951Duran was one of nine children brought up by a single mother. His father was a US GI of Mexican and Native American background who was posted away from Panama before Roberto was born. He had a very basic education and was expelled at an early age, his main education was what he learned on the streets, shining shoes, selling newspapers and hustling.

He began boxing as an amateur at fourteen and at the tender age of only fifteen (two months before his sixteenth birthday) he turned professional. He quickly established himself as a fighter to be reckoned with stopping Ernesto Marcel (the only boxer to do so) in Panama City. The precocious Duran was still only nineteen years old.

He made his US ring debut on the undercard of world lightweight champion Ken Buchanan’s defence against former champion and fellow Panamanian Ismael Laguna at Madison Square Garden on 13 September 1971. Duran made short work of opponent Benny Huertas knocking him out in just 66 seconds of the first round. Duran had served notice to the New York fans and fans world wide that he was a force to be reckoned with and a rising star.

Back in Panama City he knocked out former world super-featherweight world champion, Japan’s Kiroshi Kobuyashi. This impressive win gave young Duran a world ranking and convinced 72 year old veteran boxing trainer Ray Arcel to come out of retirement to work with Duran. Arcel had been involved in boxing from the 1920s through to the 1950s working with a number of world champions and top contenders, what he didn’t know about boxing was not worth knowing. In Duran he had just what he wanted: an exciting prospect going places. Joining Arcel was Rocky Marciano’s old cut man and another veteran, Freddie Brown as his assistant. Team Duran with local wealthy businessman Carlos Eleta as manager had finally taken shape. It was to prove to be a fruitful and rewarding partnership.

Two more wins over top contenders and Duran booked his world title shot against the exceptionally talented Scottish boxer Ken Buchanan for the WBA lightweight title on 26 June 1972 at Madison Square Garden. The contest was a classic boxer versus slugger affair. In the end the twenty one year old Duran’s unrelenting remorseless attacking style proved to be too much for the upright European style boxing favoured by the champion. Just as the bell ended the thirteenth round sounded and on the blind side of the referee Duran landed a low looking blow that dropped Buchanan like the proverbial sack of spuds.

The referee not seeing the foul blow ruled it a Duran victory when a clearly distressed Buchanan was unable to come out for the fourteenth round. There has been much controversy surrounding the outcome of this contest and having seen the video of the fight myself I believe that Duran was lucky to escape disqualification. Had the contest been fought today Buchanan would have been allowed five to ten minutes to recover and a point would have been deducted from Duran. That said, at the time of the stoppage Duran was well ahead on points and simply had too much for the brave Scottish boxer.

They never had a rematch and some Buchanan supporters point to this as proof that Duran wanted no part of him again. Years later when the award winning journalist and fellow countryman of Buchanan, Hugh McIlvanney asked Duran who had given him his toughest fight Duran answered ‘Buchanan.’ (He was unaware of McIlvanney’s nationality and was not trying to be polite; this would be totally out of character for the uncompromising Duran if he was!) My own opinion is that Buchanan was never the same after the Duran fight and had the two met again it would have been another absorbing match but Duran would have overwhelmed Buchanan again.

Over the next six years Duran proved himself not only a worthy world champion but arguably the greatest lightweight boxer of all time. The handsome rugged fighter defended twelve times against all-comers and unified the (then) two belts becoming undisputed world champion. The intensity he brought to the ring and the fury he produced saw off anyone who stood in front of him regardless of style. Duran walked through everyone.

To describe Duran as just a ‘slugger’ is to do him a great disservice. You do not box for thirty four years without skill as well as brawn and toughness. Arcel and Brown managed to take the rough stone and polished it into a sparkling diamond. Duran could cut the ring down, manoeuvre unwitting opponents into corners, feint, and counter, unleash deadly and blindingly fast and painful combinations and to bob and weave so his opponents counters harmlessly sailed past his head. Duran was crafty and defensive minded as well as being a ferocious practitioner. His defensive skill and ring smarts are often overlooked by so-called ‘experts. Watch any of his contests on Youtube and you will see what I mean. The man had finesse as well as endless energy and perpetual pressure.

His only defeat in his prime was against arch rival Esteban DeJesus another brilliant boxer from Puerto Rico. In a non-title ten rounder DeJesus knocked Duran down in the first to take an eventual points decision. It was Duran’s first defeat and he did not like it one bit. The rematch fifteen months later was at Panama City and was Duran’s fourth defence of his title. Again DeJesus dropped Duran early in the first round, but this time Duran had trained like a demon and he recovered. Thanks to Duran’s remorseless attack round after round as well as the heat DeJesus was eventually worn down for a stoppage in the eleventh round.

The first man to take Duran the distance in a world title fight was Edwin Viruet in Philadelphia in Duran’s eleventh defence of his title. This just illustrates Duran’s mastery of the lightweight division. Apart from the DeJesus defeat he had proved to be an unstoppable force. The final defence of the WBA world lightweight title was against old rival DeJesus and now the WBC world champion in 1978. The unification battle was held at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas and this time Duran showed more patience and cunning to knock out his respected opponent in the twelfth round.

It was no secret that Duran was struggling to make the lightweight division weight limit and he now moved up two divisions to welterweight. His lifestyle outside of the ring was not really suited to that of a top athlete but the uncompromising Duran would not have it any other way. After campaigning at the new poundage and posting some good wins, particularly over former world champion Carlos Palomino he earned a world welterweight title shot at the popular Sugar Ray Leonard’s WBC title.

Leonard had injected a lot of glamour into the world of boxing with the fading of Muhammad Ali’s career. Handsome, charismatic and possessing excellent boxing skills and instincts Leonard knew how to play the media. He was at the top of his game and his flashy brilliance had so far seen his star soar. The match with Duran would pit two undefeated champion’s together and two very distinct personalities and styles as well.

Duran was the rugged, bearded macho man who loved nothing better than going toe-to-toe and proving who was the toughest. Leonard liked to outbox and befuddle opponents. He could fight as well, showing excellent poise and balance and could be an exceptional finisher but he was known as more of a fancy Dan than a slugger.

In the build up to the contest Duran’s constant taunting and belittling seemed to get to Sugar Ray and uncharacteristically the American seemed to be rattled. On 20 June 1980 in front of over 46,000 fans at the Montreal Olympic Stadium Leonard surprised everyone by playing right into Duran’s hands by electing to go toe-to-toe rather than box. It was as if Leonard wanted to prove something. Instead, despite fighting gallantly and showing a tougher side to himself he went on to lose a unanimous points decision. Duran was magnificent that night, all malevolence and snarling aggression as his non-stop pressure not only won him a world title at a second weight but arguably made him the best pound for pound in the world at that time. He partied like there was no tomorrow, basking in the adoration of his countrymen.

Shrewdly Leonard insisted on a rematch just five months later in New Orleans. Duran had a struggle to lose all the weight he had gained and in private it was acknowledged that he was nowhere near as sharp as he was in the first contest. Also Leonard had learned from the first fight, he would never again fight on someone else’s terms. The rematch was a showcase for Leonard’s sublime boxing skills and by the seventh round he was a mile in front on points and began to taunt and humiliate a bemused and frustrated Duran.

Things became so bad for the Panamanian that Leonard played the old trick of winding up his right arm as if to deliver a bolo punch before delivering a stiff left jab into his opponents face. Leonard stuck his chin out, dropped his arms and did everything to unsettle and mock his macho opponent. Duran had no answer. Towards the end of the eighth round he did the unthinkable: the tough street-fighter quit.

Accounts differ but in the excellent biography ‘Hands of Stone’ by Christian Giudice the author explains: ‘’No quiero pelear con el payaso,’ said Duran. I do not want to fight with this clown.’

Duran turned away while Leonard belted him twice in the stomach with Duran’s back turned. The referee asked Duran to box on but Duran kept saying ‘No mas.’ (No more). The unthinkable had happened and the fallout from Duran’s actions would have massive repercussions to his reputation, standing and career. He had not been in a war, in fact he was unmarked. He had simply become flustered and flummoxed into a humiliating surrender by a master boxer. Idolised for defeating Leonard he was now vilified for quitting.

The next chapter of Duran’s dramatic career was all about erasing the memory of the ‘No mas’ fight and redemption. He would have a long road ahead in gaining not just the love and admiration of his countrymen but of the boxing world at large. It was pure Icarus. He had reached such amazingly heady heights for any boxer to reach only to fly too close to the sun and fall.

Duran moved up in weight again and in 1982 challenged Wilfred Benitez (another classy boxer) for the WBC world light-middleweight title. Despite a punishing training camp Duran was giving his younger opponent seven years and he lost a clear unanimous points decision. Worse followed as he also dropped another points decision to Britain’s Kirkland Laing.

Despite these losses Duran was still given a shot at unbeaten (in 12 contests) new WBA light-middleweight world champion Davey Moore’s title on 17 June 1983. It really was the ‘last chance saloon’ for the Panamanian who celebrated his 32nd birthday on the day of the fight. In front of 20,000 fans at Madison Square Garden (Duran’s old stomping ground) the 5-to-2 underdog shocked the boxing world by giving the younger up and coming champion a terrible one-sided beating taking the title after an eighth round stoppage. He had turned the clock back and gone a long way to redeeming himself after the debacle of the second Leonard fight nearly three years earlier.

After the contest an understandably emotional Duran wept saying ‘I’ve returned to be Roberto Duran. It’s been a long time.’

The boxing world was then surprised when Duran was announced as the next challenger for fearsome undisputed world middleweight champion ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler. Duran would be challenging for a world title at an unprecedented fourth weight. This time it really did look like a mismatch, despite Duran’s experience and machismo he was in the veteran stages of his illustrious and eventful career and was considered a ‘blown up lightweight.’ Hagler on the other hand had destroyed all-comers for his crown, not one challenger had taken him the distance so far. Many viewed the contest as a final decent payday for Duran and a big name on Hagler’s already impressive resume.

That November in Caesars Palace Las Vegas, the 4-to-1 underdog Duran shocked the world. Despite losing he gave Hagler all the famous southpaw could handle over fifteen rounds and when the scores were announced it was clear it had been a close contest, unthinkable in the build up. Duran had displayed all his toughness and defiance as well as boxing guile to become the only man to take Hagler the distance in his thirteen winning world title fights. Hagler ended the contest with a swelling under one eye as well as a cut, so it was a moral victory of sorts for Duran and in defeat he had restored his reputation finally.

It was a different story in his next contest in June 1984. Stripped of his WBA light-middleweight title for refusing to defend against Mike McCallum Duran took the more lucrative option of challenging Thomas ‘The Hit Man’ Hearns for his WBC version. It really was a case of David versus Goliath as Hearns at six foot two towered over the five feet seven Duran. They may have been fighting in the same weight division but Hearns looked like a giant next to Duran. In the event Duran had a troubled training camp struggling to make the weight.

Years later Hearns trainer Kronk legend Emmanuel Steward claimed that Duran was ‘intimidated by Hearns’ and it did appear to be so. Hearns simply had Duran’s number and the Panamanian was blown away by knockout in two one-sided rounds. I can still see him lying face down on the canvas, pole-axed by a sizzling Hearn’s right hand.

Amazingly it was still not the end of the road for Duran. He was out of action for eighteen months, but after two quick wins in Panama he fought Marvin Hagler’s half brother (and world contender) Robbie Sims in Las Vegas, losing on points. He still wasn’t finished and after a handful of wins he was granted a shot at Iran Barkley’s WBC world middleweight title. Barkley of course had won the crown by upsetting the favourite Thomas Hearns by a third round knockout.

The contest was held at Atlantic City on 24 February 1989. The 37 year old Duran and the much younger champion produced a stirring contest with Barkley stunning Duran in the eighth and Duran rallying back to floor Barkley in the eleventh. The judges disagreed but what mattered most was that after twelve exciting rounds Roberto Duran had won a world title at a ‘fourth’ weight by a split decision. The nearly 17 year gap between winning his first world title and this one was the longest in boxing history (until George Foreman won the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles in 1994 after an over twenty year gap).

Next up for the remarkable Duran was a chance to settle an old score: a third contest with old nemesis Sugar Ray Leonard who was enjoying yet another ‘comeback.’ The two met on a chilly evening at the Mirage Arena in Las Vegas on 7 December 1989 for Leonard’s WBC world super-middleweight title. Sadly, despite generating a lot of interest and big money for both men (Leonard reportedly earned $17.6 million and Duran $7.5 million) the fight failed to live up to the hype and expectation and proved to be a ‘turkey.’ For twelve rounds Leonard danced and moved and Duran plodded after him. Despite needing fifty six stitches to his face afterwards courtesy of Duran’s handiwork when Leonard did mix it with his old foe, he ran away with a landslide points win. Both looked terrible.

Like Bob Dylan’s ‘Never ending Tour’ Duran continued his ‘Never ending Comeback’ and he boxed on amazingly throughout the 1990s losing on points to Vinny Pazienza twice (Duran dropped him for a count in one of their contests), he lost in a disgraceful mismatch in a challenge for the WBA world middleweight title by third round knockout against William Joppy in 1998 (Joppy was young enough to be Duran’s son!) and to Hector Camacho. In fact Duran’s last contest was in July 2001 against Camacho in a rematch with the ‘NBA super middleweight title’ at stake (whatever that meant). The contest held in Denver resulted in another points loss for the beaten but unbowed fifty year old. He had been entertaining US and Latin fight fans for more than a decade in this latest incarnation of tough durable journeyman, but the show was over.

Remarkably had he not been involved in a serious car accident Duran would have continued his ring career. Thankfully the crash proved to be a blessing in disguise as he could no longer risk his well-being in a boxing ring while young lions made their names by beating the faded legend.

In his lightweight prime Duran was a phenomenon. He is often listed as one of the top three lightweights of all time: Joe Gans and Benny Leonard being the other two names, not bad company to be in! To many he was the greatest lightweight of all time. Had he retired from the sport in 1978 his place as an all-time great would already be assured. That he boxed on for twenty three more years winning world titles at four different weights makes his legend even more impressive. Apart from one night where he seemed to short circuit and did the unthinkable by quitting, he was toughness and machismo personified. A real ‘fighter’s fighter.’ Victory, defeat, humiliation, redemption and adoration his career has to be one of the most colourful ones in boxing history. To my mind he is without doubt one of the most exciting boxers of all time and represents an era that now seems sadly lost to us forever.

World Title Fights: 22 Wins: 16 Lost: 6 Knockouts: 13

World Lightweight Champion: 1972 – 1978

World Welterweight Champion: 1980

World Light-Middleweight Champion: 1983

World Middleweight Champion: 1989

Career Fights: 120 Wins: 104 Lost: 16 Knockouts: 70