Roberto Duran Biography

Hailing from Panama, former professional boxer Roberto Duran is often spoken about as one of the greatest fighters to ever step into the square ring. He was a rugged, fearless competitor and a tough brawling, granite chinned boxer who fought during a gold age, never shied away from a tough match and won over the public as a result. Because of this, during his fine career, Roberto was nicknamed "Manos de Piedra" (which is translated literally "Hands of Stone") and in 2002 was named as the fifth best fighter of the last 80 years by the illustrious Ring Magazine. Various other historians rank him even higher than that, and all because he won titles in so many different divisions. He was arguably best at lightweight, but also won lightweight (1972–79), welterweight (1980), light middleweight (1983–84) and middleweight (1989) titles.

Roberto actually fought across five different decades and is one of only very few fighters to have done so. He had a most famous bought with Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980 and finally retired aged 50 in 2002 after a bad car crash. In all he had 120 fights, 105 wins and 69 knockouts. After leaving his fighting days behind him, Robert Duran has remained actively involved with boxing. He is currently in the corner of, and helping to train another future hall of famer, in the form of Sugar Shane Mosley, who is once again battling to win back one of his world titles. As such Duran remains a giant in the sport.