The Boxing History Blog

10th November 1983, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas Undisputed Middleweight Title Marvelous Marvin Hagler Vs Roberto Duran Marvin Hagler won seventeen contests in a row, before picking up his first blemish in November 1974; a draw against the 1972 Olympic champion, Sugar Ray Seales, who Hagler outpointed to inflict the first defeat on his record three months previously. In January 1976 Hagler travelled to the tough city of Philadelphia and suffered his first defeat to Bobby 'Boogaloo' Watts. The loss was controversial and many deemed Hagler to have been robbed. Two months later he was back in Philadelphia, losing on points again to another local fighter Willie 'The Worm' Monroe. This time there was no robbery and Hagler's credentials as a serious contender took a massive dent. Hagler kept winning and beat Monroe twice on stoppage defeats. His third fight with Seales ended with a first-round TKO and many people sat up and took notice of the man from B...

16th September 1981, Caesars Palace, Outdoor Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, WBC & WBA Welterweight Unification Bout (Undisputed Title) Ray Leonard (WBC Champion) Vs Thomas Hearns (WBA Champion) Thomas Hearns, the freakishly tall welterweight, who wasn't much of a puncher in the amateur ranks, blasted out seventeen opponents on the bounce in a two year period. The first man to take him the distance was the former USA Pennsylvania State welterweight champion Alfonso Hayman. Hearns won every single round in the ten rounder, but failed to knock the tough Philadelphia fighter off his feet. Seven fights later Hearns was matched with middleweight Mike Colbert, where he had to negate the full ten rounds for only the second time in his career as he went 24-0. Two fights later he stopped Angel Espada in four rounds for the vacant USBA welterweight championship. The 'Hit Man' continued to knockout his opponents and was pitted against WBA welterweight champion Pipino Cuev...

25th November 1980, Superdrome, New Orleans, Louisiana WBC Welterweight Title Roberto Duran Vs Ray Leonard The new champion partied hard after his victory over Ray Leonard. Duran ate, drank and partied some more. In late September the new king of boxing received a call from his manager Carlos Eleta, telling him that the rematch would be in November. "Are you fucking crazy?" Duran shouted. "I weigh nearly two-hundred-pounds (90.72 KG). I can't drop all that weight in a month." The reason for a quick rematch was duly down to the amount of money Don King, who promoted the fight and Carlos Eleta would make. Duran however, knew he would lose as he was so drained making the 147 pounds (66.68 KG) limit that he was suffering from stomach cramps. Three days before the contest Eleta claimed that his fighter had used diuretic medication to get his weight off, but this was refuted by Duran and his personal physician Dr. Orlando Nunez. This ti...

20th June 1980, Olympic Stadium, Motreal, Quebec, Canada WBC Welterweight Title Ray Leonard Vs Roberto Duran The massive contrast in both men were evident; Leonard was the boxer who possessed lightning speed of hand and foot and in boxing circles was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, thanks to the big paydays he commanded from his pro debut until now. Duran, who came from great poverty, learning to fight on the streets of Panama was the raw slugger, who brawled his way to the WBA lightweight crown, fighting for peanuts compared to his opponent's considerable purses. Roberto Duran raced through his opponents and finally after making his debut in 1968 as a bantamweight moved up to the lightweight division in 1971, knocking out Jose Acosta in round one. In February 1972 he took Ken Buchanan's WBA lightweight crown after thirteen rounds of ferocious fighting. He lost his first bout to Esteban DeJesus nine months later. Unfortunately for DeJesus the WBA cro...

Roberto Duran Roberto Duran was born in Chorillo, a slum on the east side of Panama on 16th June 1951. He was raised in great poverty, which would reflect years later in his fighting style. He was known as a 'Cholo' as he had part Indian, part Spanish blood. His absent father, an itinerant American soldier from Arizona who carried the Indian/Mexican heritage, left Duran's mother before he was born. There are many stories about the escapades of Duran's youth. He learnt to fight on the waterfront and it was said that as a twelve-year-old he struck down grown men with his bare hands. He would make daily raids of the mango plantations, swimming two miles across the Panama Canal with a knife held between his teeth. He would sell the mangoes to help his abandoned mother raise him and his eight siblings. Duran would also busk on the streets, singing and dancing for change, shoe shining, the list is endless. It is also said that when fully grown he knocked a horse senseles...