Panamanian great Roberto Duran believes he was robbed of what would have gone down as a historic victory during his professional career.
Known by his moniker ‘Hands of Stone’, Duran is widely considered to be one of the greatest fighters of all time, proving his credentials on a number of occasions during his five decade tenure.
He captured world titles in four weight classes along the way, including a reign as the undisputed lightweight champion which he captured when he defeated Puerto Rico’s Esteban de Jesus in January of 1978.
The bulk of Duran’s success came during the 1980s however where he would become a member of boxing’s ‘Four Kings’ alongside legendary rivals Thomas Hearns, Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard.
In an interview with Boxing Scene, Duran reflected on his 1983 showdown with Hagler as he claims he was robbed of the victory when he faced the American great for the undisputed middleweight championship.
“I still feel in my heart that I won the fight against Marvin Hagler. Nobody wanted to fight Marvin, because he was knocking off everyone.
“This journalist said to me, ‘Roberto, why would you want to fight Marvin? He’s going to knock you out.’ I said, ‘Why? I’m young, I’m strong, he’s not going to knock me out. That bald head won’t beat me.’ And I feel like I won. But after we fought, I would see him in Vegas and we became friends.”
Duran pushed Hagler all the way during their bruising 15-round encounter at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas but failed to dethrone the WBC, WBA and IBF world middleweight champion, who was declared the winner via unanimous decision.
