BoxRec

Thought to be the most dangerous man in the sport of boxing, the legendary Roberto Duran quits against Sugar Ray Leonard in their highly anticipated rematch, and from that point on "The Hands of Stone" tries to rebuild his image.

In the timeframe of 1981-2001 Duran would pick up 31 wins and would have 14 losses, some of which hotly disputed. The bulk of those matches are available on YouTube which will be our primary source in this thread.

1981



24-1-0 Nino Gonzalez loses a 10-round unanimous decision to Roberto Duran.



35-1-0 Luigi Minchillo loses a 10-round unanimous decision to Roberto Duran.

1982



43-1-1 Wilfred Benetiz defeats Roberto Duran by 15 round unanimous decision in this Super Welterweight (Junior Middleweight) title match.



23-3-1 Kirkland Laing pulls off the 1982 "Upset of the Year" by defeating Roberto Duran by split decision over 10 rounds.



36-6-0 Jimmy Batten loses a 10 round unanimous decision to Roberto Duran.

1983



29-8-0 Pipino Cuevas loses by knockout in the fourth round to Roberto Duran.



12-0-0 Davey Moore, Junior Middleweight champion, gets the shock of his life when Roberto Duran stops him in the eighth round after weeks and weeks of boasting that he was coming after all of the legends of boxing.



57-2-2 Marvin Hagler, Middleweight champion, is forced to go the 15 round distance in a competitive match most sports writers and spectators thought to be dead even going into the 13th round. Although Duran would lose the decision he gained back much needed respect.

1984



38-1-0 Thomas Hearns shocks the boxing world by knocking out Roberto Duran in two rounds. For the WBC Junior Middleweight title. Following this match Duran goes on a 2-year hiatus.

1986



9-10-0 Manuel Esteban Zambrano, journeyman, gets knocked out in two rounds by the comebacking Roberto Duran.



0-2-0 (yes you read that right) Jorge Suero manages to make it into the second round with Roberto Duran.



26-4-1 Robbie Sims manages to win a 10 round split decision over Roberto Duran.

1987



10-4-0 Victor Claudio loses a 10 round unanimous decision to Roberto Duran.



28-3-2 Juan Carlos Gimenez loses a 10 round unanimous decision to Roberto Duran.

1988



18-5-1 Ricky Stackhouse loses a 10-round unanimous decision to Roberto Duran.



9-1-1 Paul Thorn is stopped in the six round by Roberto Duran.



16-3-0 Jeff Lanas loses a split decision over 10 rounds to Roberto Duran.



A nice little video on Jeff Lanas and how the Roberto Duran fight came about.

Commentary on This Timeframe:

Duran at this point in his career is basically dismissed as a once great fighter in decline. Which makes the following year all the more impressive as you will see. Struggling with journeymen after his loss to Thomas Hearns, many simply did not believe he had it in him anymore to achieve world class greatness.

Notable Events in 1988



Roberto Duran had a much storied sparring session with Britain's Nigel Benn. There are many stories over the years of Duran sparring with different people but this one comes up the most times.

1989 started off with a bang. 25-4-0 Super Middleweight champion Iran Barkley wanted to punish Roberto Duran ever since the Panamanian beat his good friend Davey Moore back in 1983. Very few people gave Duran a chance to go a few rounds. He was perceived as old, well passed his best, and too small.



Duran put on his best performance in years managing to knock down Barkley in the 11th round in what certainly made all the difference in the world in this dog fight that wound up being a split decision victory for Duran over 12 rounds.



Sugar Ray Leonard, 35-1-1, wins a unanimous decision over Roberto Duran in a fight that retrospectively made no sense to make in the first place. Regardless Duran loses the WBC Super Middleweight title.

Duran would not fight in 1990 returning in 1991.

1991



14-1-0 Pat Lawlor manages to win by 6th round stoppage as Duran throws out his shoulder. Not a promising start to the 1990s, as the injury would prevent Duran from competing until the following year.

1992



15-5-1 Tony Biglen loses a unanimous 10-round decision to Roberto Duran. Later on that year Duran would also defeat 14-7-1 Ken Hulsey by second round knockout but unfortunately that footage is not on YouTube.

1993

22-4-2 Jacques LeBlanc would lose a 10 round unanimous decision to Roberto Duran but unfortunately this is not on YouTube either.

Neither is there footage of Duran defeating 17-0-2 Scott Fitzgerald by knockout in the sixth round.

Nor is there footage of Duran defeating 19-1-0 Tony Menefee by 8th round stoppage.

Which is quite unfortunate because these were pretty good wins against prospects that would catapult Duran back into title contention the following year.

1994



5-4-0 Carlos Montero was up next and goes the full 10 rounds with Roberto Duran losing a decision.



If anyone thought that Roberto Duran was losing his step was certainly proven wrong when he stops 26-3-2 Terry Thomas in the fourth round.



37-5-0 Vinny Pazienza wins a unanimous twelve round decision over Roberto Duran in this IBC Super Middleweight title match.

I've actually had the pleasure of interviewing Vinny Pazienza a few times and he reluctantly admitted that he lost the rematch (1995) to Duran, but was given the decision only because Duran was an old man.



26-4-0 Heath Todd loses by knockout in the 4th round to Roberto Duran. It cannot be emphasized just how much the public loved the older fighters still fighting as George Foreman, Larry Holmes, and others were mounting serious comebacks throughout the late '80s and '90s.

1995



39-5-0 Vinny Pazienza wins a highly controversial unanimous decision over Roberto Duran in their rematch for the IBC Super Middleweight title.



16-0-0 Roni Martinez loses by 7th round knockout to Roberto Duran. Duran also stops 17-3-1 Wilbur Garst in the fourth round later on that year but unfortunately film of that fight is not on YouTube.

1996



19-6-0 Ray Dommenge loses a 10 round unanimous decision to Roberto Duran.



58-3-1 Hector Camacho wins a unanimous 12 round decision over Roberto Duran. For the vacant IBC Middleweight title that was stripped from Danny Garcia. Scores were 116-113, 115-113, and 117-111.



3-13-0 Ariel Cruz get stopped in the first round by Roberto Duran.



21-3-0 Mike Culbert get stopped in the 6th round by Roberto Duran to wrap up 1996.

1997



100-5-2 Jorge Castro would be Roberto Duran's rival for 1997 as the two would split wins. Here Duran loses a ten round unanimous decision.



101-5-2 Jorge Castro loses a unanimous 10 round decision to Roberto Duran this time around.



14-9-2 Dave Radford of Great Britain would be next on the agenda for Roberto Duran. Radford would lose a unanimous 8 round decision.

1998



10-5-1 Felix Jose Hernandez loses a unanimous 10 round decision to Roberto Duran. However it must be said that Duran was dropped in the first round but rallied back to drop Hernandez in the 4th and 8th rounds.



25-1-1 William Joppy, the WBA Middleweight champion, turns out to be the last world class opponent that the legendary Roberto Duran would face. Duran was 47 years old and had been fighting for 31 years. He lost by stoppage in the 3rd round. "I am finished," Duran said. Duran was 102-14 as a professional afterwards.

1999



20-1-0 Omar Gonzalez wins a ten round unanimous decision over Roberto Duran. The fight was at light heavyweight as Duran was 176 pounds to Gonzalez's 174 pounds.

2000



Roberto Duran would have his revenge over 22-10-0 Pat Lawlor in this NBA Super Middleweight title match. Duran was 49 years old winning a 12 round unanimous decision.



But to show that he wasn't just capable of beating older fighters, Duran wins a unanimous decision over 19-2-0 Patrick Goosen who was 30 years old. For the NBA Super Middleweight title.

2001



73-4-2 Hector Camacho wins a unanimous 12 round decision over Roberto Duran. Duran was 50 years old, Camacho was 39 years old. For the NBA Super Middleweight title.

Conclusion

I would like to say that Duran retired because he realized he could not go on anymore, but that wouldn't have been Roberto Duran. No, it took an unfortunate car crash in October of 2001 to force the legendary fighter to call it quits for good.

Jesus Christ Almighty God bless you all