News broke yesterday that ring legend, and all-time great Roberto ‘Hands Of Stone’ Duran had been taken to hospital in his native Panama, suffering from the killer coronavirus. Messages of support flooded social media from boxing fans all over the world. Today brought some positive news courtesy of his son Roberto Jr. A photo he posted on twitter of a doctor clad in protective wear with a smiling Roberto Duran in his hospital bed. The heading of the photo read ‘Mi Papa esta tranquilo y se siente de lo mas bien! Pronto. Dios primero le da el K.O al Covid 19’ according to Google translate this, in English reads:
‘My dad is calm and feels very good! Soon. God first gives the K.O to the COVID 19’
Duran is no stranger to difficult fights; he’s faced adversity on more than one occasion during his Hall of Fame boxing career. In a career that stretched five decades (the 2nd fighter to achieve this, the first being the great Jack Johnson), Roberto would win titles in four weight classes, a feat that was harder to achieve back then as there were fewer titles on the line. By the time Roberto had called an end to his illustrious career, he had a resume that read like a who’s who of boxing – Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Marvin Hagler, Wilfred Benitez, Hector Camacho, and Iran Barkley to name just a few. Although he didn’t always get the win, one thing remained constant, his fan favourite fighting style.
Hands Of Stone was known of his aggressive approach his fights, to the untrained eye this may appear to be wild brawling, but look a little closer and the true skill of the man is easy to find. Amazing footwork, blur like hand speed, unthinkable punch selection and insane angles coupled with his world-famous power made him one of the greatest of all time.
This is amazing news for boxing fans worldwide, to think we could lose a boxing great to this cruel virus was heart-breaking. The virus has destroyed families, it doesn’t discriminate, it has affected everyone from sports stars to the everyday working-class person. It’s truly horrendous.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=192809338930226&set=a.113710113506816&type=3
David Corner
Twitter- @BoxingsFirst
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