In June 42 years ago, the famous "Montreal Brawl" kicked off in Canada, in which Robert Durand, known as the "Stone Hand", ushered in the peak of his career, ending The Victorious Shug Ray Leonard and becoming the first champion after Henry Armstrong to win the title of lightweight and sub-middleweight boxing champion.
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When Duran challenged Leonard in June 1980, former world heavyweight Joe Fraser was asked: "Who did Duran remind you of?" Fraser replied without hesitation: "He reminds me of the infamous serial killer Charles Manson." ”
As a 4-tier world boxer, Duran is regarded as one of the most "stabbing" players ever stepped into the ring, and his success has been aided by the guidance and help of legendary coach Ray Axel. Three days before the clash with Leonard, a physical exam showed Duran's heart beating irregularly, and coach Axel responded: "It's impossible because Duran doesn't have a heart. ”
At the time, Duran had won 71 of 72 matches, and he had attracted public interest with his ferocious style and bizarre presence, which American journalists described as a "dark saboteur." Today, the 71-year-old Duran admits that his position in history has been eternally consolidated.
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Born in 1951 in a poor family in Panama, Duran fought with adult men at the age of 8 and ushered in his own dynasty when he left the amateur arena at the age of 16 to enter professional boxing.
In 1972, Duran challenged Scotland's Ken Buchanan at Madison Garden Plaza in New York, competing for the WBA and the Boxing Ring magazine's lightweight gold belt, and Before the game, Duran was considered a 2-1 weakness, and as a result, he knocked down his opponent just 15 seconds after the opening. After that, Duran became more and more courageous, and finally destroyed Buchanan with a low blow in the 13th round, reaching the world championship for the first time, and Buchanan left with "egg pain" after the defeat.
Duran once described himself in his autobiographical film: "Before Mike Tyson appeared, I was Mike Tyson, boxers would pee their pants after seeing me, and Leonard was no exception. The Americans began to realize that they had never met a boxing killer like me, with dark eyes and black hair, and they called me a 'dark saboteur' and thought I was a demon. ”
In November 2020, the 54-year-old Tyson returned to boxing against Roy Jones Jr., and one reason for his return to the game was encouraged by Duran. Tyson confessed that he admired Duran very much: "He was my favorite boxer, and when I watched Duran's game, he was a street guy, and I was thinking, this guy is me, this is what I'm going to do." 」 ”
Tyson continued: "Duran doesn't feel ashamed of who he is, so I see him as an idol, and as I developed my career, people called me a barbarian, I knew it was a great compliment to be seen as a barbarian as a boxer, and I was as fierce and fearless as Duran. ”
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Duran's 1980 end leonard was recorded in history, unfortunately, after winning this victory, Duran focused on eating and drinking, and after the second battle with Leonard, Duran was fat like a bulky gas canister, he was forced to reduce his weight from 200 pounds to 155 pounds in less than 6 weeks, so that he was incisive, and as a result, in the second game with Leonard, Duran lost 8 rounds, and his performance was a mess.
Before the victory over Leonard, there was another thing that made Duran famous, that is, during the filming of "Rocky 2", Duran was hired by the famous movie star Sylvester Stallone as a sparring partner. During the filming of "Rocky 1", Stallone, who had learned a little fur, was full of confidence in his boxing ability, but he was violently beaten by Duran in actual combat, for which Stallone had to plead with Duran's men to be merciful, and he was worried that his beauty would be destroyed.
In a 2014 interview with TMT, Stallone was asked if he would like to partner boxing champion Bernard Hopkins. He hurriedly said, "No, I learned the lesson from Duran. ”
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In addition to playing buchanan and Leonard, Duran's career also played against Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearnes, which cemented his position as one of the four kings of the middleweights of the 80s. In 2001, Duran was still struggling on the field, but unfortunately nearly died in a car accident at the end of the year, when his rib fracture was broken and inserted into the lungs, and the situation was critical, but he was eventually saved by surgery.
Duran officially retired at the age of 50, and he once ridiculed his good friend and football superstar Diego Maradona in his speech. Duran said: "As of now, I'm still exercising, and when the retirement honor comes, people will see my figure and I won't get fat like Maradona. ”
Duran ended his career with a record of 104 wins and 16 losses, and he was one of only three boxers in history to span four different eras (the other two being Jack Johnson and Manny Pacquiao). Today, a placard with the words "Hand in Hand" still stands on the humble streets of Panama, which has led many people to work toward this goal. Duran said: "I was born as a fighter, died as a fighter, and in this story, there is only one legend, and that is me." ”