By the time Roberto Durán retired in 2002 at age 50, he had already blazed a trail in the boxing arena, carving out a name for himself among the sport’s legends. In the same year, The Ring Magazine named him as the 5th greatest fighter of the last 80 year. This was an honor few would question - after all, the man had been the only boxer to have fought in five different decades, having held titles at four different weights – lightweight, welterweight, junior middleweight, and middleweight.

In his day, Durán earned, and kept, the moniker “Manos de Piedra” or “Manos e’ Piedra”, which, roughly translated, meant “Hands of Stone” or “Stone Hands”, a tribute to the heavy-handed punishment Durán would deal all his opponents. At the end of his career, his professional record would consist of an impressive 119 fights, 103 of which he won. Out of 103, 70 fights were won by knockout.
Born on June 16, 1951 in Guarare, Panamá, Roberto Durán’s career kicked off with his first professional fight in 1967. After winning 30 matches in a row, he found himself competing for his first title against Ken Buchanan in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

After gaining the WBA world lightweight championship from Buchanan, Durán went on to successfully defend the title 12 times, eleven of which by knockout. In 1978, he would defend this title for the last time, in a unification match against De Jesus. It was the third time he had faced the same opponent, and true to form, Durán won the match by knockout, capturing the WBC lightweight belt. However, Durán gave up the unified lightweight title the very next year, in February 1979.

His quest for his next title, the welterweight, would lead to one of the most controversial stories surrounding Durán and his career. Having beat Sugar Ray Leonard by unanimous decision in June 1980, he shocked the world during the November rematch by quitting the fight in the middle of the 8th round. According to witness accounts, Durán turned around in the middle of the match, retired to his corner, and refused to continue. He allegedly ended the bout with the words “no más” (no more).

Further research shows, though, that what he actually said was “No quiero pelear con el payaso,” which meant “I do not want to fight with this clown”. The infamous “no mas” comment was attributed to Durán when Referee Octavio Meyran sought to confirm his decision. When Meyran asked him if he was sure he wanted to stop the fight, Durán replied, “No más, no más”, a phrase which would go down in boxing history infamy. To this day, no one is certain about what caused Durán to quit that match. Some even say that the fighter had eaten – gorged, really – after the weigh in, and that stomach cramps were the reason for his abrupt decision to quit the match.

Another anecdote that his fans continue to retell is his match against WBA champion Davey Moore on June 16th, 1983. This was Durán’s second attempt to win the junior middleweight title, and one of his most brutal bouts on record. Durán was thumbing Moore and deliberately inflicting as much pain as possible. Some spectators would even see him smile each time his opponent flinched or winced in pain. In the end, the terrible beating that Moore endured at the hands of Durán ended only because officials decided that enough was enough, stopped the fight, and handed Durán his third world title.

Durán went on to compete in other divisions until he was 47 years old, an age when most boxers are retired or no longer fit to compete. His career as a fighter is dotted with glorious victories and a few bitter defeats, but no one can say that he did anything halfway. A man who was truly one of the greatest fighters of all time, Durán will always be remembered as the driven, brutal fighter who dedicated his life to the ring and wove stories that will mark boxing history indelibly.