Panamanian great Roberto Duran was one of the sport’s iconic ‘Four Kings’.
Made up of Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Marvelous Marvin Hagler, the quartet rose to superstardom during the 1980s where they shared the ring with one another on at least one occasion each.
Duran famously defeated Leonard in their first encounter back in June 1980 to capture the WBC welterweight title, but would suffer the first defeat of his career in their rematch months later in that infamous ‘No Mas’ fight, which saw ‘Hands of Stone’ quit during the eighth round.
Whilst reflecting on his clashes with the ‘Four Kings’, Duran was asked by The Ring Magazine to reveal which of his former rival’s had the best chin.
“I hit Hagler with a lot of punches and he just kept coming. I didn’t find him as skilful as some of the opponents I faced but he was the toughest.”
Duran locked horns with Hagler in November 1983 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. After a competitive 12-round battle, Hagler defeated ‘Hands of Stone’ via unanimous decision to successfully defend his undisputed world middleweight championship.
Hagler would go on to make a further four defences of his middleweight crown, defeating the likes of ‘Hitman’ Hearns and John Mugabi along the way, before he was eventually beaten by Sugar Ray Leonard in April 1987.
His legendary clash with Leonard would prove to be Hagler’s final career outing, as he would go on to officially announce his retirement from boxing in the summer of 1988.