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BoxingInsider.com
Interview with Roberto Duran
Published by BoxingInsider
By Scoop Malinowski
This man needs no introduction. He is one of the greatest fighters in ring history - a four-time world champ in four weight classes, and one of the most beloved champions of all time.
It was a surprise to see Roberto Duran in Atlantic City for fightweek of Don King’s super event. Here is our exclusive Boxinginsider.com interview with Roberto Duran:
BoxingInsider.com: Please give the boxing world an update on Roberto Duran?
Roberto Duran: “I live in Panama City and right now i’m promoting fights in Panama. And I’m promoting my own salsa band (Arenablanca).”
BoxingInsider.com: What brings you here to Atlantic City?

Roberto Duran: I love boxing! And my son is working on TV doing translating.”
BoxingInsider.com: Which boxers of today do you like to watch?
Roberto Duran: “All of them. I love boxing and for me all of them are good.”
BoxingInsider.com: Who do you see becoming the next dominant heavyweight champion if Lennox Lewis retires?
Roberto Duran: Mike Tyson again can be the best heavyweight.”
BoxingInsider.com: What do you like about Ricardo Mayorga who many say he reminds of you?
Roberto Duran: “I like the courage. He’s a guy that goes on it. He doesn’t care whether you’re punching him or not. He just goes at it.”
BoxingInsider.com: Do you see a little of yourself in Ricardo Mayorga?
Roberto Duran: “No. Just courage.”
BoxingInsider.com: Please give your comments on Bernard Hopkins?
Roberto Duran: “He’s a good boxer. And he’s strong. He can take a punch.”
BoxingInsider.com: What do you see in Oscar De La Hoya?
Roberto Duran: “He’s a good boxer. And very smart around the ring. Very smart.”
BoxingInsider.com: Roy Jones?
Roberto Duran: “He fought only guys he knew he would beat.”
BoxingInsider.com: Impressed by the Klitschko brothers?
Roberto Duran: “Not impressed at all, no. I don’t see much.”
BoxingInsider.com: What do you see in Lennox Lewis?
Roberto Duran: “Lennox Lewis has been very lucky because I don’t consider him as a punch taker. He hasn’t fought a smart boxer.”
BoxingInsider.com: What fights were you at your best?
Roberto Duran: “Two fights. Buchanan and Barkley. (Vs. Buchanan)…I wanted to be world champion. (Vs. Barkley - at age 37)…Everybody thought that I was no good. That I was already done.”
BoxingInsider.com: Hardest punchers you faced?
Roberto Duran: “Hearns and Barkley. And DeJesus.”
BoxingInsider.com: Toughest opponents?
Roberto Duran: “Barkley, Hagler and Leonard.”
BoxingInsider.com: What was your greatest boxing moment?
Roberto Duran: “When I fought Ernest Marcel in Panama City. He was a good fighter and it was a big win. That’s the fight that opened the door to the championship. And of course my first world title (won from Ken Buchanan at Madison Square Garden in 1972).”
BoxingInsider.com: Most painful moment?
Roberto Duran: “The second fight with Ray Leonard in New Orleans. I had so many problems and quit that fight.”
BoxingInsider.com: And last question, any funny memory you have? Anything when you look back it makes you laugh?
Roberto Duran: “After I won the Lightweight title from Ken Buchanan, I wanted to eat every kind of ice cream, every flavor, every color. And after that I did champagne. And after that I had diarrhea. I went to the bathroom a hundred times that night [laughter].”


























