Legend Duran improving while hospitalized with Covid 19?
Boxing Hall of Famer, Roberto Duran, continues to be hospitalized in his native Panama due to Covid-19. However, his condition is apparently improving and there’s hope that he may be able to be discharged soon.
That’s according to what his son, Robin, told a Panamanian television network this weekend:
Roberto “Manos de Piedra” Durán evoluciona de manera positiva después de dar positivo para covid-19 el pasado jueves, "El Cholo" se muestra de buen ánimo, incluso ya quiere volver a su casa aseguro su hijo Robin Durán. #NoticiasTVN #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/sEFrwCkRXp
— TVN Noticias (@tvnnoticias) June 27, 2020
“My dad feels great, in fact he already wants to go home,” the younger Duran said. “He has almost no symptoms and no fever.”
The 69 year-old Duran has been hospitalized, since last Thursday. He apparently contracted Covid-19 in the days after his June 16th birthday.
Robin Duran went on to tell TVN that the family now believes that his father had too many people over at his home, breaking quarantine and leading to his infection.
“You already know what my dad is like, it is very difficult for him to close the doors to someone, and well, on that day, which was his birthday, they wanted to greet him, it was his mistake and he paid very dearly,” Robin Duran said.”
One of Duran’s other sons tweeted this picture of doctors with Panamanian sports legend on Saturday,
June is the 40th anniversary of arguably his signature win. That’s when he defeated Unbeaten World Welterweight Champ and U.S. Olympic hero, Sugar Ray Leonard, via a thrilling 15-round decision in Montreal, Canada.
Duran had amassed an incredible 73-1 record after the Leonard win that included him having won the World Lightweight championship, previously. Of course, he lost to Leonard in their famous “No Mas” rematch in November of 1980.
Next after winning two non-title fights, Duran lost a 15 round decision to Wilfred Benitez in January of 1982, the man known as “Hands of Stone,” followed that loss with another decision loss to England’s Kirkland Laing and had now lost three times in five fights.
But, he bounced back by winning three fights in a row, including beating American Davey Moore by 8th round TKO in a thrilling performance at Madison Square Garden in June of 1983. Duran captured the WBA Junior Middleweight Championship that night and his third World Title in three weight divisions.
Duran was stripped of that WBA belt, when he elected to fight Marvelous Marvin Hagler for the Undisputed Middleweight Championship five months later. Duran lost a controversial 15 round unanimous decision to Hagler that night in Vegas. And then, he agreed to drop back down to 154 lbs. to fight Thomas Hearns.
That fight also just had a dubious anniversary for Duran, as Hearns demolished the Panamanian in just two rounds, dropping him for good with his trademark thunderous right cross.
Duran recovered from that and went on to win a fourth world title moving back up to Middleweight, when he beat American Iran Barkley by split decision in February of 1989. Leonard later beat him in the third fight of their series, again by 12 round decision in December of that year.
Duran was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2007.
A veteran broadcaster of over 25 years, T.J. has been a fight fan longer than that! He’s the host of the “Big Fight Weekend” podcast and will go “toe to toe” with anyone who thinks that Marvin Hagler beat Sugar Ray Leonard or that Tyson, Lennox Lewis or Deontay Wilder could have beaten Ali!
