I fought a boxer who everybody said I couldn’t beat – Sugar Ray Leonard. They said he was faster than me. That he was the best of the best. And I beat him. – Roberto Duran
If I had the medical clearance to fight, I would want to fight the best. The best would be Mayweather. – Roberto Duran
I am not going to become crazy in the ring, because I am already crazy. And I am not going to die in the ring. I am going to die in bed as an old man. – Roberto Duran
Fame doesn’t make me any different. I am the same man now who grew up in the hard streets of Panama. I am just myself. I always will be. Whoever wants to talks to me, talks to me. Whoever loves me, loves me for who I am. – Roberto Duran
I really feel that if it wasn’t for the accident, I’d still be fighting. I would have handled some of these fighters. I would have made sure that the doctors would have declared me physically sound; and after that, I would have trained. – Roberto Duran
Yes, it’s true I once knocked out a horse. It was at a fiesta in my mother’s home town of Guarare. Someone bet me a bottle of whiskey that I couldn’t do it. – Roberto Duran
Currently, I’m working with a company called DRL Promotions with my partners Dan Wise and Luis De Cubas. We’re currently representing over 30 fighters. – Roberto Duran
I want to thank America. You opened your heart so I could enter. Thank you everybody who lives in the United States, who saw me grow into becoming a world champion. – Roberto Duran
Nobody stands out right now. Everybody has similar styles. None of these fighters have reinvented the wheel and created a new style. – Roberto Duran
Getting hit motivates me. It makes me punish the guy more. A fighter takes a punch, hits back with three punches. – Roberto Duran
De La Hoya doesn’t know about salsa. He should keep on singing mariachis and leave the salsa to me. I’m good at salsa. – Roberto Duran
Right now, it’s very difficult to single out one fighter, pound-for-pound, who is the best. Right now, it’s very complex. Miguel Cotto, Mayweather and Zab Judah’s a good fighter as well. – Roberto Duran
Everybody says it: black, white; everybody calls me a legend. Italians, Jews. Everybody. – Roberto Duran
I laugh when Floyd Mayweather says that if he went back in time he would beat us all. I’ll tell you this: if he was in the same era as Hagler and Hearns and Leonard and me, I don’t think he would be such a big name. There is too much talk. – Roberto Duran
Some of the old refs have favoritism toward some of the fighters that are currently fighting. There should be a changing of the guard with the refs, the same way there are with fighters. – Roberto Duran
