Roberto Durán Samaniego is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: Lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight. Duran also reigned as the undisputed and lineal lightweight champion and the lineal welterweight champion. He is also the second boxer to have competed over a span of five decades, the first being Jack Johnson. Durán was known as a versatile, technical brawler and pressure fighter, which earned him the nickname "Manos de Piedra" for his formidable punching power and excellent defense.
Marvelous Marvin Hagler was an American professional boxer. He competed in boxing from 1973 to 1987 and reigned as the undisputed champion of the middleweight division from 1980 to 1987, making twelve successful title defenses, all but one by knockout. Hagler also holds the highest knockout percentage of all undisputed middleweight champions at 78 percent. His undisputed middleweight championship reign of six years and seven months is the second-longest active reign of the 20th century. He holds the record for the sixth longest reign as champion in middleweight history. Nicknamed "Marvelous" and annoyed that network announcers often did not refer to him as such, Hagler legally changed his name to "Marvelous Marvin Hagler" in 1982.
Thomas Hearns is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1977 to 2006. Nicknamed the "Motor City Cobra", and more famously "The Hitman", Hearns's tall, slender build and oversized arms and shoulders allowed him to move up over fifty pounds in his career and become the first boxer in history to win world titles in five weight divisions: welterweight, light middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight.
Alan Sydney Minter was a British professional boxer who competed from 1972 to 1981. He held the undisputed middleweight title in 1980, having previously held the British middleweight title from 1975 to 1976, and the European middleweight title twice between 1977 and 1979. As an amateur, Minter won a bronze medal in the light-middleweight division at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
John Mugabi is a Ugandan former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 1991, and 1996 to 1999. He held the WBC super-welterweight title from 1989 to 1990, and challenged twice for world titles at middleweight, including the undisputed championship.
Juan Domingo Roldán was an Argentine professional boxer, best remembered for his strong showing in the early rounds of an undisputed world championship bout against Marvelous Marvin Hagler. After flooring Hagler in the opening seconds Roldan was able to further enjoy success against the dominant middleweight champion. Hagler significantly injured Roldán's eye with the thumb of his glove. Roldán fought on, but was unable to continue and suffered a technical knockout. He retired for a couple of years before coming back with a campaign that took him to another middleweight world title bout, this time with Thomas Hearns. In an exciting contest, Roldán shook Hearns early, but succumbed to a Hearns attack in the fourth. A final world middleweight title fight with Michael Nunn resulted in a loss by KO, following which Roldán ended his professional boxing career. Nicknamed Martillo (Hammer) Roldán often featured on Ring En Español magazine.
Boxing in the 1980s was filled with important fights, events and personalities that shaped the sport. Boxing in the 1980s was shaped by many different situations, such as the continuous corporate battles between the different world sanctioning organizations, the void left by Muhammad Ali as the sport's ambassador and consequent search for a new boxing hero, the continuous presence of Don King as the sport's most famous promoter, the surge of rival promoters as Bob Arum, Butch Lewis and Murad Muhammad, and major rule changes. In 1986, Mike Tyson emerged as a fresh new face in the heavyweight division, which had seen a decline in champion quality level after Ali's retirement and, later on, after longtime WBC ruler Larry Holmes' prime. In addition, the IBF and WBO began operating.
Fulgencio Obelmejías, sometimes known also as Fully Obel is a Venezuelan former boxer, who was world super-middleweight champion.
"Bad" Bennie Briscoe was an American professional boxer. A fan favorite for his punching power, he was known as the "quintessential Philadelphia boxer," and one of the greatest fighters of his era who due to various reasons did not become a world champion.
Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns, was a world middleweight championship boxing match between undisputed champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler and challenger Thomas Hearns, the WBC super welterweight champion, who had gone up in weight for the bout. Won by Hagler by third-round knockout, the fight is considered by some to be the greatest three rounds in boxing history, due to its constant action, drama, and violent back-and-forth exchanges.
Maurice Hope is a British former boxer, who was world junior middleweight champion. Born in Antigua, he grew up in Hackney, London. He represented Great Britain at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany.
José Antonio Rivera was a Puerto Rican boxer. He was much better known as El Gallo Rivera or Tonito Rivera, and was a prominent boxer during the decade of the 1980s.
Kevin Finnegan was an English boxer.
Pat Thomas was a Light-middleweight boxer, originally from Saint Kitts and Nevis, who took British citizenship and won two British boxing titles in the 1970s and 80s. After leaving Saint Kitts, Thomas settled in Cardiff in Wales, and is recognised as a Welsh fighter taking the Welsh light middleweight Championship in 1977.
Marvin Hagler vs. Sugar Ray Leonard, billed as The Super Fight, was a professional boxing match contested on April 6, 1987 for the WBC and The Ring middleweight titles.
Marcos López, better known as Marcos Geraldo, is a Mexican former boxer who was champion at both middleweight and light heavyweight.
Anthony Perez was an American boxing referee and judge of Puerto Rican descent. During his career, he refereed many major boxing fights and participated in a number of boxing related documentaries.
Wilfred Benítez vs. Sugar Ray Leonard was a professional boxing match contested on November 30, 1979, for the WBC and The Ring welterweight titles.
Carol B. Polis is an American writer, stockbroker and former professional boxing judge. From 1973 to 2009, she judged 143 professional boxing contests, including many world championships. Polis is the first woman in the sport's history to become licensed to judge professional boxing fights.
The Marvin Hagler vs. Roberto Duran contest was a professional boxing fight which took place on November 10, 1983, at the Caesar's Palace hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was for Hagler's universally recognized IBF, WBA and WBC world Middleweight title. Having knocked out Davey Moore in eight rounds on the previous June 16th to win his third divisional world championship, the WBA world Junior Middleweight one, Duran, a Panamanian, was attempting to become the first four division world champion in boxing history. Hagler, meanwhile, had beaten Alan Minter by third round technical knockout in September of 1980 to win the undisputed world Middleweight title, and, after proposed "super-fight" title defenses against Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns failed to take place, was making the eighth defense of that championship, his seven previous defenses all ending in knockout wins for the American champion.