Muhammad Ali has to give up his seat on the bus to another fellow traveler. It is Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson, the once Baddest man on the Planet, looks up to. In an interview, Iron Mike broke many hearts when he confessed that the Hands of Stone tops his list of favorites.

Though later he clarified the reasons are not entirely mala fide.

Ali is the greatest, but Duran is my favorite

Mike clarified that, like most people across the globe, he has high regard for Muhammad Ali. The influence of the greatest sportsperson of the twentieth century went beyond boxing. He was a superb technician, in a different class, and much ahead of his time. But he also took up many social issues that plagued contemporary American society.

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Born to working-class parents, Ali had a regular upbringing in a stiff, racially-segregated Kentucky. Nevertheless, he got the opportunity to try boxing at age twelve and has never looked back ever since.

Mike said,” He is very tall and very handsome. I was very short and not so handsome. I wasn’t very good looking and he was very articulate, and I spoke with a lisp…”

Mike Tyson and Roberto Duran, from the streets to the ring

The El Chorrillo slum in Guarare, Panama, made it to the front page of major newspapers thanks to one man.

Roberto Duran Samaniego, son of an American father and a Panamanian mother, became the world champion in the Lightweight, Welterweight, Light Middleweight, and Middleweight divisions. But, ranked fifth among the top-draw boxers by the Ring magazine, that he will inspire a thug from the mean streets of Brooklyn is a different story.

Like Iron Mike, Duran grew up in slums; like Iron Mike, he debuted young when he was approaching seventeen. Somewhat two years earlier than Tyson did. But, beginning in 1968, Roberto Duran eventually became Mike Tyson’s contemporary in the eighties and nineties. The ferocity and aggressiveness were the weapons Tyson and Duran relied upon on the unforgiving streets. When boxing beckoned, the lessons learned outside came in handy, for they could channel the aggression in obliterating an opponent.

Preferring to let their hands do the talking made social refinement and polished conduct redundant.

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Mike added, “He was a street fighter like me. He’s crude and mean…Robert Duran, his mother, you know me was out there as well. So I related to that. I don’t have to change… don’t have to learn how to talk polite. I don’t have to be nice. And if he can be accepted and worshiped that way, I thought I would be able to as well.”

Duran retired in 2001, four years early, when Mike fought his last bout. Arguably the most excellent Lightweight of the previous century, the former ignited the dull eighties with his dazzling speed and power. This out-and-out slugger could punch from any angle. 

An underdog’s inspiring run makes up for a good story

It goes without saying that despite the difference in their weight, both resemble each other as far as boxing goes. However, the youngest Heavyweight champion and the greatest Lightweight have never been devoid of a loyal fan base. The flock who love going backward in time to those fond memories when these two giants swept everyone off their feet. Most forget, but the protagonist’s struggle inspires many to strive through.