Former boxing champion Roberto Duran was receiving treatment for a heart condition, his family announced Saturday morning.
Duran, 72, a champion in four different weight classes, “suffered health complications from atrioventricular blockade,” his family wrote on his Instagram account.
“We are awaiting the results so that we can provide further information about his health. We would like to thank his relatives, friends and all of his supporters for praying for him.”
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said on social media that Duran was receiving treatment at a hospital in his native Panama.
“His family joins the world in wishing him a speedy recovery. He is a champion and will win this match,” Sulaiman wrote.
Duran held the lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight, and middleweight titles during a boxing career that spanned from 1968 to 2001. He had a record of 103 wins, 16 losses, and 70 knockouts before he was involved in a car accident and retired for good.
Duran is also infamously remembered for his rematch with Sugar Ray Leonard on November 25, 1980 in New Orleans. Duran reportedly said “no mas” (meaning “no more”) near the end of the eighth round. However, Duran has repeatedly denied that he said those words at the time, claiming that he actually said “no shigo,” which means “I'm not going.”
Duran blames the late Howard Cosell, who called for a TV war, for popularizing the phrase “no mass.”
–Field level media
