Roberto Duran’s eyes still remind Sugar Ray Leonard, who boxed the Panamanian three times over the course of a decade, of serial killer Charles Manson.

‘He was one scary-looking man,’ Leonard recalled recently. ‘Psychologically, he got to me.’ Strolling with his then wife, Juanita, through the streets of Montreal ahead of their first unforgettable battle — one of the greatest fights ever staged – Leonard saw Duran coming towards him and smiled, but there was no such civility in Manos de Piedra, Hands of Stone. ‘He taunted me. He cursed my mother, my children, my wife. He said unbelievable things and I let them get to me.’

The episode is recounted in this brilliantly detailed biography of Duran by New Jersey boxing writer Christian Giudice, who travelled to Panama to interview his subject along with family, friends and associates to build a vividpicture of the street urchin turned warrior, who will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York, in June.

Along with Leonard, ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler and Tommy ‘Hitman’ Hearns, Duran was one of the so-called ‘Fabulous Four’ who illuminated the welter weight and middleweight divisions in the 1980s.

But it was as a lightweight that Duran was at his mostfiercest, winning the world title from Scotland’s Ken Buchanan before marching imperiously past a succession of challengers and ascending to welterweight to take Leonard’s WBC belt.

Their rematch provided the shocking spectacle of Duran, who once felled a horse in a brutal and much-criticised demonstration of his punching power, surrendering in the eighth round when Leonard’s nerve and impertinence found his opponent’sweak spot.

Giudice has valiantly attempted to separate myth from the reality of the thatnight in New Orleans when the legend imploded.

Duran rebuilt his career and restored some of his reputation, but he was forced to carry on fighting foughtinto his 50s and, unsurprisingly, lost the multi-million dollar fortune that his many years in the ring had generated.

As a fighter, however, he will always stand among the very best, and Giudice’s effort has successfully done him justice

Hands Of Stone: The Life and Legend of Roberto Duran, by Christian Giudice, hb, £17.99

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