Iran Barkley vs. Roberto Durán, billed as Steel vs. Stone was a professional boxing match contested on February 24, 1989, for the WBC middleweight title.[3]
The fight was The Ring magazine's fight of the year for 1989.[4]
Background
In his previous fight on June 6, 1988, Iran Barkley had upset the reigning WBC middleweight champion Thomas Hearns to claim Hearns' title. For his first defense, Barkley reached an agreement with Roberto Durán that was contingent on Durán first defeating unheralded journeyman Jeff Lanas in October that same year.[5] Though Durán barely eked out a split decision win against Lanas,[6] the Barkley-Durán fight was made official in December with it taking place February the following year.
The now-37-year old Durán, who had not had a title fight since being knocked out inside of two rounds by Thomas Hearns in 1984 and had fought mostly unknowns since returning to boxing in 1986, was thought to be washed up and came into the fight as underdog. Durán's last title win had come against Barkley's childhood friend Davey Moore in 1983. Moore had been killed in a freak accident only six months prior and Barkley had hoped to dedicate a victory to his fallen friend stating "This is personal because I remember Duran not so long ago against my friend Davey Moore. This is for Davey, this is really for Davey. I want (Duran) to know from the bottom of my heart, no one can take this title." Barkley also vowed that the fight would be Durán's "last hurrah."[7] Durán was unbothered by Barkley's trash talk, retorting "Barkley is saying what he's going to do and not going to do. Come Feb. 24, he's the one who's got to worry. I'm going to demonstrate I'm not finished like a lot of people say. I'm going to prove it."[8]
On the day of the fight, there was some minor controversy at the pre-fight weigh-in which took place to ensure both fighters were at the 160 pound middleweight limit. While Durán weighed in at 156 pounds, Barkley's initial reading came in at over 164 pounds, which if correct would have led to him being immediately stripped of the title and the fight called off. After protests from Barkley's camp, he was allowed to be re-weighed and came in at 159 pounds with the 5 pound discrepancy being explained as Barkley standing on the back edge of the scale.[9]
The fight
Durán would upset Barkley, earning a split decision victory and capturing his fourth (and final) world title in his fourth different weight class. Barkley started the fight decently, winning seven of the first eight rounds on one of the judge's scorecard and four of eight on another, but Durán would go toe-to-toe with his much larger opponent and landed numerous overhand rights during the later rounds en route to winning the final four rounds on all three scorecards. Durán would score the fights lone knockdown in the 11th round, landing three consecutive right hands that dropped Barkley to the canvas. Barkley would survive the round, but was clearly dazed from the exchange and after the bell rang momentarily wandered the ring in search of his corner. After the fighters fought a close 12th, the decision came down to the scorecards with Durán winning two of them with scores of 116–112 and 118–112 while Barkley won 116–113 on the third.[10]
Barkley was complementary in his defeat stating about Durán "It was his heart. It just wouldn't go" while Durán quipped "I am like a bottle of wine. The older I get, the better."[11]
Undercard
The undercard (billed as Gold to Glory) featured the professional debuts of five Olympic medalists, who had all competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics the previous year. Four of the fighters had won the gold medal in their respective weight classes, these were Americans Ray Mercer (heavyweight), Kennedy McKinney (super bantamweight) and Andrew Maynard (light heavyweight) as well as Kenyan Robert Wangila (welterweight). The fifth, American Michael Carbajal had won the silver in the light flyweight division.[12] All five fighters were victorious in their respective matches.
