On This Day: William Joppy thrashed Roberto Duran in the Panamanian’s final world title fight

1. ROBERTO DURAN’S shot at WBA middleweight champion William Joppy was originally scheduled to take place on June 6, 1999, on the undercard of Evander Holyfield-Henry Akinwande until the spidery Brit tested positive for Hepatitis B and rendered the whole bill redundant.

2. DESPITE his glorious past, very few felt that Duran – at 47 years old – could add to his hefty miracle list against a man 20 years younger. It wasn’t only Duran’s advanced age that was going against him ahead of the August 28, 1998 showdown at the Las Vegas Hilton; the location did not bode well either. Duran had not won in Sin City since outpointing Luigi Minchillo in 1981. Since then, he had lost to Wilfred Benitez, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Robbie Sims, Sugar Ray Leonard, Pat Lawlor, and Vinny Pazienza.