Juan Roldán

Juan Domingo Roldán was a popular hard punching Argentine middleweight professional boxer, best remembered for his strong showing in the early rounds of an undisputed world championship bout against Marvelous Marvin Hagler. After flooring Hagler in the opening seconds with a swing that made contact with the forearm rather than glove on an off balance Hagler, Roldan was able to further exceed low expectations of the success he could enjoy against the dominant middleweight champion. Hagler methodically regained control, and after taking several rounds of punishment, Roldán declined to continue. He retired for a couple of years before coming back with a campaign that took him to another middleweight world title bout, this time with Thomas Hearns. In an exciting contest, Roldán shook Hearns early, but succumbed to a Hearns attack in the fourth. A final world middleweight title fight with Michael Nunn resulted in a loss by KO, following which Roldán ended his professional boxing career. Nicknamed Martillo (Hammer) Roldán often featured in Ring En Español magazine.