Rubén Darío Palacios

Ruben Dario Palacios (born May 22, 1975 in La Sierra, Antioquia, died 2003-11-14 in Medellin, Colombia) was a Colombian boxer.

Professional career

Palacio fought 11 years before surprisingly winning the WBO title in England with an 8 round kayo of British star Colin McMillan on 9-26-1992.

Before that, Palacios had tried unsuccessfully to win a world title on 3 occasions and never gave up on his dream, even when he had very low points in his career (between 1984 and 1986, for example, he lost 4 out of 5 fights).

He was very much the underdog against the flashy 23-1 McMillan but Palacios had his night of glory that day in London. Ironically, he returned to England to defend his title and then he was diagnosed with the AIDS virus by the British Board of Boxing. Palacios had to relinquish the belt he had waited so long to win and retired with a 45-11-2 (19 KO) record.

Life After Boxing

After relinquishing the belt, the former champion's life was a tragic downward spiral. He was arrested on drug trafficking charges in the US a year after and spent four years in jail.

Death

Palacios died of AIDS in a hospital in Medellin, Colombia on Friday. At the time of his death, Ruben Palacio was a few weeks short of his 41st birthday.

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