Rubén Darío Palacios

Ruben Dario Palacios (1 December 1962 in La Sierra, Antioquia – 14 November 2003 in Medellín, Colombia) was a Colombian boxer.

Palacio fought 11 years before surprisingly winning the WBO title in England with an 8 round KO of British star Colin McMillan on 26 September 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 HIV virus by the British Boxing Board of Control. Palacios had to relinquish the belt he had waited so long to win and retired with a 45-11-2 (19 KO) record.

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.

Palacios died of AIDS in a hospital in Medellín, Colombia on the 14th November 2003. At the time of his death, Ruben Palacios was a few weeks short of his 41st birthday.

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