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Motivation Quote by Roberto Duran

"Getting hit motivates me. It makes me punish the guy more. A fighter takes a punch, hits back with three punches"

About this Quote

Pain, in Duran's telling, isn't a warning light. It's a starter pistol. "Getting hit motivates me" flips the usual sports-movie logic where the punch is the crisis and recovery is the triumph. For Duran, the punch is information: you're close enough to be touched, which means you're close enough to hurt back. The line has the blunt, streetwise rhythm of his legend - not a philosopher of violence, but an artisan of it.

The subtext is psychological intimidation. A lot of fighters want you to believe they can take your best shot; Duran wants you to believe your best shot is a mistake. "It makes me punish the guy more" isn't about scoring points. It's about reasserting hierarchy, turning exchange into consequence. There's also a small confession baked in: retaliation is fuel. He isn't claiming to be untouched; he's claiming to be activated.

Context matters because Duran's career was built on pressure - walking opponents down, forcing them to fight at his temperature. This quote reads like a manual for that style. One punch becomes permission to collapse the distance and multiply the cost. The "three punches" is hyperbole, sure, but it's also strategy: overwhelm the opponent's sense of control, make them feel every decision has interest rates.

In an era obsessed with "chin" and toughness as mythology, Duran frames durability as a weapon, not a virtue. Taking a punch isn't the job. Turning it into leverage is.

Quote Details

TopicPerseverance
SourceHelp us find the source
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Duran, Roberto. (2026, January 16). Getting hit motivates me. It makes me punish the guy more. A fighter takes a punch, hits back with three punches. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/getting-hit-motivates-me-it-makes-me-punish-the-118025/

Chicago Style
Duran, Roberto. "Getting hit motivates me. It makes me punish the guy more. A fighter takes a punch, hits back with three punches." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/getting-hit-motivates-me-it-makes-me-punish-the-118025/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Getting hit motivates me. It makes me punish the guy more. A fighter takes a punch, hits back with three punches." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/getting-hit-motivates-me-it-makes-me-punish-the-118025/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Roberto Add to List
Getting Hit Motivates Me: Roberto Duran on Resilience and Boxing
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About the Author

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Roberto Duran (born June 16, 1951) is a Athlete from Panama.

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