In 1996, Durán fought Héctor Camacho for the vacant IBC Middleweight Championship. At the end of the fight, fans and TV commentators seemed in complete agreement that Durán had won the fight in an excellent performance, but the three judges saw the fight very differently and awarded Camacho the victory by a very controversial unanimous decision. Durán's old rival, Sugar Ray Leonard, commentating at ringside, was baffled at the scoring and called it an early Christmas gift for Camacho, with the result motivating Leonard enough to come out of a 6-year boxing retirement to face Camacho himself in 1997. In 1997, Durán was defeated by former champion Jorge Castro in Argentina. Durán then fought Castro in a rematch bout in Panama and won via unanimous decision, maintaining his unbeaten record in Panama.