MIAMI -- Five-time boxing champion Roberto Duran has sued a Florida businessman to recover championship belts he says were stolen from his Panama City home.

Duran, 51, told a six-person jury Tuesday that his brother-in-law stole the belts in 1993 and sold them to the Miami businessman.

Luis Gonzalez-Baez said in the civil trial that he bought the belts for $3,000 from a legitimate antiques dealer in the 1990s. He also bought most of Duran's household items from the dealer, he said.

Duran, the first boxer to win championship titles in four weight classes, said he was living in the United States and left his brother to manage the household in Panama City when the in-law staged a burglary. Everything was taken, including the belts, curtains and front door.

Duran is now estranged from his brother-in-law, Bolivar Iglesias.

Baez produced receipts for the belts, which did not have Duran's signature.

"The belts represent quite an achievement, but that can't surpass the strict enforcement of contract law," said Baez's attorney, Gordon Watt. "This is not about memories, it's about business and contracts."

In 1995, Baez was arrested by the FBI for trying to sell Duran's stolen property for $2,000 to a sports memorabilia dealer in Long Island. When Baez showed the receipts, Brooklyn federal prosecutors dropped the charges.

The trial is expected to last up to three days.