Ken Buchanan V Julio Cesar Chavez at Lightweight

At his very best, yes, Buchanan wins a close 15 round decision.

 

I'd favour Chavez by competitive decision.

 

Good to see Ken getting the respect he deserves on here. I think him and J.C. would be a very competitive fight.

 

Buchanan proved that he could take anything north of the border that Duran threw at him...and that 1st round "knockdown" was bull****! Against the less mercurical, more paced Chavez, Buchanan would be there until the end, and I think he'd emerge a winner in a very close, hardfought contest.

 

Buchanan.

 

Odd, because Buchanan has the experience of going 15 rounds, and Chavez dosen't...though no doubt JCC would do well back in the 15 round days..Buchanan wasn't known to wilt going the distance., save for the odd after the bell low blow.

 

Ken UD.

 

Buchanan in a good fight and a comfortable decision.

Scartissue

 

Wow, really? Now Buchanan's just getting overrated.

 

Chavez would beat Buchanan and probably stop him late. Why the overrating of Buchanan?

 

Buchanan stops him early.

 

Chavez by decision.....clear, and competitive decision....

 

It would probably end up as a close decision either way as far as I can tell. 50/50-ish. Chavez's fast straight right - a punch to which Buchanan was vulnerable at times - would even out the effectiveness of Buchanan's jab, although Buchanan was good at throwing it in two and threes to offset the chance of being countered. Chavez was very good at cutting off the ring while stepping into position to punch, with his tight guard and economical upper body movement serving him well against being caught on the way in; it all tots up well in the way of countering Buchanan's exceptional set of wheels and balancing things out at mid range. That being said, I've always thought that frenetic relentlessness and speedy pressure troubled Buchanan more than methodical pressure/box-punching ever did, although Chavez's accuracy, deceptive speed and punch selection evens things out a bit more. Close range is interesting too. Chavez was monstrous on the inside for all the above reasons ie tight guard, accuracy, strength etc, but Buchanan was immensely strong and bullish and no stranger to attrition warfare himself, although his relative lack of power might work against him in spite of his core functional strength and fiery attitude. He was no defensive wizard in spite of his overall generalship - slightly superior to Chavez's imo - and classic boxing ability; he could be drawn into a fight quite easily at times and could be very effective when forced to stand and trade despite being very hittable at times. The key for him might be mixing the fighting with the boxing in an attempt to keep Chavez guessing and getting into a consistently effective rhythm, though whether he could actually do it or not is quite up for debate. I don't think that he could keep the fight at long range enough of the time to fight exclusively that way against a top level pressure fighter like Chavez. His vaunted stamina and durability would serve him well, especially in the championship rounds, because neither man has a cat in hell's chance of stopping the other. Seeing how Buchanan could be hit despite his great movement and how Chavez was the more accurate puncher of the two (which might be the deciding factor), Buchanan would probably have to set a high work rate mixed with intelligence to counteract this. Intelligent volume, with the jab in particular, because reckless volume would see him being hit with too many surgical overhand rights to the head and lefts to the ribs.

I'm going away now, having used lots of words to say very little without actually choosing a winner. Rock on.