Ken Buchanan W15 Ismael Laguna. John H Stracey TKO6 Jose Napoles. Barry McGuigan W15 Eusebio Pedroza.
buchanan. napoles was at the end and pedroza, though not finished, had seen better days. Laguna still had something to offer when he first fought Ken
From a technical standpoint, I think Buchanan over Laugna for sure; Stracey-Napoles I think has to be largely discounted of the three by any criteria, but from a feel-good, proud "Hey, let's put boxing back on our map" kind of way I figure it would have to be McGuigan-Pedroza. Pedroza was ready to be taken, as he'd shown in recent fights against Gerald Hayes and lackluster distance-going efforts against a shot Lujan and a no-hoper in Angel Levy-Mayor, so I actually almost want to fault McGuigan for not taking him out of there altogether.
Napoles was done, but considering the talent he had i think that was a great accomplishment by Stracey.A lot of fighters would have folded with that crowd against them.
McGuigan was always a thrill to watch, great hope, expectation and excitement. Buchanan held an expected deliverance with his astute & text book form. British challenges and creditable losses have a richer and more exciting history, and there are plenty to contemplate.
Napoles was with hindsight shot, but he still had big underdog Stracey down in Napoles 'home town'. Buchanan's victory was sensational, it is a pick'em... Getting off the fence, I go for Ken, just.
I agree with you, a lot of fighters might of folded specially after the knockdown and in front of that crowd. Stracey had sparred with Napoles when he was over to fight Ralph Charles in London. Napoles had trouble with Stracey's jab in those sessions and it turned out to be Stracey's best weapon in the fight.
Considering he got sat down hard early and even taking into account that it didn't take a lot to cut Napoles by that stage (as if it ever was) Stracey still had to fight his way into the bout and, even though Napoles couldn't see, I've never seen someone sustain that much offence and hurting him except from Monzon. So, yeah still impressive. Pedroza had a war with Lujan, much smaller and past his best. Still a good win and gave a good effort against Bazza of course. Still a quality win but essentially at home for McGuigan despite being Irish.
What do you think of Ralph as a fighter and puncher, Al. He wasn't a natural talent, but i think he's a bit forgotten as a solid contender now, even in Britain.More than good enough offensive fighter to have been one of the better Welters of the past decade anyway.He was more skilled than Colin Jones, though probably not quite as hard hitting.
20,000 travelled over to loftus road. Took McGuigan 10-15mins for his ring walk. You bet he felt at home:good
I think he was a good fighter in his day but his record might be a bit thin in real world class opponents. Being European champ in those days gave you a good automatic rating in the world top 10. From what I remember he gave Napoles a decent fight until Jose got into his stride. I think I would of fancied Stracey and Dave Green over him, Jones too, who's boxing ability is a bit underrated because of that punch. Jones showed some great head movement in those McCrory fights who was a pretty sharp shooter.