Vicente Saldivar v Fighting Harada @ Featherweight

Saldivar has the stamina to come on strong but Harada would take the early rounds. Don't see a knockout here but I could see Saldivar being stronger down the stretch and banging Masahiko around a bit.

Saldivar via 8-7 decision.

The Japanese would have made his mark at feather (and this could well have happened) had Harada got the decision he deserved first time round against Fammo.

 

No. I think Harada did, even though it wasn't always use to prod his man, but thrown constantly to varying levels and targets as Harada closed the distance, keeping his foe guessing and leading his opponent exactly where Harada needed them to set up his whirlwind offence.

Of course he timed his overhand right counter as well before exploding into his kamikaze assault, so that'd be his more likely weapon against lefty Saldivar.

Overall; I'd say Harada has the better jab but Saldivar's would likely be the better one in this matchup. Once he gets warmed up.

Past his best anyway, the reason Saldivar struggled to get off against Shibata is that Shibata burst and then stepped back out. Harada is likely to try and....well, do what he usually does and I can see Saldivar gauging him a lot easier.

 

I think Harada had the far better jab. Used it more often, and threw it in combination. I think, other than his marauding, incessant pressure, it's his signature feature. Unfortunately, this is limited by Saldivar swinging the other way.

Anyway I think Harada builds up an early lead but Saldivar is too strong for him. He's one of the strongest feathers I've ever seen, even with the weight cutting generation, and he hits hard enough to really put a hurting on the fighting one. Harada can't really outbox him, not if Winstonr couldn't, and doing his mugging you in a street corner routine only works for so long. Sometime in the championship rounds Saldivar stops him.

 

No, as far as I can remember I never saw a display of jab from SAldivar like the Harada vs Jofre in the first fight....

 

Close fight btw. I wouldn´t risk my money on this one...

 

What about that right hand that landed on Famechon so well ? Right hands like those are pretty good weapons against southpaws....
Obviously Famechon was nothing like Saldivar in terms of styles...but even so...it´s food for thought.

 

He knocked him down in the late rounds as well didn't he?

Anyway, as I said in the opening reply; Saldivar's late output is why Harada will struggle to maintain his own. I don't think Saldivar stops him but he'd do more than say, Medel, who left it way too late to tag tired Harada. It may be that Harada's early attack sees him score a knockdown anyway, so if Saldivar gets a late one it makes a closer bout of one I'd expect to be very close anyway.

Harada will hang on though, if he's anywhere near his best. I think he has more tools at his disposable than Ramos despite his lack of comparitive dig (that was best Saldivar IMO, Jofre I for Harada if we're talking bantam onwards)

Really great fight though IMO. I think post-Fammo II that Harada could've had great bouts with Kobayashi and Numata at 130, or Shibata and Saijo.

 

Famechon gave Harada far too much respect.

he liked playing the matador and the boxer and given Harada was an archetypal swarmer\pressure fighter he slipped too easily into his own comfort zone, yet i took from the two fights they had that he could and probably should have fought more aggressively and box-punch'ish against the smaller man.

IN making things largely non-physical and jab oriented he essentially took much of the physicality issues of a small pressuring Bantam moving up to feather and threw them away.harada was very sharp that night for a final time and really capitalised, but i can't see Saldivar making that kind of mistake.he's not capable of fighting that way even if he wanted to, mind you.

A great fight, but Harada eventually has holes punched in him and is dropped a few times or stopped.Especially if he just comes straight at Saldivar, but i think he'd probably try and employ some of his hand\foot speed advantage and do some of what he did to Jofre for a while, making a real fight of it.

I struggle to see him being sharp enough over the whole 15 though and saldivar at his best had that steady Marciano'esque ability to just slowly sweep over you if you couldn't really put a lot of damage on him.Too heavy handed and accurate imo.Harada not quite durable or hard hitting enough to come out on top of a fight sure to have plenty of extended exchanges.

Best case scenario for Harada would be to catch him in Seki I form and maybe take a close decision-certainly would have been possible-but with both at or near best form,Saldivar takes it.

I think Harada would have a better chance at beating Ramos, Winstone, Legra, Laguna or Marcel than Saldivar.He's still a potential nightmare for the boxer types if they can't conjure up a Lionel Rose level display...and Harada in Famechon I redemptive form showed more vigour, precision and pace than he did in that one, he probably could have come back and done much better had he fought like that in a rematch with the weight struggling Rose.Then again he had weight issues of his own and made history in a way against Famechon, even if he was officially beaten.