Rodrigo Valdez How Good Was He?

He was great in his prime and without Hepatitus his record would be even better.

 

You know a fighter's mind, Valdez was demoralized after the two Monzon's. Prime Valdez has Corro for lunch.
Some points to consider:
By the time Carlos and Rodrigo FINALLY fought both were past prime (this was the same time that prime Galindez and prime Conteh didn't fight and many judge that LH pair by their past-prime efforts unfortunately :?)
Long before Valdez iced Benny in the 74 WBC scrap (no one EVER did that to Briscoe, not even Rodrigo in the rematch!) he turned pro in 1962 at the ripe age of 16 and went thru many protracted wars from that point on before Clancy got him to the States.
Bottom line. A few fighters hurt him but he was never out, he rose and kicked butt! Weaknesses? Prone to eye cuts and was ALWAYS a notoriously slow starter. Strengths: One mind-numbing MF'er with either hand who would have shook any ATG middle with his shots!
IMHO Rodrigo Valdez belongs in ANY ATG top 10 middleweight ranking when you look at all the particulars. My $0.02

 

His first fight with Briscoe should have been the fight of the year. Its an all time classic brawl and much better and more competitive than Frazier-Foreman easily.

 

Supposedly he caught it from Bobby Cassidy in their fight but Ive always suspected that he had it the year before when he dropped those two decisions to Toro and Palladin. Valdez should have shredded those guys but instead he turned in really listless performances which is exactly what you would expect from a guy who had Hep.

 

I used to watch him train at the 28th street gym in NYC, he could box smooth and he could hit. I remember thinking he was unlucky to share an era with Monzon. I seen him fight in the garden and he was a special fighter although I would not put him in the great category with Monzon. His trainer Chino Govin used to make me spar with some of his fighters and promised me he would make me world Champeeen if I learned from him but for me boxing was fun and entertainment. Clancy would never let Griffith spar with Valdes. So many great fighters I have seen train in the 28th st. gym back in the 70's and so many interesting people. Today Valdes would hold a title and be a Champion, I dont know how GGG will pan out or Ward but Valdes would be stiff comp for them.

 

I disagree that Valdez wasnt great like Monzon. Monzon wanted nothing to do with Valdez and ducked him for a full three years until Valdez had his best punching hand horribly mangled in a car accident.

Also, it isnt true that Clancy wouldnt let Griffith spar with Valdes. I have several of their sparring sessions on film. He wouldnt let them fight but they sparred regularly.

 

How would Valdez have done against SRL, Hearns, Duran, Benitez and Hagler?

 

He would have been tough for all of them. At MW in his prime Id pick him over Hearns, Duran, and Benitez (based on the fact that MW was none of their best weights). Id favor him slightly over Leonard and Id give Hagler a slight edge but I could see Hagler approaching the fight like he did against Antuofermo or Duran and getting outpointed. For his rep as a badass I think Hagler could get intimidated.

 

Not true, it was a case of Valdes winning the WBC title against Briscoe in 1974 and he fought Monzon in 76, Valdez made 4 defenses of his title but Monzon was not avoiding him it was ABC politics, Monzon was pretty busy as well

you may have films of them sparring but it must have been prior to Valdes gaining status, I remember the talk in the gym about it and never saw them spar

 

Great, great fight. One I rewatch a lot.