I agree with some of this. 83-87 was surely Camacho's peak But in '87, when Chavez dismantled Rosario, he himself was peaking. Both guys were past peak in '92, but Camacho more so. Also, the Chavez who lost to Whitaker in '93 at 147 lbs, was not prime Chavez. Prime Chavez v. prime Camacho would have been a competitive fight either way. I do not see an easy win for Camacho prime v. prime.
You idiot Camacho was the same age as Chavez had less fights and he almost got KO'd and got a gift decision over Rosario who Chavez destroyed. Chavez was just a better fighter than Hector get that through your brain if you have one.
Rooster does post some crazy stuff, but he's right that Camacho was well past his peak when he faced Chavez. In '86 or '87 it would have been a competitive matchup.
Rosario was one of my two favorite lightweights but that fight with Camacho was VERY close any which way you cut it. It was certainly no "gift" or robbery. a point either way is extremely fair. Also, stating bare ages is a very thin way of looking at things at times. Best for best i don't think Camacho can win because he simply doesn't like punishment. Chavez at his best brings this to the table almost every time. Based on Rosario - Camacho i think Chavez is good/great enough to catch up with Camacho often enough to have him go the safety first option somewhere in the first half. This will equal a safety first decision loss. I completely and utterly agree with Wallace -
Both men were exactly 30 years of age and fighting at jr. Welter. But these were things that were advantageous to Chavez who was also the more active fighting of the two. 4-5 years earlier and in a lighter class, hector would have had a better chance, though I'm not confident that id ever favor him.
http://fightland.vice.com/blog/chavez-versus-camacho-the-tortoise-and-the-hare A great article on this exact subject.
Quite simply because Rosario took his soul. Rosario shot his load against Ramirez but against Camacho he fought a much better fight and was able to hit and hurt Camacho. The fight was close enough that I don't consider it a robbery but Rosario could very easily have been unified LW champion. The fear in Camacho's eyes during the last round of the Rosario fight tells it all. His career changed in that 11th round and he was never the same again. He showed the same fear in all his big fights after that, Mancini, Tito, De La Hoya. A lot of these could be considered past prime but it's not his speed and reflexes I refer to, it's his game plan and fear. Chavez undoubtedly caught him on the decline both mentally and physically but I think he takes him prime for prime. When Rosario landed the big shots in the 5th took him too long to set up his next attack , understandably after the Ramirez loss, but Chavez wouldn't have let him off the hook. He'd have pounded and trapped none stop.
Not just Matthews, Editors of all the US Boxing magazines felt that way. The Rosario scare permanently affected Camacho's outlook and confidence. That fight marked the beginning of his decline, although he looked very good in the Howard Davis fight.
For sure. Howard, a fave of mine, had actually declined quite a bit imo by the time he fought Camacho. I would have loved to see them fight around 83-84 which imo was Howard's best. He was settling down off his toes a bit and throwing with respectable power while his speed and reflexes still held him in great stead per making the opponent miss. I thought he looked fantastic vs Coverson and he fought superbly against Rosario too. He was off the pace vs Camacho and quite uninspiring. He also didn't have the heavy hands to put Camacho off his game. He had one good round midway thru then went back to doing SFA unfortunately.