Looking for some insight and discussion into Ruben Olivares, as I find him to be be one of the more interesting and enigmatic boxers out there and I'd like to know more about him. I believe there's a documentary available on him, but alas, it's in spanish. Is he viewed as a consensus great fighter? I know he peaked, and subsequently burnt out, very young. Which isn't unusual for a lower weight fighter in the mold of Olivares regardless. Supposedly a notorious party lover, I'm not sure if he ever saw his full potential out. But, at one time he possessed a fearsome 69-1 record with 64 knockouts with some real good scalps on his resume. Even slowing down and moving up in weight he avenged multiple losses. He showed himself to be head and shoulders above the likes of Chacon until he completely went off the rails. Anyway, love to hear the boards thoughts on him, opinions on where he ranks, how hard he hit, so on and so forth.
At bantam he was amazing. Absolutely bonecrushing puncher, one of the greatest LB4LB hitters of all time. Partying and his go for broke style led to a short time at the very top but he continued to be dangerous for quite some time. Fun fact: He destroyed Jose Luis Ramirez about 100 years before Ramirez valiantly defeated Pernell Whitaker.
As far as I know footage of the Ramirez bout doesn't exist. Not to my knowledge anyway, and I've always had my eyes open for that one. A truly durable guy, in Ramirez, being blown away in a way no other fighter even remotely managed. Look at how much love people have for Rosario blowing away the normally super durable Livingstone Bramble in just a few rounds, a true exhibition of power and delivery. Yet Olivares did the same thing and we don't even have film of it. Shame.
How high do you think he can be rated at bantam? At what point do you feel his performances truly started to suffer from lax training?
