1981 Ring Magazine November 1981, p. 34 The Ring asked “a select panel--which included such experts as Tito Lectoure, Fausto Miranda, John Reyes, Ferdie Pacheco, Ernesto Chequis Bialo, Baney Nagler, Jim Murray, Ed Schuyler, Budd Schulberg, Tommy Lopez, Rafael Mendoza, Dick Young, and Bob Waters”—to pick their 10 “Greatest” Latin fighters from a list of 100.” Interesting results... Name (number of votes) 1. Carlos Monzon (39) 2. Kid Gavilan (38) 3. Roberto Duran (36) 4. Kid Chocolate (34) 5. Alexis Arguello (29) 6. Eder Jofre (24) 7. Jose Napoles (23) 8. Wilfredo Gomez (22) 9. Sixto Escobar (19) 10. Wilfred Benitez (14) 11. Carlos Ortiz (12) 12. Jose Torres (11) 13. Ismael Laguna (11) 14. Pascual Perez (10) 15. Panama Al Brown (10) 16. Salvador Sanchez (9) 17. Alberto Arizmendi (8) 18. Antonio Cervantes (7) 19. Ultiminio Ramos (6) 20. Luis (Angel) Firpo (5) 21. Ruben Olivares (5) 22. Luis Roderiguez (4) 23. Miguel Canto (3) 24. Mexican Joe Rivers (3) 25. Victor Galindez (2) 26. Carlos Zarate (2) 27. Carlos Palomino (2) 28. Ricardo Cardona (1) 29. Vincente Saldivar (1) 30. Benny (Kid) Paret (1)
Whoever voted for Jofre is a dumbass not an expert cause Jofre is not hispanic. Knowing Pacheco i bet he was one of the idiots who voted for him.
Benitez is way too high (especially pre-Duran). Monzon’s too high. Firpo probably doesn’t belong above any of the guys ranked below him.
Me no likie. Anyway, as far as I can make it out: 01 - Roberto Duran 02 - Carlos Monzon 03 - Ruben Olivares 04 - Eder Jofre 05 - Kid Gavilan 06 - Julio Cesar Chavez 07 - Manuel Ortiz 08 - Jose Napoles 09 - Alexis Arguello 10 - Carlos Ortiz That was really hard though. It's all wrong.
By 1981, Benitez had already beaten Antonio Cervantes and Carlos Palomino, who are both on the list, and was one of only seven men who had ever won titles in three divisions. (No one had won titles in four divisions yet. It was still the era of same-day weigh-ins.) Benitez belongs in the top 10 all-time in 1981. Just shows how many great Latino fighters there have been over the last 27 years. Also shows that Duran's fall from grace had begun since, up to that point in 1981, Duran (with a record of 73-2) had beaten everyone he'd faced as a pro. But the loss in the Leonard rematch really bothered people.
Well, they got it right with Monzon, but Napoles is way too low...he should be right after Monzon, just ahead of Gavilan, and it's totally absurd to rank Jose Torres over Victor Galindez IMO.
Marquez the elder, Barrera and Morales: lower. Marquez the younger and Finito Lopez: lower than them.