Antonio Cervantes - Underrated to this day?

@PhillyPhan69 how exactly do you see Cervantes vs. Hatton playing out? Do you see Rick's work rate or body shots affecting Kid P?

 

De Jesus was in his prime against Cervantes, it was more that the fight was a physical mismatch. De Jesus was never really more than a super-featherweight imo, certainly only a small lightweight, whereas Cervantes was an absolute titan at 140. More like a natural light middleweight/decent sized welter. It was remarkable that he was able to make the weight for all of his career. De Jesus was a more skilled fighter p4p, I think, if only by a fairly small amount, but he was basically two classic weight divisions smaller. I've said before that the fight reminded me of Napoles against Monzon. De Jesus was a great counter puncher but so was Cervantes, meaning that staying on the outside and fighting a mobile fight wasn't really a viable option with a 5 inch height and reach disadvantage. He was forced to go straight at Cervantes and try to get inside his reach which wasn't much more enviable an option as Cervantes usually excelled against guys that pressed him. De Jesus actually had some early success with the tactic but Cervantes was very dirty and rough with him in response and knocked him out of his groove somewhat unfairly I thought. Then just imposed his size to assert himself and never let Esteban back into the fight really.

 

Cheers Russ. I watched Groves-Eubank at the weekend for what it's worth and called it right. Most recently I watched Cervantes struggle in an off-form effort against tough journeyman Lion Furuyama, which was what prompted me to comment here.

I've been rewatching some of Golovkin's less stellar efforts lately, having a reappraisal of him.

 

Cervantes may have beaten Whitaker and McGuirt as well.

 

Lol just saw this now...let me think on this one....I have never envisioned them against one another

 

I remember seeing Cervantes-DeJesus on tv on a Sunday in 1975 and being so impressed with how authoritatively Pambele handled DeJesus...then he was off the radar and with all the great fighters in the 70's, it was sometimes easy to lose track of a particular fighter...even one as good as Cervantes. The next thing I knew, he was an ex-champ, dethroned by this prodigy named Benitez...then, in Boxing Illustrated (always a better boxing mag than Ring IMO), I found out that he won a version of the super lightweight title after that by defeating a guy..Carlos Maria Jimeniz...who I had never heard of. Then on CBS again, I saw him deck Aaron Pryor in the first round, but then get steam rolled by this freak named Pryor in 4. There was always something in Cervante's personal chemistry...I don't know what it was...that kept him from joining the Elite in Boxing Valhalla back then.
Pambele would have been very troublesome with Whitaker, but I don't thing he would have beaten Pea. I think instead that Whitaker would have exploited his defensive magic like Locche and Benitez did...I think that was Cervante's Achilles Heel, those defensive ring wizards......but Ricky Hatton...he wasn't a Pryor and certainly not a wizard. I think a prime Cervantes decks Hatton numerous times and prevails by a ko in either 12 or 13.

 

Pryor gives him some props in his best I ever faced segment

https://www.ringtv.com/467714-best-faced-aaron-pryor/

BEST BOXER

Alexis Arguello: He boxed and he punched with me in (the first) fight and a lot of people didn’t see what he was doing. It was a great fight; it went 14 rounds and he got stopped in the 14th, but up until then it was anyone’s fight. Alexis Arguello was all class.

BEST JAB

Akio Kameda: I would like to say Akio Kameda from Japan. He was a good puncher and boxer, he was left-handed, he was 6-feet (tall) and he had a lot of heart. I wasn’t expecting to get hit by no left hand jab; he did a good job with his jab. I liked the way he boxed. I out-punched him but he was a good boxer.

BEST DEFENSE

Norman Goins: A guy I always remember is Norman Goins from Indianapolis. He was the one who was consistent. He was an international boxer as an amateur. We fought in 1973 in Denver at the Golden Gloves. He was one of the only guys who hit me and hurt me, and they stopped the fight. I was only 16; he was 20. He hurt me with a body shot. So when I was 20 and he was 24 we fought again in Cincinnati and I knocked him out in the ninth round.

BEST CHIN

Arguello: Well, you know who had the best chin. I had 40 fights and 35 were knockouts. I think Alexis Arguello; I can never take anything away from him. If you look at that fight, Alexis took punches nobody else had before. He got hit time and time again on the chin and he shook it off and kept coming. A lot of guys I hit, they went down. Alexis in the first fight went 14 rounds and then the second fight 10 rounds. Fourteen rounds taking all the punches. He took a lot of punishment. I respect that.

BEST PUNCHER

Antonio Cervantes: Antonio Cervantes from Colombia was the best I ever took.

FASTEST HANDS

Al Ford: Before I became a light welterweight, I had about 11 fights (at lightweight). There was a guy named Al Ford. I was thinking about what he had achieved in boxing. He already had an international name, in the amateurs and as a professional. He had lightweight hands.

FASTEST FEET

Arguello: The person to me was Alexis Arguello; he had the quickest feet I ever saw.

SMARTEST

Arguello: I think Alexis Arguello was the smartest fighter I fought. He was fighting for his fourth world title; he had won three already. I take nothing away from him.

STRONGEST

Arguello: I always said if I’m going to die, I’m going to die right here in the ring cause this is what I know how to do. This is what I love. I think (Arguello) thought the same way. The longer the fight went, the harder it got. I was shocked. I had a lot of energy throwing punches but Alexis Arguello, he stayed in there. It was a real hard fight for 14 rounds.

BEST OVERALL

Cervantes: Looking back on my career, I would like to say a guy by the name of Antonio Cervantes. Cervantes had 100 fights, held the championship for about 10 years (in two separate reigns) until he fought me. He knocked me down in the first round, I got back up and knocked him out. I think Cervantes was one of the greatest I ever fought.

 

Just got done rewatching the DeJesus fight good stuff. The difficult thing for me looking at Cervantes vs Hatton is that Kid probably weighed 145 on fight night and Hatton closer to 155-160 (led to my same day weigh in thread). It is also difficult to ask Hatton to do 15 rds when he never trained in that era. I do think Hatton would frustrate Antonio especially if his tactics were allowed. Right now leaning towards Cervantes decision but need more time on this one

 

Rodolfo González giving props (I guess lol)
https://www.ringtv.com/530662-best-i-faced-rodolfo-gonzalez/
BEST JAB
JUAN COLLADO: He relied on his left jab in most of his fights. I would bob and weave to keep away from him. It was a constant fight until I did my side-to-side footwork. In the ninth round I got him with a left hook to the liver. That punch ended the fight.

BEST DEFENSE
JIMMY ROBERTSON: He was called the ‘Father of all Mexicans’. He was a good defensive fighter and a hard puncher. Also, he was converted from a left-handed fighter to a right-hand puncher. I beat him in the 10th round. He was a bloody mess.

FASTEST HANDS
MARCELLO CID: Very fast hands and he threw a lot of combinations. I got him against the ropes with a three-punch combination in the fourth round. That ended the fight.
BEST FOOTWORK
ME: I never fought anyone who knew the footwork that I know. Of all the 89 opponents I faced, I never paid attention to their footwork. No matter what kind of footwork they had, or what kind of moves they made, they were going to be laying on the canvas. The fighter I respected the most, who had the best footwork, was a friend of mine, Muhammad Ali. He was and is the greatest of all time. I had the honor of being in training camp with him in the City of Hammett, California, when he was getting ready to fight my stablemate Kenny Norton. In the morning I got up to do my road work, but no matter how fast I ran, I was never able to catch up with him.

BEST CHIN
TORITO LOPEZ: I hit him on the chin, but it was like hitting the wall. He didn’t even blink, but kept on coming. Luckily for me my liver punch knocked him out in the fourth round.

SMARTEST
KID IRAPUATO: I was only 15 years old when I fought this man near Guadalajara. He had already fought world championship fighters like Pajarito Moreno and (Davey) Moore who was the featherweight champion of the world. He was a very skilled fighter. I got him with a liver punch and knocked him out in the sixth round.

STRONGEST
RAY ADIGUN: He was so strong. He hit me in the middle of the ring and sent me flying all the way to the ropes. He was not a fast hitter, just strong. The people in the audience called him “King Kong”. I caught him with a left hook to the liver in the 10th round.

BEST PUNCHER
ANTONIO CERVANTES: I discovered his right-hand power in the second round. Not only power but a sneaky right-hand punch. He faked a left jab, hit me with the right and put me down for an eight count. That irritated me so much that in the next round I hit him with a left hook to the liver and doubled up to the chin. He went down and his feet went up in the air. At the count of eight he got up. He was so afraid that he ran from me for the rest of the night. But he had power in his punches.

BEST BOXING SKILLS
CERVANTES: He was a very good boxer that moved in and out and side-to-side. He also had a long reach. The only thing he didn’t have was a strong chin. That means he couldn’t take a punch. Any fighter who has a pointed chin, I would put on the canvas right away.

BEST OVERALL
CERVANTES: He had long arms and strong power with either hand. He was tall and very smart. He would move in and out and hit at the same time. The only weak spot I found on him was his chin and immediately I put him down flat on the canvas. After that, he got up and ran for the rest of the night. But overall, he was an excellent fighter.

 

Goins is an interesting boxer. Howard Davis used to rave about his power and put him right in the top echelon of punchers he faced. He probably ended up clubfighter level but he left a few impressions here and there.

 

Gday Russell, I wonder if Harada’s great career inspired the plethora of Japanese fighters in the early to mid 70s or if there was something else as well. An excellent question mate.

 

I guess Bobby Joe Young didn't do enough to distinguish himself with Aaron.

 

he is regarded as an ATG.....so he cant be that underrated