The 10 Greatest Bantamweights

Excellent article btw. I can understand Zarate at the bottom half around 8,9 or 10 but he was very dominant and admittedly he passes my eye test more than most.

My top 10 would be something like this

Eder Jofre
Ruben Olivares
Pete Herman
Panama Al Brown
Carlos Zarate
Manuel Ortiz
Fighting Harada
Kid Williams
Memphis Pal Moore
Rafael Herrera

Would roughly be mine. I’d imagine a lot of folks would have Williams and Moore a little higher but I’ll be honest I’ve studied and watched the hell out of the division from the Mexican murderers row of the 50s to Jofre all the way until today. I’m a little less versed on the Bantamweight the first quarter of the century. Lionel Rose is on the cusp too I’m perfectly fine with him in the top 10.

 

Hmm... I don't really know, what to make of this strange post!

Inoue's victim earlier today was his 14th win against a non-Japanese fighter. He has defeated boxers from Thailand, GB, USA, Mexico, Argentina, Dom. Republic, Philippines, France.

Are you even looking at the right man? This is the guy we're taking about:

This content is protected

 

I gotta admit it took me a couple reads to understand this.
I really like the fighter articles.
That being said I still would place Zarate a bit higher up.
Great writing BTW!

 

I do feel he gets a bit underrated these days, JT. I mean, his win over Zamora (boxing politics aside) in one of the biggest fights in the history of the division should be enough to elevate him into the upper echelons, and then he effectively held the undisputed title for two years after that. Only a debatable decision prevented him holding it longer. I don't know how much the KO to Gomez (obviously not at bantamweight) affects the view of him though.

 

I have no problem with him being as low as #9. I'd probably have him a tick higher but have never tried to make a list like this so who knows. He's one bantamweight I know well and there's lots out there on him, so that would probably sway one to want to judge him more favorably.

Plus, he falls into that sweet spot in history where he's at once old enough to qualify as "classic" yet recent enough to be remembered in his prime by many of us. That's money.

 

Apologies - missed that!

 

I think Zarate is more likely overrated than underrated. Not because he is not great, he is/was and not because I don’t like him, I do. I think big punchers always sway people who fall in love with power (not saying in any way that all who rate him higher than me do this). I think the placement is fair so far by this criteria, but like all lists I expect to differ on it at some point.

Either way thanks to Flea for taking the time to put an enjoyable read and list out there. I am sure the amount of time and research you have put into this far outweighs the efforts of those of us who disagree or critique it...especially since a couple (lol I am one) respond before reading and another who admits to an opinion without having watched some of them lol

 

Guilty of the first point!