Greatest Spanish boxer ever?

Yeah, but, he basically came up short against every elite fighter he faced. At least Castellejo won the big one several times.

 

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I'd take demolishing Dunn, and stopping Matheluba and Hasegawa over Castillejo's wins.

 

My pick too.

 

Baltazar Sangchili. First champion from Spain and beat a number of very good fighters, including the legendary Panama Al Brown. I’d say he’s way out in front.

That’s if we don’t count Legra, who is a Cuban, much the way I don’t count Napoles in the Mexicans list.

 

Surprisingly few top class Spanish boxers in history and certainly none that could even sniff the tag “great.” Especially when you consider the population, how good they do in other sports, and the fact that there is a much percentage in the lower economic class than say, Britain, for example.

 

Between Paulino Uzcudun and Javier Castillejo.

 

I have to admit I underestimated Martinez. What a great come from behind knockout over Gallahad. I tip my hat to the man and admit I was wrong about him.

 

Are we including Sergio Martinez in the conversation?

 

Even if we're counting José Legrá, then he's topping out at numero dos, because that would also then mean we're counting Maravilla.

If we're counting neither and going strictly with born & bred, then certainly the homegrown field is shallow enough there is room for Kiko in a top five. You've got him, Carrasco, El Chico Guapo (Campillo), the Basque Woodchopper, and...yeah, probably The Lynx of Parla (Castillejo) before things begin thinning out quite a bit.

The order among that five is flexible and subject to personal taste, or how you view their best opposition (and how weighty you consider that opposition, as in the case of Uzkudun who never held a world title, unlike his four countrymen).

Gironés is a case-study example of the flawed nature of BoxRec's computerized points ranking system. They seem to have put him on top on the basis of quite a high volume of middling European-tier victories, but with none approaching the quality of the best few belonging to any of the names above. He's behind the five of them without question.

 

WHo is the Spanish guy that won recently on TV? Huge underdog?

 

Recently as in.. yesterday? That is the very Francisco "Kiko" Martínez Sánchez of whom Mac spoke in the OP.

He was a +800 underdog (that is, paid out your investment bet eight times over).

The last Spaniard to spring an internationally televised upset of sorts I think would've been Kerman Lejarraga over Dylan Charrat in September, and he was only something like 2-1.