My vote goes to Eusebio Pedroza. I think he was WBA featherweight champion for eighteen fights. But WBC champion Salvador Sanchez, with a career that was tragically shortened when he crashed his sports car, got much more credit. I was disappointed that fight never came off. Probably Pedroza avoided the fight, content to keep his title. I only saw Pedroza once, against Patrick Ford. I was very impressed.
He actually gets plenty of love here, but I agree on the whole most casual fans barely recognize the name if that much. 20 defenses should garner him more. I also think he could beat Sanchez, though the converse is also true. I'd add "Chiquita" Gonzalez. He's best known for his thrilling loss to Carbajal in '93 but the rematches showed what a brilliant boxer-puncher he was, moving in and out, flurrying wide and then up the middle, and switching up stances. At his best he was really good. Also Myung Woo Yuh, as exciting and action-based fighter one could ask for, but none of his fights were aired here, so few know him. Took me a while to get hooked myself.
I think Muangchai Kittikasem was a fighter people should maybe take a look at. He fought and lost to Yuri Arabchakov x2 and a greener Michael Carbajal but he beat Jung Koo Chang in his final fight and stopped Sot Chatilda x2. Jiro Watanabe shared an era with Khaosai Galaxy and hardly gets a mention Khaokor Galaxy too both were better in my opinion.
I think it’d have been a show to have seen Myung Woo Yuh have fought the above mentioned Muangchai Kittikase.
Brian Mitchell. He won the WBA title in South Africa, then went on to have 13 more title fights between WBA defenses and winning the IBF belt...all on the road, going 11-0-2 in those fights. The Draw against Lopez was a clear hometown decision that should have gone to Mitchell, but Mitchell won decisively in the rematch. Not the toughest line-up of opponents during Mitchell's title run, but he often had to do it in his opponent's backyard. Pretty **** good career IMO.
Came here to post this about the splendid Brian Mitchell. Such an artist. To defend on the road all the time, often in the opponents’ backyard, and to do so without having a big punch to take it out of the judges’ hands is a real credit to his abilities. On another note, I think Evander of course gets plenty of appreciation but his accomplishments at cruiserweight are often overlooked. And Hector Camacho had one heck of a career but is seen by many as a sideshow attraction (which, to a degree, he was). At 130, he was a force of nature, and above that he was a skilled boxer who beat a lot of good fighters. He also had a heck of a chin (want to say he only was knocked down maybe once) and when it came time to catch a whupping he never took the easy way out.
Out of the more household names—Sandy Saddler. Definitely gets his due, but should he spoken of in a Foreman like manner. All that he did, and with an early forced retirement—stunning.