Rocky Rivero

I don't believe he was ever a top contender, more like a fringe contender. To me he was very much reminiscent of Jorge Castro - an ugly-style brawler, not particularly skilled or polished, but deceptively cagey and very tough.

He was brought over to the US with a big KO record and a lot of hype, but he never quite lived up to that hype. He lost most of his "showcase" fights here and he never really showed his purported one-shot power at the world class level. However, he did acquire a reputation as being indestructably tough (he had reportedly never been knocked down in his career), and that made him something of an attraction in and around New York, and earned him some big fights; similar to George Chuvalo, perhaps. After losing several key fights, his biggest win in the US finally came when he upset Florentino Fernandez in Madison Square Garden, in the first fight of what eventually became an exciting three-fight series between the two (Rivero lost the other two fights). I believe the win over Fernandez may have briefly broken him into the rankings. The fights for which Rivero is probably best known were his two non-title losses to reigning middleweight champ Joey Giardello. Both were televised, and were close, exciting fights, with some people believing at least one of them could've gone Rocky's way. Not long after that, however, Rocky took on Dick Tiger, who was campaigning for a shot at Giardello. Tiger stood toe-to-toe with Rocky and outslugged him, and then dropped him in the 6th round to force a stoppage. That fight basically destroyed the image of Rivero's "invincible" chin and ruined his marketability in the US. He returned to Argentina after that and spent most of the rest of his career there. He did score a few more good wins in his career (namely over Rubin Carter), but his weight also ballooned and he faded into obscurity.

 

Rocky was one of the toughest sons of bitches ever born, super aggressive and always looking to make it a shootout with his opponents although he could box fairly well if he set his mind to it.

He was a hard puncher with both hands and could take a wicked punch too, he withstood some absolute bombs from the thunderous left hooking Floro Fernandez that would have felled a tree and came storming right back each time, their first fight is one of the most violent and entertaining brawls you will ever see bar none.

Funny thing though is that he had this awful garbage can build which was really deceptive as it made you think this guy wasn`t that strong but Juan Rocky Rivero was as tough as they come and was indeed very strong physically yet was a pudge ball.

Woulda been a contender in any era, although he was never going to be a champ, good solid fighter though who on his best night is a handful for anyone at middle and if matched right would have made for some terrific action fights.

Rocky vs Henry Hank would have been an all out war and is one of my favourite fantasy matchups, shame it never happened. If you can get a hold of some of some of his fights it would be well worth it.

 

BTW his stoppage loss to Dick Tiger was courtesy of a left hook to the liver, he beat the count but was in no shape to continue and the ref waived it off. He was knocked down by Fernandez though in their 3rd meeting by yet another left hook, can`t remember if it was to the head or body, I think it was to the midsection that did the trick although he himself dropped Fernandez as well with a left hook of his own in that bout of which I only have brief highlights unfortunately.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9d3SccwJlE

 

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Rocky Rivero/Fernandez I, round 3. Courtesy of Raging Bull.

 

No problem what so ever, Bull deserves 95% of the credit.

 

What about the TKO loss against Frank DePaula? Boxrec says he was knocked down in the 5th and stopped in the 6th?

Same situation, ready to continue but the ref stopped it for his own good?

 

Rocky wasn`t ready to continue in that bout at the time of the stoppage, DePaula was laying some serious hurt on him and by the time the fight was stopped Rocky was taking a shellacking and offering no resistance.

 

Do you feel he had one of the cast iron jaws of his time? He certainly seemed to have a made in Argentina jaw.

Who's chin do you think his compares to to of taken the Fernandez bombs he took

 

Thanks much.

Enjoy the video, peckerhead. Only took me sitting and staring at a youtube upload page for 2 and a half hours.