Is This Man the Greatest Bantam Of All time?

Jofre just pips Olivares for the no.1 slot IMO and Nat Fleischer's opinion of Jofre always sticks in my mind whenever I consider attempting to rank him. Jofre wrote the book on what it is to be a complete boxer-puncher; it's a crying shame that more extensive footage of his prime years isn't available. The fourth round of the first Jofre-Harada fight is one of my all-time favourites, with Harada initially swarming Jofre to the point of almost completely overwhelming him only for Jofre to then fire back, nailing Harada to body and head with remarkable power and precision.

Does anyone think Jofre could have beaten Wilfredo Gomez? At 122 or 126?

 

fair point:good olivares could certainly be outboxed at times and the harada wins were VERY close. it's been theorized by ring that a patient technical precision puncher would destroy olivares (ala azumah nelson). i can't disagree to be honest

 

The Olivares of the Herrera fight wasn't exactly the 1969 version which is the version we've been talking about.

 

I dont know mate...At 122 that is one hell of a fight.

 

Good points, especially the last sentence. Was Olivares at his best for the Castillo and Herrera fights though? I'm not altogether sure, I'll need to watch them more closely.

I do think though that Jofre could and maybe would have taken even the best version of Olivares. It would have been an unearthly tussle.

 

Rose was a patient technical precision puncher.

 

But neither was the Jofre of the Harada fights the same as the 1962 version.

 

this i think we're all agreed upon. personally i think a PRIME Jofre would have been more boxer than boxer/puncher and as long as he can handle olivares' power, would time him and control the fight enough to pull out a decision.

 

Too right it is. I can never make my mind up about it; last time someone mentioned it, I believe I sided with Jofre then - I seem to pick him over everyone to an unhealthy extent at times - but it wouldn't be a particularly confident pick.

 

well played

 

I'll go out on a limb and say that prime, head to head Jofre vs Olivares would end as a 6 round ko for Jofre.

 

Watching the Castillo fights back to back I think you do see different versions of Ruben.

However perhaps not as much as some make out...Because Chucho was just a straight up quality fighter who still gave a supposedly better conditioned and prepared Olivares another tough encounter in the rematch.

 

Jofre vs Gomez is the great unanswered question for me...I've got to contemplate that one...

 

This is the intangible that may swing the momentum. Jofre was stung by both Harada and Medel, neither of whom hit like Olivares. Then again, Jofre was a very hard puncher himself, therefore would Olivares be able to handle Jofre's power? He was stopped more than once, though not at his best.

 

I agree with you and I did say as much before. "maybe I'm not being fair comparing Olivares with Jofre of the Harada fights....."
I think at the time of the second Castillo fight Olivares probably was at his peak. Castillo just brought a style that would always give him problems.