So i stuck it on today to unwind. I think this is one of Chavez's most complete performances epecially at Super Featherweight (arguably his best weight) It is a close fight in terms of the rounds were all competitive but i thought Chavez got it fairly wide (8-3-1) with the even round being where he lost a point. Early on Chavez fights a measured fight. He boxes using good movement and long accurate shots to feel out Laporte. He starts to throw combinations and mixing it up but stays with his boxing. His right hand and left hook were devastating. He also shows some underrated defence on the back foot. The mid rounds i thought he started to take controll with hard combinations to body and head but he was still boxing here using his movement but he was busy. If i remember the 6th he was bvery dominant. By the late rounds he got into that stalking predator we know as he exerted pressure on Laporte and went to war. Picking him apart in the process. Also a very good fight. One thing i love about Chavez is how cool he was nothing fazed him in there, like Joe Louis kinda. Just calmly picks relaxed shots that are hard and mixes his shots up well. Very very impressed with Chavez
Yep, those were his 2 best punches throughout his career & he did have very good defence. Chavez is badly underrated on ESB, he is shoulder to shoulder with Whitaker - no less, no higher - as the best fighter since Ray Leonard IMO, an offensive atrist. A true technician.
Thought this fight was quite close, no more than 2 or 3 points in it.Laporte gave one of his best performances here and showed what a fine boxer-puncher he was when focused.
yeh i could easy see it like taht as teh rounds were close. Was it the 10th or 11th Laporte gets up on his toes and lands a hellacious right hand on JCC
I am starting to reappreciate Chavez, and am rethinking him in terms of the greater scheme of things, boxing-wise. I feel I may have judged him wromgly as a fighter based on not liking him too much, and considering him a crybaby and a poor loser. This colored my assessment, and wrongly so, of him as a fighter. I'm watching his fights on YouTube, like the Rosario and Camacho fights..the obvious ones, and the Haugen fight fascinates me, not because it's a good fight, but for the reason that Chavez could become a sadistic predator when motivated by emotion, which he was in that fight, due to Haugen's mouth (which I'm sure Greg regretted).
Well he became a crybaby later in his career. It was hard watching such a great fighter not being able to accept the fact he was getting old. In his prime he was a force, and one of the more entertaining to watch. I agree he had a decent defense, excellent punch blocker, but not in the league of Whitaker.
What did Whitaker do after his decision losses to De La Hoya & Trinidad?? Cried, cried, cried. A true competitor, always feels he won the fight, regardless of how the fight actually was. That's just Boxing...
Chavez is one of the most clinical boxers ever. His ability to dissect his opponent is a rare talent. He also exhibits great patience & vision. Every time I put on a Chavez fight I feel I learn something. I have an EX copy of the LaPorte fight if anyone wants to upgrade.
Chavez should have already moved up to lightweight by this point. He looked bone dry and didn't seem to have the snap in his punches the way he normally did. Still thought he was sharper than Laporte, but not by much. Came dangerously close to losing this one.
nonoNot in the league of WHittaker!!atsch I disagree big time both are top 10 to 15 pfp atg. I know its cliche but "styles make fights" . I think Chavez resume is at least as impressive and he took certain fighters out that Whittaker couldnt Mayweather(who was much more competetive with Sweat pea than chavez) also stopped Haugen,Ramirez. Now I know enough about boxing that you cant go by that but I also feel that styles had a lot to do with it. Maybe id put Whittaker like 1 spot above Chavez cuz he deserved the win,But as far as resumes and how they would matchup with other atg. I basically see them as pretty equal
I actually thought the fight was about a draw, or perhaps a 1 or 2 point win for Chavez. I thought it was a razor thin fight. LaPorte was supposed to be past his peak by this time, but he showed what a good technician he was. He just wasn't able to step it up at key moments in the fight, and let Chavez outhustle him.
Chavez was definitely a great fighter, but I felt his reputation was inflated somewhat by Showtime's hype, particularly post-Taylor. I didn't agree that he was "the best P4P in the world" (Whitaker had always a better candidate for that IMO) and I didn't think he was quite on the level as some of the ATGs in his weight range, like Duran, Armstrong, or Arguello, like he was being billed as.
What did Chavez do in the second Randall fight? He took crybaby to another level. A true competitor doesnt act like Chavez did in some of his closing fights. He could never admit he lost.