[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJZZDEWzW_g[/ame] ...And to be honest, so am I. Just look at this dude go to work...wow!
Seabrooks, Pendleton and Buster Drayton.An epic trio who i always associate with each other from that era for some reason.All were more than the sum of the parts fighters. Canizales is a beast here against a guy who was becoming a fine, if fairly limited champion.
I'm watching the whole fight, and Orlando is one of the best fighters technically I've ever seen. Every shot seems to be landing and hurting Seabrooks. Barrera is my favorite fighter of all time and always will be, but how the hell Orlando isn't as celebrated as him..is a damn shame. This guy has tremendous, tremendous skills.
Such a shame Canizales vs Lora didn't quite have the window of oppurtunity to happen.Might have been one of the best technical fights of all-time.
I really don't know to be honest. I think Canizales had the ability to be a true all-timer if he had been abit more viscious and really pushed himself instead of settling into the title-defence groove and the "do just enough" Eubank style mentality he displayed in a number of fights.Even compared to someone like Duran it's almost neck and neck technically, as far as punchpicking, integrating of defence and offense etc.. Lora is similar in that i think he really had the ability at his peak, but was often a bit too enamoured with own finesse and prone to coasting/clowning, despite being one of the best overall fighters of the defensive specialists.Unlike Canizales he had the misfortune to run into an excellent, if less talented fighter that had the right style to take advantage of those flaws which derailed him at a vital time. It might have simply come down to who is more focused and wants it more on the night.Cliched? Probably, but it's true in this case imo. Ironically Perez would probably have defeated Orlando too if he was in his equivalent to the way Lora fought him, which would have seen the less talented fighter firmly established over both of them.
Cheers. I've not seen as much of Lora as what I'd like, but his best seemed to me at least to be on par with Canto or Zapata in terms of defensive nous and overall ability. He made a peak Zaragoza look like a complete herbert at times, when Morales stillstruggled with the coffin dodging version. But Canizales, as you say, was so well-rounded and precise. He had no obvious weaknesses to my eye, which could've spelled trouble for Lora if he was in clowning mood. It would've been a beaut.
I think Sweet Pea said it on another thread not to long ago. Canizales, when he's throwing, looks like magic. And he was, he put combination's together as efficiently to head and body as well as the great Julio Cesar Chavez did. That said, he'd often just take a step back...and take his foot off the pedal, which allowed the opponent to get back in the fight...like against Seabrooks. Every time Canizales threw a combination, it'd land, and Seabrooks would be doing a dance...but there was a period in the middle rounds were Orlando would just stop throwing. Inexplicable really. ...Orlando was not defensive master either, but as an offensive fighter, he was almost perfect.
He didn't need to be a defensive master because of a solid chin,but he had some good defensive moves that immediately translated into countering opportunities. Throw this and everything else he had in with most fighters not being able to hit a prime Lora with a bag of rice, and you've got a technical duel for the ages.
