Antonio Cervantes - An ATG?

He's not top 100 IMO. Around the same level as nunn, curry and mcgirt.

 

At 140 he's top ten imo, but no, as the above post says, in the grand scheme of things he's not one of the greatest fighters of all time. Quality boxer though.

 

Excellent fighter if not in the highest echelon of all time greats, though I think great would still be a fair description of him. Of the jack of all trades/master of none ilk. Immensely huge and strong at the weight, an advantage he knew how to use perfectly. I've always thought he gets the **** end of the stick at times because of the way Locche and the young Benitez - both horrible stylistic foils - were able to outbox him and how Pryor knocked him into the magnetosphere when he was the wrong side of 40.

Yet the fact remains that he beat the likes of DeJesus, old Locche (in the rematch), Peppermint Frazer, Gonzales, Kim, Furuyama, Lee, Mamby, Thompson and a host of other ranked fighters.

If you watch his fight with Thompson you'd be surprised that both of them were light welters. They look huge at the weight.

 

Between 1969 and 1983, he was beaten three times in 45 fights: by Locche, Benitez and Pryor. His record during this period of over a dozen years was not exactly inflated with knockoffs and stiffs-he left those behind in the 1960s. Stopped twice in 106 fights, not Locche territory, but still very respectable. (And no, I do not agree that the rematch between them should have been stopped. Nicotino should have no stoppage defeats on his 136 fight dossier.) The Hawk has admitted numerous times on camera that Cervantes, not Arguello, was the only opponent he feared and was intimidated by, regarding him as a legend. It's the combination of quality and quantity which is so impressive.

Russell, it wouldn't surprise me if he might have subtracted a few years from his age. He competed often in Venezuela, where there was a maximum age limit of 40. I'd imagine more than a couple of fighters might have lied about being younger to extend their careers if they could get away with it.

 

I have about 20 of his fights and in his prime around 1973-5, he was an alltime great fighter that even the Ring Maga called the second best fighter in the world in an issue in the begining of 1976. And with the world at that time having in it Duran, Monzon, Galindez, Arguello, etc. that is pretty good. Yes, he was an alltime great and I think THE man to fight the great Duran in the mid 70's. BTW, Happy Birthday Roberto! Good question and subject. In his prime, I think he knocks a prime Pryor out.

 

During a prefight interview, he was asked if he felt older, laughed and replied, "No, I feel stronger!" At his peak, he may well have been defensively proficient enough to beat Pryor.

 

Yes, I think so.

At Pryor's peak, one of the periodicals (possibly KO Magazine) had a feature matching each divisional fighter of the decade for the 1970s and the then still early 1980s (this sort of thing ought to be at least delayed until each decade is concluded), and for the JWW class, they concluded that after 15 rounds, Pryor would find Locche "too untouchable."

Arguello had deteriorated to the point where he was no longer countering after slipping, but countering after getting hit. He was a considerably more elusive fighter at his best, especially against headhunters, which Pryor typically was. Beyond that, Alexis was going for the knockout, something he was less prone to rely on at his peak.

Pryor typically head hunted while exposing both his chin and body. He was there to be hit, and he really wasn't a controlled infighter. More than anybody else, he truly did resemble a hawk in his swooping style, but he could certainly be outscored by an ATG with sufficient durability, defensive skill, stamina, experience and composure. (Pryor-Mancini was discussed for a time, but while Ray was a superb body puncher, giving away height and reach to Pryor would have been fatal, and he didn't quite have the chin or defense to cope with Aaron.)

 

I remember that issue. It had Ray Mancini on the cover but I cant go along with the results of some of their matchups. a little guy like Nick beating Pryor over 15? Frazier over Holmes? Leonard tko Napoles? The writer was surely :smoke on something

Anyways, I remember earlier that year they ran a poll on the "best of the 70s" in which Antonio came in behind Monzon, Duran, Ali, Naoples, Arguello

 

Was it Farhood, or a staff effort?

Anyhow Red, I didn't agree with Frazier over Holmes or SRL over Napoles (I try to reserve the last name Leonard for Benny, the first and greatest). But Locche originally did shut out the big Cervantes over 15, and I don't see size as much of an issue with Nicotino at his best. (I've no issue with you favoring Pryor in that one though.)

Do you recall where they placed Canto? (My issues are buried in storage.) Benitez versus Wajima was the mismatch I recall most vividly in the first issue we discussed, Ice and the Man of Fire, the Frog Punch against El Radar. I'm not sure the late blooming truck driver gets to round 12 in that one though, even with a bored Benitez.

 

Wonder how Cervantes-Napoles would have looked.

 

Napoles would've clobbered him. Cervantes wasn't that good defensively.