[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EMzqV3t7PU[/ame] Courtesy of McGrain, just a short clip so watch people! Looks to be a very fine pressure fighter here with solid technique. I like the way he uses his jab and closes the distance off of it, shortening his punches as he steps inside. He throws them lovely compact hooks to the body and then brings it back to the hed well. Looks a real solid all-rounder. Apart from this, I know nothing. Anyone else got any info on Macias, or impressions off the vid?
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=278382 [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ro0Jldbjnw[/ame] Couple of links here with some footage for you to have a read and watch mate. That old thread/first link above was initially about Gilroy-Caldwell but I brought up Macias with Vic-Jofre who has apparently read quite a lot about him on several Spanish and Mexican forums. The second link is the second half of the Songkitrat highlights when Macias won the title in 55. A few thoughts there of mine and Vic's on Macias and the era in general. The bantams of the post-Brown and post-Ortiz eras spanning up to Jofre's day get too little exposure imo. Macias looks good in the footage and Songkitrat, it seems, was an a bit of interesting character himself. Have a quick look for yourself anyways.
Macias was an idol in Mexico, even with that lost (with a broken jaw) against Peacock a crowd of 10.000 people was waiting for him in the airport…….amazing… He had a good jab……I like his body punches, He fought well aggressively and defensively…. He retired young because his mom was ill and begged him to retire…. But I don´t know what to say about his opposition.......
Agreed. I actually think he had the perfect style to foil Olivares, who had a tendency to loop and telegraph his punches and appeared to be somewhat vulnerable on the inside. Macias was basically like a better version of Raf Herrera, with more punching power. Agreed. I think bantam is actually the most overlooked of all the major divisions, moreso than even flyweight. Only the most colorful and/or longest reigning champs seem to get recognition today.
Dunno whether I'd call him a generic pressure fighter; he seems more to me the sort of standup boxer/puncher type who applies steady counterpressure. The Herrera comparison is a pretty apt one really as is the general idea of him being a potentially good foil for Olivares, especially if Olivares came in undertrained and unmotivated as was sometimes the case with him. The Macias-Halimi fight interests me quite a bit both as to how contestable the decision and how Macias handled unorthodoxy. Some of the reports that I've come across state that Macias was handling Halimi's aggression ok throughout the early and mid rounds before Halimi switched tack and went on the retreat into a kind of unorthodox countering mode from then on, with Macias struggling to pin him down effectively. Watching him I can imagine it being the case despite the impressively well-rounded look he has about him. Does anyone know if the fight exists on film? Songkitrat has something of a story to him too for a man who only had 13 fights; his kickboxing background must have served him well. Lightweight champion of the Orient in only his third fight followed by three very commendable consecutive efforts for the bantam title. Him and Carruthers barefoot in the middle of a monsoon for the world title :rofl. Bit like Barnsley town square on a Friday night with two pikeys from Kendray instead of an Aussie and a Thai. Going back to Macias would it be fair to say that he was the prototype national hero in terms of mass popularity with the Mexican fans? The first one popularized by the advent of the telly who paved the way for the other big names that came after him? If so then it has to be counted as something of a pity - although not, unfortunately, a surprise - that the global boxing community hasn't remembered him with the same degree of reverence that the hispanic quarters have.
The competitive nature of both the post-Brown/pre-Ortiz era and post-Ortiz/pre-Jofre era coupled with the title changing hands so often, as opposed to the lengthy, dominant reigns of the aforementioned three seems to be partly responsible for this imo. Macias was a real matinee idol and apparently a pretty big deal on Televisa (as his 'acting' career later demonstrated) plus he was colourful and retired intriguingly early, factors that still haven't brought about wider recognition today. Seems like it took extraordinary championship reigns from Brown, Ortiz and Jofre for them to belatedly attain the still relatively niche status that they have in the wider picture of popular boxing culture. Longevity must have it's perks....
Yeah, possibly......his charisma has something to do with it.....very, very humble guy, very religious, he really was a nice guy not the common personality for a fighter.....
