Did you ever see the fight with Pinango ? Well Pinango was a pretty good fighter who had some good wins one over a prime Gaby Canizales and Duarte kicked his ass but got robbed,and Duarte was already close to his mid 30s (ancient for a Bantam). His fight with Sandoval also could have gone either way and Sandoval was very good. WHen he loss to Zarragoza he was way past his prime he was like 37 or 38. Baltazar was world class. You must not have a good memory,if you were a fan back then. He beat a prime Howard Davis but was robbed and also decisioned Roger mayweather,also gave Buddy Mcgirt a scare almost ko him,and Baltazar was past it then. He was a legit top contender check out some old ring magazines and you will see he was ranked at the top for a while. Im not talking the 2nd career when he fought Camacho,Mcgirt,Bollilo he was just a journeyman by then.
Baltazar was dangerous, and yes a contender, but always slightly below being a top contender (which the thread is about). I am not going to play Devil's Advocate for Duarte, as he was a favourite of mine, who like you said, was very unlucky, and not always recognized, although I do think he (rightly) won The Ring's comeback of the year.
Willie Joyce George Costner Joe Miceli Bernard Doucusen In more modern eras Tyrone Crawley Robin Blake Randy Shields Pete Ranzany Pedro Villella- Beat a prime Starling Carmeolo Negron 100% kos at one time until kod by Jaime Garza Angel Vasquez- Big puncher heavily hyped in the 90s but he fizzed out. Scotty Olson
Tom Heeney and Roger Rouse. Their careers paths somewhat mirrored each other. They both scored a string of good wins in a short span and ascended to the top spots in their divisions, and justifiably received title shots; then after that, they just as quickly went downhill and faded away.
Carlos Chavez Fabela Chavez Battling Torres Rudy Robles Jesse Burnett Roberto Elizando Cubanito Perez
Yaqui Lopez...gave it his all in about 4 consecutive LtHvy title fights and was always right there at the cusp.