.............As I did with the Arguello thread a little while ago, I just wanted to throw this name out there to elicit any reaction at all. Any stray, random thoughts, opinions, favorite fantasy matchup involving him, whatever......... Could he have beaten Palomino in a unification showdown? If you rank fighters, where do you rank him? He's intriguing to me because while technically quite limited, he cut a rather wide swath through the division for an appreciable time, and is generally unappreciated now. Odd, especially considering his crowdpleasing style.
Great puncher, maybe he was an ATG, not one of history's elite though. I like Pipino personally, wou;d maybe have beaten a lot of history's very good welters, the top tier probably beat him though in honesty.
Devistating puncher. IMO he would have hammered Palomino into submission, finally wearing Palomino wout in about the 10th or so. In his prime Cuevas would take punches on the chin without blinking and just keep firing his patented left hook. During his title reign he was treated like royalty, an adoration only rivaled by Julio Ceasar Chavez. The Hearns knock out broke his ability to take punches to fire his own. which was to an extent his whole style. After the Hearns fight he would get hit, but then get staggered & it would throw off his offense. He was never the same afterwards.
Also he still does hold the Welterweight record. Most consecutive title defenses won by Knock out. Ten.
I don't think he would have beaten Palimino. Carlos was very solid. Hearns of course blasted Cuevas, as did Duran. Can't rate him that highly. Always looked awkward to me. But so did Monzon sometimes, and CM was definitely an ATG.
before he became champ he had quite a few losses hes one of those guys who became better once they were champs.
.................Not the least bit unusual, actually. Both Sal Sanchez and Marco Antonio Barrera turned pro at 15. They start 'em young down there.
Oh i know, just thought i should give the man a bit of undivided attention/praise! I heard that story that Morales was pro at 15(or so), and that he went to school the day after his pro debut, still dont know if its true or not though