Fuuuuck. Jeff at bantam was a greener, more unlettered but far bigger and stronger version of Harada, he'd probably give Jofre absolute hell. I've never been able to decide this one despite leaning a bit towards Jofres experience and more refined approach over Fenech's more raw but iron chinned swarm of fury. Jofre would probably land cleaner blows than against Harada on a more consistent basis but Fenech would possibly be even harder to discourage because of his size, strength and chin. Although on the flip side he didn't really have Haradas versatility to switch things up and box on the move in the possible event of Jofre putting serious dents in him. What a fight.
Stylistically, considering Jofre's only defeats came against one of the all-time great pressure fighters in Harada whose style isn't too dissimilar to Fenech's, you've got to give Fenech at least a reasonable chance here - especially as Fenech possessed more genuine knockout power than Harada and was capable of inflicting more serious damage. There is an argument to be made that Jofre may have been a touch past his best by the time Harada dethroned him, though (albeit as he never beat a better Bantam than Harada, a cynic might argue that he was simply beaten by the better fighter, but that's by the by!), and Fenech was better-suited to 122 and 126, where he tended to look more solid, less susceptible to getting rocked early on and was capable of maintaining an even more frightening pace for the full course of a fight. With that in mind, I'd take Jofre to win this one. I don't totally rule out a late stoppage if he's really on form, but failing that I see him decisioning Fenech in a very competitive bout.
I think you're underrating Fenech fairly big pal and I often agree with you hands down. To each his own though.
Agreed, i also think Jofre wins but i don't believe anyone has an easy time with Fenech at 118 and 122.
Jofre late stoppage, in a very hard bout. Fenech might of been stronger than Harada, but he was nowhere near as skilled and dynamic, and Fenech was more vulnerable at this weight range.
Fenech didn't have Harada's jab, fast feet, and boxing ability that helped Harada win against Jofre. I'll take Jofre to systematically beat Fenech in the late rounds in an exciting fight.
If anything, Fenech gets overrated on here. He gets treated like superman on the classic forum. Jofre was struggling to make 118 by time he lost to Harada. It's plain as day to see that the Jofre that lost to Harada was nowhere near as quick and sharp as quick as the Jofre that KO'd Medel. The best version of Jofre KO's Fenech. Just the better skilled fighter with bigger firepower. They are two different levels.
He's been picked to win by one single person in this thread, how's that being overrated and treated like superman?
Fenech one of my favorite fighters, but have to take Jofre by UD for sure and maybe TKO possible, not Fenech's best weight.
I'd always believed that Jofre was weight-drained too, but Jofre if I'm not mistaken is on record as saying that his preparation for both fights was fine and that he didn't feel weakened by making the weight. Make of it what you will. Jofre had definitely lost a step physically but was always a slow starter and I definitely think Harada was just an awkward match for him regardless. Aoki also had plenty of early success swarming Jofre but was a bit fragile and unable to handle Jofres power once he landed. Jofre was remarkably complete as a fighter but definitely wasn't the quickest of hand. He reportedly took a long time to warm up against the skilled Herman Marques too and was dropping rounds in that fight, he wasn't Superman. I favour him a touch more than I originally thought but I can't see Fenech being anything other than a tough fight if lesser fighters were able to give him at least a bit of grief. And he's genuinely one of my all time favourite fighters.
