Esteban DeJesus

You may be right. Julio was another all-time great. So even if he did lose to Julio that wouldn't be exactly a disgrace. I think it's a tough fight that's fair to say. Remember one thing though DeJesus wilted against Duran in 74 but that was down in Panama where it was over 90° maybe 95°. And he was fighting a Non-Stop pressure fighter as well. Take when you look at the pace of the first four or five rounds especially anybody would wilt. They weren't pacing themselves something had to give.

 

Of course, and im not saying de jesus would be an easy fight. I see De jesus having a lot of success early, but as the fight progresses it only gets worse for him; especially in a 15 round fight!

 

Duran not as technical or precise as Chavez????

 

Every fan has their own way of looking at it. I look at it like this (all-time great) then there is (great) (very good)
In fairness maybe DeJesus based just resume belongs in the very good category. It's just I look at a guy at his peak. Esteban de Jesus had some serious talent his hand speed is probably underrated. We know he had pop in both hands, he was little small for lightweight. If he was managed a certain way like other fighters maybe with advantages he could have probably grabbed a belt @30 he did @35 and maybe even @40 as long as there was multiple belts floating around like there was in later eras. Belt chasing became more of a thing in later eras for certain boxers to claim greatness even if they didn't beat the best fighters in the division or even attempt to. Yes I'm looking at you Oscar!

 

Chavez was more methodical. He had to be. Young Duran from '72 maybe '74 or 5 could be wild. By 1976-77 '78 he was little more measured, he seemed to find the perfect balance between aggression, pressure but also finesse. It was uncommon to see a fighter achieve that kind of balance. Most aggressive fighters or easier to hit like Chavez. Julio had an iron chin himself but he took more punches flush then Duran did. He approached it differently. But he was equally effective in his prime years.

 

I actually disagree with some of that. I don't think that duran was that much better defensively than chavez,even in his peak years;It seemed that way because Duran was flashier and more athletic with his defense than chavez, but if you actually look at the footage, chavez was more subtle with his defense, yet just as effective. Like Duran, chavez was one of the very best at applying pressure while at the same time being in position to roll and slip punches. If you look at the taylor fight, he was making taylor miss almost as many punches as he was landing; especially in close quarters. Again, taylor was one of the absolute fastest fighters in the sport, and he was made to miss constantly in that fight. so, although it seemed like chavez got hit more, he actually didn't get hit as flush as most people would like to think. His defensive skills only really started to diminish after the camacho fight.

 

I would pick a peak Chavez over Esteban. But DeJesus would be in it all the way to the end. I could definitely change my mind on this.

 

yes, 1974 Duran had defensive flaws

 

It's a great fight no question. Chavez record is padded though, he had some questionable decisions go his way and I think De Jesus could've beaten all of Chavez lightweight opponents when he was at his peak.
I'd argue that Chavez resume doesn't match up to his status either.
Esteban has a better win on his resume in Duran than any of Chavez wins. So why couldn't he beat him?

 

Which questionable decisions are you talking about? whitaker? as far as the padded record, most ATG's had some form of a padded record, including duran!

 

Laporte fight should have been a draw with the low blow. He clearly lost to Whitaker and as much as i like Chavez he would have lost to him at any point in his career.

 

The laporte fight was close, but chavez won clearly in my opinion. Laporte was fighting in spurts while chavez was controlling the majority of the rounds. As far as whitaker, i don't think your seriously going to compare de jesus to whitaker; they were different kinds of animal

 

I'm not comparing them just saying that he Chavez was great and I like him but he gets a bit overrated as well.
And you just compared Chavez record with Durans...