This content is protected It's easy to forget how good this guy was. He was the king. A dominating active champion who kept the feel of the ring like those old time champions had to. In Julio's case. He'd rather get paid to fight every couple of weeks than have a fight with a long training camp. I think generally you become a better fighter by fighting. Not thinking about it or tweeting about it. Then he developed many of these subtle skills that may not be sexy for ESPN but they made him damn near impossible to beat.
A truly amazing fighter with determination, skill and great confidence, he could also wear down an opponent with his tenacity. He was not a verbal fighter or showboat, but he managed to win in his prime, taking care of business in the ring. Many fighters in his era avoided him, especially Hector Macho Camacho in 1984, as Julio Caesar Chavez was the mandatory WBC challenger for Camacho's WBC Junior Lightweight title. They would meet later in 1992, with Chavez winning that bout. Like many others before him, he fought on too long, a fighter should know his limitations.
He really did fight too long...but the odlh and miguel gonzalez fights were fights with great anticipation...the 1990s were great
I love the Ramirez fight. The way he changes his style subtlety, to incorporate tools better used vs a southpaw, is masterful. The short, calculated side steps to obtain lead-foot dominance were brilliant, and he set up his straight right (which he just couldn't miss with) and his left hook beautifully. He didn't just walk his man down, either. He showed he could fight off the ropes, move side to side, and just overall, fight differently to the body punching, walk-forward Mexican that he often gets painted as today. His smothering in the Rosario fight was masterful, he just took away all of Rosario's leverage and beat him up. In the Taylor fight, he knew he could take what Taylor was throwing at him, so instead of trying to avoid the guy who's hands were much, much quicker, he used a tripwire counter and wore Taylor down with it. Even vs Martinez and Lockridge, he changed up his style to make fights with more aggressive fighters easier. So many layers to this ATGs game.
Please, Loma beats Chavez and Duran on the same night, then beats Hearns and Leonard the night after. Two week training camp, and he'll beat Monzon and Hagler, so long as he's not injured.
I heard a secret, that if he breaks both shoulders he fully breaks the Matrix and becomes unstoppable. Teo was lucky it was only one injury.
He really was great but the protection he got from DK and the WBC from the Whitaker fight on was nauseating .
The first Roger Mayweather fight was when I became a believer. He overcame a rediculous reach advantage to get it inside and hurt Mayweather after he had taken Rogers best right hand a little earlier. He could adapt to different styles very well.
He's one who requires no thought nor hesitation before proclaiming him an ATG. An old-school fighter who might have been greater still if he had to 15 rounds to do his work and not just 12.
He became a prima Donna under King, partied too much and trained too little, and pretty much expected to win. That said, the Pea fight was a lot closer, at least on points, than people admit. Still, one of my favorite fighters of all time. True greatness.