do you think he would of been remembered as a better fighter if he had not of come around in the eras of JCC and Whitaker (two of the best of alltime) his record is awesome, 82 Ko's
He was a bit unlucky to have shared an era with them. But my god he got lucky in the first Sweet Pea fight.
Ramirez probably wasn't on the level to ever be a lightweight champ in any other era for any great duration of time (well, other than say in the last 10 years, which has probably been the worst period ever in lightweight history, despite the level still being decent). There's simply been too many great lightweights around that are better than him for him to prove himself better than he really did. Where I do think he was unlucky though was in not getting the decisions in the first Rosario and the Arguello fights. I thought he earned both. They weren't roberries, but I do think he pulled them out. Getting those decisions would have helped his legacy, but not enough so to put him above about 50 other lightweights that have been around throughout lightweight history. Ramirez was a very good fighter and would have benefitted from the 15 round days, that's for sure, and i'd pick him to knockout both Castillo and Corrales if they ever fought, but he did have some disappointing performances as well, seeming lifeless against Mancini and Camacho and getting thoroughly dominated by both.
I think Castillo woulda beaten Ramirez, but unforunetely I agree Ramirez beats Chico. I also Ramirez KO's Juan Diaz & Katsidis. Pacman MIGHT have been too fast for him, but Ramirez was a FAAR better fighter than David Diaz thats for sure. And Ramirez wasnt lifeless against Mancini & Camacho, those guys just put on great performances, especially Camacho. The Ramirez fight was Hector at his VERY best, and he put on one of the best boxing displays ever in that fight.
It wasnt as good as Chavez's. Remember that Rosario nearly KO'd Ramirez in the rematch, whereas Chavez walked through Rosario's best shots like they were nothing.
Castillo is probably more skilled than Ramirez, but Castillo likes to stand in there and trade punches, and he's simply not as durable as Ramirez. Over 15 rounds I think Ramirez would break Castillo down, over 12, perhaps Castillo escapes with a narrow decision. Against Pac, I think Ramirez would get battered in the first half of the fight but would start to push Pac onto the back foot and swamp with with body shots in the second half of the fight, and ultimately knock him out after 10 or so rounds. Ramirez struggled with Hector stylistically (Hector moving and never letting Ramirez get set to throw punches - and Hector was throwing sparingly, not wanting to get into any exchanges after the first couple of rounds) but I can't understand what went wrong in the Mancini fight. He definitely looked sluggish there compared to his performacnes against Rosario, Arguello, Boza-Edwards and heck even the Whitaker and Chavez fights. Mancini fought well, but Ramirez seemed like he wasn't even trying until the final two rounds. His feet were stuck in cement there, even more than usual. He was fighting on some canvas in Mancini's backyard that had too much grip for his shoes and he didn't seem to be able to move at all, but that seems too much of an excuse for such a poor performance. I don't really see that Mancini simply fought great and that's why Ramirez lost lopsidedly. Mancini fought no greater than Arguello, Rosario or Chavez did against Ramirez, and he was well and truly in with a contest in those fights. To me it's a mystery...
Ramirez got hit flush with combinations more than Chavez did though. Chavez's chin might have been better, but not much so.
Ramirez was also decked and hurt by Camacho. Dont get me wrong, Ramirez had a helluva chin, but Chavez had arguably the best chin ever. The only guys who might had had better chins than Chavez were Hagler, Monzon, and Lamotta. James Toney has an all time great chin as well.
