The Tyson, Witherspoon, Tubbs, Tucker and Biggs of the Lightweights? They (the Lightweights, I mean) were all great but imagine how great they'd be without the drugs? As it is, Chavez stands as #4 in my all time greats list and Whitaker and Camacho in the top 50...Whitaker top 30 arguably..
I’d pick the Chavez of the Rosario fight over any Camacho at the weight. Against Whitaker at lightweight, would it go the same way as the fight at welter? Who knows?
But..anyways..were they the lost class of the Lightweights because of drug use? I mean, if they achieved all they did despite the abuse, imagine how much farther could they have gone? Chavez could potentially be here as the GOAT over Ali and Robinson...
I pick Chavez at 135 head to head over all these guys, but certainly a wealth of talent and no definites about any outcome. Drugs tainted each one of them at some point in their careers.
Chavez has no Earthly case whatsoever for being a top 5 all time great in boxing history. First of all, if you rank Chavez top 5, where do you rank Duran? Because Duran was both better and greater than JCC by a wide margin. And you consider Chavez top 5, yet his daddy Whitaker "might be" top 30, "arguably"? Who are you from Culiacan?
Whitaker used to dominate Camacho in sparring. I'm all for hot take opinions, but considering Camacho better than Whitaker at lightweight is pure comedy.
I rank Duran at number 3 above Chavez. The fight with Whitaker was at Welterweight which is more of Whitaker's weight. Career-wise, Chavez was superior, he went 87 and 0 before losing to Whitaker. Whitaker on the other hand was 41-3, considering he beat both Chavez and Jose Luis Ramirez..although I could also say he lost, arguably twice, to Wilfredo Rivera. I usually dont decide who is better based on one fight only. Otherwise, everyone would agree Thomas Hearns was far superior to Roberto Duran! And Joey Maxim better than Ray Robinson. Im from Puerto Rico.
Chavez doesn't have a deep enough resume to be considered top 5 all time. Quite frankly, you can make a case that Chavez isn't even a top 5 Latino great. Many of us would rank guys like Duran, Monzon, Arguello, Gavilan, Ortiz, and Napoles over him. JCC was a great great fighter, but ranking him top 5 just opens him up to criticism rather than appreciation. Chavez is a top 20-30ish all time great.
Lets keep the focus on whether they could have been better without the drug usage or not. The rest is a matter of opinion/
Whitaker and Camacho both peaked as high as they could. In Whitaker, you're talking about one of the greatest fighters of all time, I'd say he did pretty well for himself. Plus, I believe that Whitaker didn't have a true cocaine addiction until later on in his career. And it's not like Whitaker had a short prime. Drugs aren't what cut short Camacho's prime. Rosario cut short Camacho's prime by forever changing his ring mentality. Bramble and Haugen weren't gonna be great fighters, drugs or not. They are "good" tier but not the very elite.