Alexis Arguello vs. Ken Buchanan, 135

Having thought about this one, still undecided. Arguello was a bit past his peak but still competitive with Pryor at light welter, I don’t think Buchanan has the style to really nullify Arguello like a Marcel or Fernandez.
I think it’s just one of those fights that could go either way. I’m going to side with the majority if I have to pick a winner and choose Ken by a razor thin decision, I don’t see a knockout either way and think Buchanans workrate might be the only thing that edges it

 

It's Kenny's legs that win this fight for him. Legs and defense. Kenny was never a runner but he knew how to use the ring while conducting some very neat boxing. Arguello was very good over the course of a fight to slow a fighter down and take him out in the latter rounds. This worked very well on the punchers and boxer/punchers. But Kenny would stick to some very slick boxing in a fight like this and not get suckered into a pattern of engaging, much like Vilomar Fernandez did in their first fight, never staying in one spot for long. Kenny's Achilles heel appeared to be the muggers. Roberto Duran was pure wild-child when they met and totally rampaged all over Kenny. Funny enough, I always felt Ken would have done better against Duran as Duran matured because he lost a lot of that wild-man antics as he settled into a more subdued all-time great who could box as well as slug. Another who had success against Kenny with that style was Isimatsu Suzuki. Suzuki was behind but went all-out wild-man over Ken the last five rounds of their contest, mugging his way to a decision. This style, of course, was not Arguello's. Alexis was an attrition fighter who thrived on wilting a fighter over a period of time. And again, Ken wouldn't be in one spot for very long. Ken on a decision.