Alexis Arguello - Discussion

Alexis Arguello is similiar in many ways to Joe Louis. Often people see Joe Louis highlights and watch him knocking people out and presume he is a basic slugger. This is not the cause with him being a complete boxer puncher who would jab and slide his way into range before releasing bombs. Often people see Arguello knocking people out brutally and presume he was a slugger but in reality he was a classic boxer puncher. In fact often he was too patient and his fights became boring until he opened up.
His fight with Boza-Edwards apparently had Edwards being sick in his corner from the body shots, although they were not to many. Here is another example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aBhG9Ny0r0

6 minutes 47 seconds you will see a brutal body shot drop Royal Kobayashi to the foetal position (he was no bum either). Brutal stoppage you will be certain to see in many of his highlights.

 

I would say he was a pretty complete fighter who could do it all but he had a mentality (like a younger JMM) were he wanted to win. His wars were against the better opponents (like Escalera, Pryor and Chacon) who were more likely to be more determined. Also he had a great sense of anticipation and timing- he knew exactly when to whip that rapier like right hand across and had a great killer insinct. One of the more complete boxers of the last 40 years.

 

Not sure how much of a plus it is, but it makes for great viewing how he likes to fight boxers off him rather than clinch, which you can see in the first Pryor fight perfectly, and with Olivares. You get Arguello against another man with a high skill level on offense and you're guaranteed a great scene. As we know, he rarely lost them.

 

When he moved up to 130.

Escalera I & II, Olivares, Navarette, Watt.

Boza Edwards.

His smarts, his toughness, his resilience, his technical skill, his physical advantages, and his bone-breaking power.

 

There was some brutal body punches in Boza EDwards, but that shot which lifted Koyabashi off the ground in a sitting position is unbelievable!

Pater you know what I think of Alexis :good

 

i liked the way he threw a straight right.he made it look easy.he always looked really calm too.
jim watt said he was too nice to fight !!??

 

I'll weigh in with a few random facts, opinions, and bits of trivia no one mentioned.

1; Alexis Arguello was not a talented and promising prospect. He lost two of his first five, and did not face an opponent who actually had a win on his record until his 14th pro fight. In his 26th fight he lost by TKO to a guy who was 5-6-0.

2; He lost his first bid for a world title when Ernesto Marcel scored a VERY clear 15 round decision over him. The ref considered stopping it after the 7th, but Arguello said he was okay and wanted to continue.

3; The fighter who beat seven shades of **** out of Olivares, and stopped him in 13, seemd to come out of nowhere. Even after this Arguello was widely regarded as just a skinny slugger.

4; When Arguello could no longer make the 126 pound limit comfortably, he seriously considered retiring rather than moving up. As boxing fans we can thank the gods that Alexis decided otherwise.

5; The first Escalera fight was the fight that really put Alexis on the map. Escalera was a fine champion who could both crack and box a bit. That's when people started to realize that Alexis was indeed something special.

6; At the time Alexis was one of only a handful of fighters to dominate 3 divisions. Back then, with fewer belts, and different weigh in rules, moving up through divisions was a lot harder.

7; If you have never seen the Arguello/Mancinni post-fight video, you have never witnessed the true spirit of a great warrior.

8; I'm getting long winded, so I'll close with this. Some of you may disagree, and you're free to do that, but if I were Jack Leow, I would make Kelly Pavlik live with tape of Arguello for at least 3 months day in and day out!

 

Ike Williams?

 

No, Arguello.

SUPER HANS! Legend :good

 

Perfect post for this thread:good:good:good

 

Apparently he begged his Mother to allow him to turn pro after handling himself well in a sparring session with Olivares. Might not be true.