This era of 135 pounders is an easy one to overlook as there was no dominant force in the division for very long, unlike the 70s which started with a single champion in Ken Buchanan and a lineage from him to the greatest of the era, Roberto Duran. Only once Duran moved up full-time to Welterweight did the picture become muddy. And that’s where we start the 80s, with a split world title and a series of contenders. That picture stayed pretty much the same throughout most of the decade with only the names changing. However, if you’re looking for lineal clarity in the title picture, things probably start around 1982. After beating Jim Watt to pick up the WBC title in 1981, Alexis Arguello stopped Ray Mancini who would pick up the WBA strap the following year. That win from Mancini and preceding loss established Arguello as the legitimate champion, a title he held until he vacated in 1983 to rematch Aaron Pryor after losing to him at the end of 1982. The only disappointing thing about Julio Cesar Chavez’s time as a lightweight was its brevity. The former super featherweight champ moved up in 1987 and was never better than the night he picked apart the era’s greatest enigma, Edwin Rosario. He followed that up by schooling the most underrated of 80s lightweight titlists, Jose Luis Ramirez, to partially unify the title. And then he was off. To round off the decade, Pernell Whitaker began his assault on the lightweight title by beating divisional mainstay Ramirez in 1989 in a rematch of their controversial first fight the previous year. He would unify all three titles in the 1990s. But title lineage tells only a small part of the story of the 80s lightweights. Between 1980 and 1989 there were a succession of talented fighters who picked up one of the available straps and some top contenders who added real depth to the title picture. Below is a list of the titlists and the contenders from the era, as well as the significant fights for each year. I may have missed some from the lists so please feel free to add any in the comments and I’ll update them later. World champions/titlists: Jim Watt Alexis Arguello Hilmer Kenty Sean O'Grady Claude Noel Arturo Frias Ray Mancini Livingstone Bramble Edwin Rosario Jose Luis Ramirez Hector Camacho Julio Cesar Chavez Pernell Whitaker Charlie “Choo Choo” Brown Harry Arroyo Jimmy Paul Greg Haugen Vinny Pazienza Contenders: Ernesto Espana Howard Davis Alvin Hayes Kenny Bogner Greg Coverson Ruben Munoz Jr Cornelius Boza Edwards Terrence Ali Roberto Elizondo Robin Blake Tyrone Crawley Tony Baltazar Melvin Paul John Montes Charlie “White Lightning” Brown Darryl Tyson Chris Calvin Rodolfo Gonzalez Andy Ganigan Frankie Randall Meldrick Taylor Freddie Pendleton Roger Mayweather Best/significant matches: 1980: Jim Watt v Charlie Nash Alexis Arguello v Cornelius Boza-Edwards Alexis Arguello v Jose Luis Ramirez 1981: Alexis Arguello v Roberto Elizondo Alexis Arguello v Jim Watt Sean O'Grady v Hilmer Kenty Ray Mancini v Jose Luis Ramirez Alexis Arguello v Ray Mancini Andy Ganigan v Rodolfo Gonzalez Claude Noel v Rodolfo Gonzalez Arturo Frias v Claude Noel 1982: Alexis Arguello v Andy Ganigan Ray Mancini v Arturo Frias Cornelius Boza-Edwards v Robert Elizondo Ray Mancini v Dook Koo Kim Andy Ganigan v Sean O'Grady Hector Camacho v Melvin Paul 1983: Melvin Paul v Tyrone Crawley Edwin Rosario v Jose Luis Ramirez Ray Mancini v Orlando Romero Robin Blake v Tony Baltazar 1984: Edwin Rosario v Howard Davis Jose Luis Ramirez v Edwin Rosario 2 Livingstone Bramble v Ray Mancini 1 Terrence Ali v Melvin Paul Harry Arroyo v Robin Blake Harry Arroyo v Charlie Brown Cornelius Boza-Edwards v Charlie Brown 1985: Livingstone Bramble v Ray Mancini 2 Harry Arroyo v Terrence Ali Cornelius Boza-Edwards v John Montes Cornelius Boza-Edwards v Melvin Paul Hector Camacho v Jose Luìs Ramirez Edwin Rosario v Frankie Randall 1 Jimmy Paul v Harry Arroyo Robin Blake v Adolfo Medel Jimmy Paul v Robin Blake Tyrone Crawley v Charlie Brown 1986: Cornelius Boza-Edwards v Terrence Ali Hector Camacho v Edwin Rosario Hector Camacho v Cornelus Boza-Edwards Livingstone Bramble v Tyrone Crawley Roger Mayweather v Freddie Pendleton Edwin Rosario v Livingstone Bramble 1987: Greg Haugen v Vinny Pazienza 1 Jose Luis Ramirez v Terrence Ali Julio Cesar Chavez v Edwin Rosario Pernell Whitaker v Roger Mayweather Jose Luis Ramirez v Cornelius Boza-Edwards 1988: Julio Cesar Chavez v Jose Luis Ramirez Jose Luis Ramirez v Pernell Whitaker 1 Greg Haugen v Vinny Pazienza 2 Freddie Pendleton v Livingstone Bramble John Montes v Freddie Pendleton (at 140 pounds) 1989: Pernell Whitaker v Greg Haugen Pernell Whitaker v Jose Luis Ramirez 2
When I started following the sport in 1983, the lightweights were hot, and in '84/'85 they were considered the deepest division in boxing. In 1984, the rankings at any given time included: Mancini Rosario Camacho Ramirez Crawley Arroyo Baltazar Blake Bramble Boza-Edwards was also making a run having moved up from 130 as well. Lots of action fighters terrific for TV busy fighting each other. It was a nice time to start as a fan.
This is a well thought out post unfortunately i haven't really got anything to add, as you've pretty much covered all the basis. What i will say is that i really enjoy this era for Super Featherweight/Lightweight, so many great memorable fights and fighters. If you don't mind me maybe suggesting adding some more fights to your list. Hilmer Kenty vs Vilomar Fernandez 1980 Jimmy Paul vs Irleis Perez 1986 I watched these fights recently and enjoyed them alot.
Well done chap. Real nice, it’d be nice to see stuff like this touched on YouTube. Instead it’s unusually barren besides maybe one or two good content creators. @Rumsfeld being obviously undisputed.
Thanks @salsanchezfan for your memories of the era. Anyone else have thoughts on this collection of fighters? Favourite fights and fighters from the period? Biggest disappointments? Overachievers? Underachievers? Any other personal memories connected to the era?
Thanks D! Will have to check out those fights you mention. I should also say that I haven’t seen all the fights I’ve listed in the original post - they’re on my watchlist, though!
Thanks for the kind words. I haven’t tried creating any original video content on YouTube myself so not sure I’d be the one to do this but, yes, would be interesting to see.
Robin Blake- Adolfo Medel from '84 was terrific. '83's Jimmy Paul-Andy Ganigan represented kind of changing of the guard moment, from the lightweights of late 70's-early 80's to the new breed that inhabited the middle part of the decade.
Classy post, as ever, DP. Very modest of you to suggest a couple of bangers like those two so humbly. I'll try Paul-Perez now.
Awesome post and contribution to the forum @Jel. Good to see my guy Jose Luis Ramirez repped in so many of the significant fights at this weight in this era, which was overloaded with talent — yet, as you point out, no singularly dominant force for any significant period of time. Gannigan, Mancini, O’Grady, JCC, Sweet Pea, Arguello and so many more fighters who are among my favorites made their marks in various ways in this era of the 135-pound division. Not to mention Watt and Howard Davis and all the others.
Chris Calvin was a very hard punching lightweight who almost got Haugen when they fought. He could really punch. Also missed Frankie Randall who had a ton of fights at lightweight and got stopped in two rounds on ESPN by Ramos. Meldrick Taylor also started in lightweights and Howard Davis fought there for awhile.
Thanks for picking up on those misses! Davis, Randall and Taylor are big names for me to have forgotten - I’ve added them. Regarding Chris Calvin, I suspect there might be a few others I’ve missed like him - a fighter who is probably only remembered by people who were around at the time (I wasn’t) and someone who was a relatively low level contender/journeyman but brushed up against top contenders or future titlists (Blaine Dickson is another one like that, albeit he was between super feather and lightweight). I’ve added him to the list anyway but was he ever a legit title contender?
Thorough discussion. While clearly being considered below Arguello, Mancini did bring stability to the WBA title, which had changed hands numerous times since Roberto Duran vacated his Undisputed title in 1979. Conversely the WBC title was won by Watt and then Arguello after Duran vacated. Mancinis ability to hold the WBA title for two years was aided by his manager Dave Wolf's clever matchmaking and the WBA's penchant for elevating obscure fighters to the #1 position. Livingstone Bramble fit this mold on paper but turned out to be much tougher than anticipated as he brutually annexed the title from Mancini.
Also I would add Charlie "White Lightning" Brown as a contender, albeit ever so briefly. I believe the Charlie Brown you listed was "Choo Choo." Harry Arroyo beat both of them - first winning the IBF title from Choo Choo via 14 th round tko, then defending against "White Lightning" via 8th round tko. Interestingly Boza Edwards was supposed to fight Arroyo but was injured and replaced by White Lighning. Judging from his performance against Choo Choo in which Boza stopped him in only 3 rounds, it is likely that Boza would have fared better against Arroyo than either Charlie Brown did. I am not confident Boza would have annexed the title though as Harry had a killer right hand and Boza had a penchant for getting hit with that punch.
