How would the top 5 lightweights of 1982 (according to Ring rankings) fare against the 2000s champions? Arguello v. Mayweather Pryor v. Casamayor Mancini v. JM Marquez Howard Davis v. Castillo Andrew Ganigan v. Diego Corrales
Arguello W 15 Mayweather Pryor KO 10 Casamayor JM Marquez W 15 Mancini Castillo W 15 Davis Coralles Ko 5 Ganigan I'm assuming the 2000 guys could go 15 rounds and that were are using 15 rounds as the fight distance.
Floyd is bad style matchup for Arguello. Floyd by UD. Pryor beats the ****t outta Casamayor and stops him. Mancini upsets Marquez IMO. I don't think that highly of lightweight Marquez. Ray by decision. Castillo by decision over Davis. Corrales-Ganigan is a tough call. Ganigan has a legit chance of stopping Chico early. But if Corrales survived the early rounds, he bombs out Ganigan in about 6 or 7. So that's 3-2 in favor of the 2000s, but Corrales-Ganigan could really go either way. The easiest of these matchups to call is Pryor-Casamayor. Casamayor has ZERO chance against Pryor.
Big Arguello fan here. But Floyd's footspeed takes the first half of the fight easy. Alexis is a slow starter and Floyd's potshot-move tactics would be a nightmare for him. I do think Arguello starts a rally late with some body shots but ultimately can't pin down the elusive Floyd. Floyd UD. Casa can't keep Pryor off him. He might land that straight left early for 1-2 rounds but he's getting steam rolled by the 4th-5th. The Hawk by TKO beatdown. I think Casa would get overwhelmed and maybe even start complaining to the ref or fouls (headbutts). Castillo vs Davis - I see a close fight. A tale of 2 fights, Davis early and Castillo late. Goes down to the wire on the scorecards. Ganigan in a wild fight winning on cuts. Casa had huge success out of the southpaw stance vs Chico. Add in the fact Ganigan has dynamite power early and his money punch is the straight left down the pipe. Its the stalking Corrales' power hooks vs the in-out power left of Ganigan. I think Corrales takes too many shots, literally walking into Ganigan trying to land his hooks. But Chico doesn't go down easy and Ganigan must get outside the moment he lands. Ultimately the upright straight line Corrales would be in Ganigans cross-hairs and the straight left is there all night for Andy.
135 is not JMM's prime weight but I don't think it matters. JMM very convincingly for FTW. JMM is a complete fighter and he showed decent enough pop at LW in stopping Diaz and Casa and he can weather Mancini's workrate. I think its compettive for the first 3-4 rounds, Mancini is so tough and rugged he had such a can-do attitude regardless of his ability. Then JMM's jab and counters takes over somewhat resembling a more refined version of the Katsidis beatdown in the later rounds. It was amazing to see JMM take over the Katsidis fight first with his jab then slowly building up combos off it sometimes going up to 4-6 punches. I think Mancini makes it to 12 but in real bad shape. JMM vs Diaz was a ferocious fight and JMM can step it up if really pushed.
Pretty much how I see it, though I probably give Ganigan somewhat less of a chance of blowing out Corrales early. Mancini-Marquez would be a slugfest.
