Alexis Arguello voted pound for pound the toughest man in the world

damn, i know i'm not going to hear the end of it. i lost my avatar bet with San Rafael b/c of Cotto losing.

Sorry dude. I know you and everone else dont want to see it, but i have to keep it for now.

 

Before moving up to 140 Arguello's power and size advantage overwhelmed many of his opponents and a lot of time made for some brutal early kos. Much like Hearns offense most guys just wouldn't stand a chance to really threaten him. Not to equate arguello's chin with Hearns as his obviously a lot sturdier, but arguello's workrate and power put a lot of fighters on the defensive and they couldn't match his firepower.

 

arguello at 130lbs. --- monster

 

A tough fighter and a gentleman outside the ring. One of boxing's good guys.

 

they also said something about pacquiao being the best p4p fighter in the world as he was carrying the Philippines flag.

 

Arguello is NUMBER ****ING ONE on my list of all time favorites. Number 2 and below change from time to time, but number one? NEVER!!

To the poster who said Arguello was used to getting his man out of there, so there was never any real danger: I can only suggest you do a little research. Here's a hint; it wasn't called "The Bloody Battle of Bayomon" for nothing, and that was only one of MANY brutal wars!

Arguello had a built in homing defense that lead him in a straight line toward the the very best fighters at his weight and in his era. The only major **** up on his record is that he lost to Vilomar Fernandez in his first fight at 135, and that cost him a super fight with Duran. ( A loss he later avenged.)

Pryor fought a ring worn and fading version of Arguello with over 80 fights. Alexis could have went after Saoul Mambe, and easily become the first in history to win titles in 4 divisions. However, Pryor was "the man" at 140, and Alexis said he would not consider himself the real champ unless he beat Pryor.

Was he the toughest of all time? Probably not. BUT he was one BAAAAAD Mutha****a!

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..............One of my very favorites ever. Living proof you don't need to act like a goof tough guy wanna-be to be a great fighter. A complete gentleman in person and a stone-cold killer inside the ring.

If Arguello hurt you, you were done. That was it, no questions asked. It speaks to his superlative skills and precision that despite being slow of hand and painfully slow of foot, he always seemed to be in punching range and was almost always able to deliver terrific shots in combination. He had one-punch power, but never gave in to the disease so many big hitters have, "one punch-itis." Great body puncher, a jab for the ages, not a single punch he didn't throw perfectly, inexhaustible stamina, resolve and toughness that a spartan warrior would envy. The man had everything except speed, but all his other gifts made him able to overcome that disadvantage.

 

Great Post.

(PS, If ya look how our avatars line up, Danny is 2 out of 3 now. Sal is ****ing surrounded!

 

So.... are you telling me that AA... during his career.... won only because of his punch.?

 

Great post as usual.

 

It really is a shame that Arguello was robbed of the greatest victory of his career because one guy just had to have a "mixed" drink and the dirtiest trainer in history of boxing in his corner.

 

Great post. 'One Punch-itis' is a major problem with big hitters, they just seem to fall in love with their power.

 

...........As big an Arguello fan as I am, and as generally overrated as I think Pryor is, this is wrong.

The video we have is of Pryor taking the bottle between the 13th and 14th rounds. The people that sceam "foul" seem to forget that Pryor was outpunching Arguello three to one the entire fight leading up to that. He'd have lost anyway.

One can say all they like that he may have been taking something throughout the fight, but we don't see that, and Pryor was known for a frenetic workrate from the very beginning.

Of course it was wrong for Pryor to use anything other than water. It's equally as wrong to dismiss Pryor's victory, as he was winning before that ever became an issue, and showed no signs of slowing or losing control. Arguello had had a good 12th and 13th, but Pryor still had it (despite what the idiot judges said).

 

Arguello is a tough fighter and true sportsman. Don't know if i'll go as far as to the say the toughest, but he's up there.

 

Its common knowleadge Sal......the HBO camera's also caught Panama feeding Pryor out of that Black bottle in one of the earlier rounds.
They even have Panama on tape, specifically asking for the black bottle early on in the fight.

......inbetween rounds 13 and 14 is the scene that the black bottle is most talked about, but believe me, they were feeding Pryor from that bottle throughout the fight.

I'm not going to goes as far as to say that the black bottle was definitely the difference maker, but as an Arguello fan myself, I feel Arguello was cheated that night vs Pryor.

Pryor's victory in my eyes is tainted as a result!