o tough one, cervantes never lost to smaller fighters though.He went 1-1 against locce and then lost to benitez and pryor.
The gentlemanly Alexis Arguello was one of my favorite fighters, but I feel Cervantes was a bridge to far....Long and rangey, powerful, he would present Arguello too many problems to overcome...and also a naturally a bigger man. The Arguello that fought and lost to Pryor in Miami, would also lose to Cervantes...by UD. It would be an absolute war at times.
Not at 140 he isn't.Cervantes outboxes him in a good fight.The long straight punches of his outside-game ,better footwork and range-control would give him the edge and he has more than enough power and strength to eventually physically bully the smaller man a bit. Could get rocked and floored himself though, but overall a comfortable decision should be won.
Pambele by wide decision. He has too many advantages at this weight. I see his counterpunches bashing Arguello to bits. P4P Alexis is superior, but not H2H.
Hard to move up in weight against Cervantes once he hit his stride, unless you were a big lightweight like Ortiz, Duran etc..
Arquello....5'-10" with 72 inch reach. Cervantes....5'-9" with 72 inch reach. Equal weight on "weigh-in day". The real question will be: who backs who up?.......because Arquello will tag Cervantes and is not going to run.
This is a match-up for all who prefer technical boxing matches. Both were absolute professionals who were similar in height, reach and style, each taking their time to dismantle their opponents. This match could have gone either way imo but i would give arguello the edge because of superior power. He could stretch a man out with either hand and i doubt that cervantes has ever fought anyone that had that type of power.
