Alexis Arguello vs Hector Camacho

Camacho wins by UD, though it would be split at 130.

 

Alexis Arguello, a fighter I have a great amount of admiration for would have his hands full with Hector Camacho. I think Arguello at his very peak wouldnt put the pressure on Hector like Chavez so successfully did, but that's just not his style. He would do a lot of patient stalking until the late rounds, when he'd catch Hector and put him on the deck. After that "The Macho Man" would be harder to find than a needle in a haystack. Arguello by a less than satisfying unanimous decision.

 

Arguello by FAR the better fighter but slow of foot.
Reluctently Comacho by UD.

 

It would be a close fight, similar to Camacho-Rosario I feel. I thought Rosario won that one, so I'll pick Arguello to win this one. Hector does well until Arguello whacks him and the complexion of the bout changes. Arguello 8-7 with a 10-8 round or two.

 

I agree. Arguello is not fast but he'll slowly sqeeze the noose over 15 until Hector wilts. It's a proven commodity that Hector did not like to get hit. I can't see Arguello going 15 rounds without narrowing the distance and having more offensive success as the fight goes on. He was known for slowly dissecting his opponent and then quite often overwhelming them.

 

Cubanito Perez was a strong counterpuncher who hurt Camacho downstairs early, causing him to buckle in a corner, and nearly drop. From that point onward, Hector was reduced to rushing Irleis with multiple jabs, clinching, and then repeating the process when the referee broke the clinch. Camacho was rewarded with an unpopular decision, but he'd been exposed as somebody susceptible to body punishment, and as someone who had difficulty with opponents of superior physical strength to his own.

Arguello was perfectly capable of putting his prey down for the count with body blows, as he demonstrated with his right uppercut to Ganigan's solar plexus. One of the keys to his accuracy was the fact that he would aim for the sternum, and there are plenty of still photos showing Alex with his fist planted on his quarry's chest.

When it came to how to box a southpaw from the orthodox stance, Arguello could write the book. Ganigan, Ramirez, Watt, Boza Edwards, Navarrete, Limon, all learned how being a southpaw could be a disadvantage against a particular adversary. Camacho would be no different. Right hand leads aimed for the sternum, left hooks to the exposed near side of Hector's body, and his jab inside Camacho's jab, whenever Alexis planted his left foot between Hector's feet, to cut off the ring and split Camacho's defense.

As was alleged with Joe Louis, the strategy for defeating Arguello was supposedly to outmaneuver him with superior footspeed, but only the hard chinned, spring legged Vilomar Fernadez was able to post a win over Alexis by doing that, and this was in a nontitle ten rounder that Fernandez just won by majority decision, a loss Arguello later avenged by dropping Vilomar, and nearly shutting him out, again over ten rounds.

Fernandez was leading a peak Duran on the cards after ten rounds too, as well as Hilmer Kenty and Howard Davis Jr. (if memory serves), but unfortunately for him, Kenty and Duran were 15 round championship contests. (Vilomar was robbed outright of the decision against Howard, and Larry Hazzard allegedly admitted afterwards that he blew his scoring, quoted as calling it a "disparity." But CBS had inked a substantial contract with Howard after the Olympics, so it's hardly surprising that he would be awarded a points judgement if on his feet at the end.) In the rematch with Fernandez, Alexis outboxed him as none of those others had been able to do.)

Over 15 rounds, Alexis would patiently stalk Hector, pound the much shorter man with the lesser reach to the body at every opportunity, and either win the UD on aggression or drown him in deep water with his downstairs attack. Giving Camacho credit for his toughness, I believe he would last the distance.

Arguello UD 15 Camacho