Indeed. Wouldn't stop him, though. In fact Arguello would be hard pressed to even hurt Laoprte noticeably.
..........Good comparison. I see Juan winning a couple early rounds, but that's about it. I still maintain and will defend forever my contention this guy had THE best chin of any fighter in the last thirty years, if not ever. No matter who you were, you weren't denting this cat.
Arguello, by wide decision. Laporte makes the final bell but ends up on the wrong side of a one sided contest, way down on three scorecards. Arguello UD15 Laporte
Can you elaborate Sal, who against did you see Laporte take great shots against that you would rate his chin the best in the last 30 years??? I know he gave JC Chavez a hell of a fight.....and Tszyu was'nt able to knock him down...... .....do you think Tszyu was was the biggest puncher Laporte faced? I got to think that at 130 lbs or below, Arguello may have been the fighter that could have stopped Laporte. I dont think Laporte ever faced a one punch artist like Arguello before. If anybody could stop Laporte, it would probably be Arguello, and especially if it was a 15 rounder as the thread suggest this matchup be. Arguello was money in the late rounds with his power!
the laporte who fought pedroza was a good fighter. he could not only take a punch but he could dish it out as well. arguello was just on a different level. but it would be a tough fight for him. arguello by UD. but none of that holmes vs cobb bull****. this would be a figth.
...........There were several, and none came close to hurting him; Chavez, Nelson, Tszyu, McGuigan, to a somewhat lesser extent Gomez. Not to mention guys like Sanchez and Pedroza among others, who may not have been super-hard punchers but whose excellent workrate usually wore normal humans down. Laporte was the ultimate gatekeeper; if you were a contender anywhere from 130 to 140 in the day, you had to go through him. I would agree that if anyone COULD stop Laporte, it might be Arguello, but the man's track record is so good at withstanding punishment, it would be unfair not to give him the benefit of the doubt. He walked the walk for too many years for me to deny him that.
The thing about Arguello with respect to his punching power is that he was really more of a placement specialist, probably the foremost martial artist in world class boxing during the course of his career. In San Remo, the hook he kayoed Escalera with wasn't a true leveraged shot, but a placement blow on Alfredo's jaw hinge, which ruined his equilibrium. Against Ganigan, Alexis got Andy pinned against the ropes, then knocked out his wind with a pair of precision targeted uppercuts to the solar plexus. He fractured Roberto Elizondo's jaw with focused marksmanship. It's a seemingly intuitive quality he has been gifted with, moreso than leverage and velocity, that made him such a devastating obstacle to contend with. It allowed him to salvage a kayo in his final major victory over Billy Costello. Pinpoint accuracy was also the concluding factor in his measured kayo against Kevin Rooney. (Gawd, was Rooney really in that kind of athletic condition once upon a time?) Not everybody is susceptible to this degree of vulnerability. Arguello nailed Pryor with the same types of blows which previously dispatched Escalera, Elizondo, and Ganigan, to no avail. Failing that, neither did Alexis possess the skull fracturing force of a Cuevas behind his punches to fall back on. What all this means, is that LaPorte probably keeps his feet, and goes the distance. That would suit Arguello just fine. Most of his kayos occurred as a desirable by-product of correct technique anyway. If the knockout came, he'd take it, but he didn't usually need it. After LaPorte caught lighning in a bottle with his one punch kayo over Lockridge, he seemed to squander many matches in seeking to duplicate that singular achievement. That win may have been the worst thing that could have happened in LaPorte's career. Then again, the realization of how much damage Juan could do with an isolated bomb probably induced his opponents following the Lockridge grenade to tread with great caution in LaPorte's ring. Arguello UD 15 LaPorte
Interesting post, and I agree, Arguello was a marksman...... .....but if you're insinuating that his technique and use of leverage had nothing to do with his KO's , I disagree wholeheartedly. Arguello had a knack to know how to snap a punch, whether it was a short punch or a longer one with more leverage on it, but snap them he did and to KO debilitating results. I'll also say this, JC Chavez was also very calculating and placed his blows very well.....but they had nowhere near the concussive effects that the shots Arguello had. My friend, the thinman had bonafide Explosive power in his hands!!! EL FLACO EXPOSIVO!!!:deal
I do agree with you in many ways, but I think AA had power, it was not only about placing his punches. When he defeated Leonel Hernandez at 126, that was a big, power shot, (well placed) but Hernandez went down because of the power of that right hand AA hit him with while he was trying to get out. ... against Olivares...hum.. I would say that the way he placed that shot (very short uppercut) helped him to win that fight, that shot was a very short and compact one. It was a left hook.... I think...... and Olivares went down. I don't know if Olivares went down because the short hook/upper cut was well placed or because of the power behind the shot, which sent him to the canvas the first time, or maybe all of the above. Who knows? ....against James Busceme, the over-the shoulder- left hook made the difference. Again, we can say that it was a well placed shot, but at the same time I think it was power shot. To be honest with you, I think he put down many boxers because he placed the big shots at the right time and in the right spot....and he did it when he needed it or when he considered was the right time :huh ....but I think he had power....If you look carefuly you would realise that most of his punches were power shots. I have whatched many of his fights and I came to the conclussion that he did hit his opponents most of the time with power shots.