I wouldn't call Canizales overly hard hitting, certainly not compared to Zamora. It's sacrilege, but I've always wondered if Zamora wasn't a bit overrated personally. Punchers often are. His resume is quite thin on close scrutiny. He had enormous power however, and invested in it totally making him defensively vulnerable but a real knockout threat. It's a tossup for me. Can Canizales survive Zamora's awesome offense? If he keeps out of trouble early he has a good chance here. I'm going to wear some splinters and sit on the fence.
Gaby Canizales was a pretty nasty puncher himself. His knockout over defensive maestro Miguel Lora shows how hard he could really hit. This content is protected
I think Zamora gets a little overrated because of his win over a green Eusebio Pedroza. Gaby wasn´t as good as his brother but he was a good puncher with a very good chin. I think Lora was the only person to drop him. Zamora would dominate early but Gaby would survive and slowly wear Alfonso down for a tenth round stoppage. Would be a good scrap.
I would take Zamora. I think he was the better fighter. It would be darn fun, though. I do think it gets too often ignored that Jose actually won THE Bantamweight Crown, while his brother never did. He also fought better opposition. Chandler, Sandoval, Pinango, Perez (x2), Richardson, Lora, and McKenzie are significantly better than Seabrooks (who they both fought), Hardy, Gonzalez (x2), Adams, Martinez, and Reyes. I still think Orlando was more talented, however.
Orlando was not only more talented he was more dedicated as well. I agree Gaby faced the better competition but he also lost to most of the fighters you listed that he fought.
Pedroza was KO'd in 3 of his first 17 fights. He was as green as a cucumber and it making 118 was obviously a struggle. I take little notice of the result, personally. He was KO'd immediately after. Gaby was a fine fighter, i wouldn't be surprised to see him prevail.
He was a good puncher but still levels below Zamora. Lora was blindly attacking and committing on everything. He got caught mid swing and din't see what hit him. It's a good feather in Canizales cap tho, certainly. I said it years ago in here, Canizales is a little undersold.
I lean towards Zamora, who won Olympic silver before going pro and looked formidable up to his unification showdown with Zarate, which finished him in top flight. Canizales blew hot and cold and never established himself as a world champion, losing his WBA belt to Bernardo Pinango in his first defence and his WBO title to Duke McKenzie, again in his first defence. It's a mouthwatering fight, though.
