A lot of people just remember the "old" version that lost to Pryor. Cervantes beat DeJesus up pretty bad. Cervantes by split decision.
Cervantes on a 15 round decision. I love his range, his sharpness and his counter-punches over a doggedly tough Chavez.
Chavez would beat Cervantes up. Just a clear notch above, in my opinion. Cervantes had good size, a good jab, and solid power, but underwhelmed against the best. Chavez would work his way inside the jab and bang him out.
No one is getting knocked out in this fight. From the time Rodolfo Gonzalez dropped him in '70 to the time Pryor dropped him in '80 Cervantes was never down. From the time Mayweather buckled his knees in '85 to the time Randall dropped him in '94 Chavez was never down. Both solid set of whiskers and can only see the customary slice on the bridge of Chavez' nose as any kind of impediment, which I believe his corner would control. A solid 15 rounder.
Chavez is being overrated as Hell in this thread and Cervantes remains one of the most underrated fighters in history. I feel like Chavez is simply being picked for being more popular. Cervantes was a better, more dominant junior welter than Chavez. He had the range, skill, and toughness to beat Chavez. Cervantes by UD.
Overrated as hell? Most picked Cervantes and the only person besides me to pick Chavez said it would be close. And I certainly didn't pick Chavez for popularity.
It's not all about how we rate boxers, I for one don't think Cervantes fought tall enough to beat Chavez.
I think Chavez takes him. I guess I must be underrating the kid! But seriously I think Cervantes starts well, but after 4-5 the tide switches. Chavez’s pressure all night throws Cervantes off of his game, never really hits his grove..Chavez 7-5 type decision
Massive fan of both of these guys and enjoy going back on YouTube and watching them do there thing. Chavez was my era so I remember him like it was yesterday. Watching a prime Pambele just wants me wishing there was more filme as he was befor my time. Based on what I've seen @140 I have to go with Pambele by a UD. Pambele was just a monster @140.
Close fight that might boil down to whether Chavez could fully come to grips with Cervantes's size and strength at the weight; physically he was a titan at 140. I feel like Chavez was better p4p and although not quite 100% the light welter he was lightweight, he was only a very small distance off in his early days there, pre-Taylor. Going straight at Cervantes was usually a bad idea unless you were a Duran-level aggressor imo, such was his counter-punching ability and judgement of angles/distance. Very educated footwork when moving laterally and backwards in a way he never quite had while moving forward. Chavez was very tight defensively though on his way in, textbook style, which might make it hard for Cervantes to time him consistently. I'd be interested to see the balance of things if Chavez worked his way inside, his great infighting game versus Cervantes's underrated one and huge strength (and dirty streak). The smaller De Jesus, though slicker than Chavez, was able to slip inside early doors and land telling punches before his size worked against him, especially when as mentioned, Cervantes turned dirty. Chavez was also a highly capable boxer and counter puncher himself when required, who could fight on the tactical retreat. Wouldn't surprise me to see him mix things up.
