Alexis Arguello, he had a long left jab that he used to surgical perfection while setting up his opponents for his booming right hand. Barry McGuigan was a very aggressive fighter on June 8 1985, when he dismantled defending WBA champion Eusebio Pedroza , enroute to a unanimous 15 round decision to claim the title. Arguello gained the WBA Featherweight title himself with a TKO 13 of Ruben Olivares on Nov 23 1974. The aggressiveness would work against Barry as he would try to force his will on Alexis who is a cool destroyer. Arguello chops down McGuigan down little by little tagging him with right hands. Barry's corner throws in the towel after he is decked early in round 13.
AA is just too damn good. Barry's toughness keeps him in it for awhile but AA was just a brutal puncher in top of being an excellent technician.
Style wise very similar to the Arguello vs Mancini and Olivares bouts. Alexis won both, started slow, took some damage but continued to jab and his power punches just piled up eventually overwhelming his opponents. I see the same here. Alexis proved he's up for any challenge and though at times he gets pushed to ropes and has to shell up as the shorter opponents works his body inside his power was for real. He rides out any storms and wins this by possible late KO but would be a war until then.
Arguello had a way of dealing with a guy coming forward. He jabbed, but he wanted you to slip the jab; that way he could catch you coming in with the right uppercut to the body, the left uppercut on the chin, then hook the body. He would throw a 1-2 and, when you got under the right hand, he would lay his right arm across your shoulders to hold you in place for a hook to the side. He was a wicked body puncher and he would make you pay for doing what you thought you wanted to do. When you stood up straight to rethink it all, then you are a target for his right hand.
Rafa, I love McGuigan, but your assessment of a comparison to Arguello-Mancini is spot on. However, I don't agree with comparing it to Arguello-Olivares. Arguello was methodical in his break down of a fighter. He was what I call an attrition fighter. One who thrives over the 15 round distance while pounding away with every jab, body shot, hook and straight right in his toolbox. He did this to perfection with Mancini. However, Olivares was entirely a different animal. Olivares was - figuratively speaking - kicking the crap out of Arguello, with no let up in sight. He had momentum and it looked like it was going 15 with Olivares walking away with a solid title defense under his belt. He simply walked into a hook in the 13th with no recovery in sight. There was no methodical beat down of Olivares. But again, I do see Alexis doing the same job on McGuigan that he did on Mancini.
Think this is a HUGELY bad match up for Barry. Its like walking into the lions den. He's going to have to come forward and attack a man that has one punch power and can go to the body just as good. AA stops him under 10_rounds.
McGuigans style plays perfectly to Arguello’s sharp punches, much like Mancini. There’s no doubt that Arguello puts together some hellacious shots on McGuigan before stopping him brutally. Would be a fun fight while it lasts though.
