Yet another fascinating contest. Olympic Gold medal winner Frankie Genaro may have been a genius. We have to be careful about hanging such a tag upon him as footage is at a premium, but nothing I have ever read has dissuaded me from this thinking. His brilliance was most crystallized in his three-fight series with the puncher Pancho Villa. Just as the fights between Pone Kingpetch and Fighting Harada represent a special clash of styles so too do these two seem to have sapped the far reaches of excellence from one another although here there was never any doubt as to who was the better; Genaro took the decision from Villa on all three occasions. Genaro’s great career was defined by Villa but not limited to it. He also defeated many of the finest names from a stacked era, many of whom will be familiar to readers of this series. Valentin Angelmann, Ruby Bradley, Emile Pladner, Steve Rocco and Frenchy Belanger all fell to him at one time or another (though Pladner also once defeated him with an exquisite sounding liver-shot). It adds up to one of the most rendered resumes in the history of flyweight boxing. This content is protected In the other corner, legendary Japanese southpaw Hiroyuki Ebihara ruled the world in 1963 and 1964, his reign amounting to just four short months. A footnote, then, in flyweight championship history. But Ebihara suffered some extraordinary company during his career, and those monstrous flyweights inflicted most of those losses. He dropped a ten round decision to Fighting Harada in his tenth fight in early 1960 and lost twice to Horacio Accavallo, then dropped a decision in his last ever fight. His other loss was posted to the giant of flyweight boxing, Pone Kingpetch. Kingpetch was in possession of the title when Ebihara got his shot in 1963. Kingpetch’s brilliance as a boxer was probably only matched by men ranked among the top division’s all-time top ten and he presented a singular problem to any challenger. Ebihara’s solution was equally pointed; in the very first round he landed the type of southpaw lead that turns durable fighters to jelly. Kingpetch, being made of steel, found his feet and staggered uncertainly on his slim legs. This content is protected Would all of this be enough against the equally legendary Genaro under the following rules? 15 round fight. 1950s referee. 8oz boxing gloves. Cast your vote and explain yourself in a post below! You have 3 days.
What a pity, i don't know much about Genaro, but well aware of Ebihara's career. If you look at context - his career was truly great. He was very strong both ATG and H2H. My vote for Ebi, but I'll read arguments for Genaro with interest
I think I might agree fella but I do really get what Amos-San is saying. I'm more familiar with Ebihara and really rate him but it feels a bit wrong to pick against Genaro, especially in the first round even though I did with Perez. These fights are pissing tough ffs, you're boiling my noddle. Been away for ages and come only to read stuff and think don't make me choose witch you can't make me choose witch!oh bollocks I've chosenlookwhatyoumademedo!musthaveahotbathandcry. Then the wife shouts at me because the wee lad has tipped his rice crispies on the DVD player when I was meant to be watching him instead of thinking about how good Peter Kane in comparison to Betulio Gonzalez. And the weeds are getting bigger on the drive.
This one feels almost too tight to call. On the one hand, you've got the madly storied career and favorable record of Genaro; on the other, footage of Ebihara looking sleek, effective and dangerous - again, against truly elite opposition. But I'm going to side with Genaro. The guy fought a lot of different styles and has some next-level stats, in terms of the quality of opposition he faced - I think he fought, in all, about 50 opponents, who were either champs and/or rated opponents (many of which were top-3) and/or HOFers. I have read that he had 16 World Title Fights, going 10-3-3. It's a cheap and cheerful way of getting my vote in on time, but I've wrestled too long with this one. Controversial SD 15 victory for Genaro.
Despite being troubled late by body shots, Frankie Genaro bagged more than enough early rounds to see the fight home in a fight that was punctuated by numerous flurries exchanges if no great excitement. Genaro seemed a step ahead of his iron-hued opponent through ten before ceding ground late under a volley of hurtful body punches. Genaro needed all his guile and experience as well as his own formidable body-attack to keep Ebihara from steam-rolling him late before rallying to take the fifteenth in a clear unanimous decision victory.
