I liked the fight and all, but I think the first Saad-Lopez fight is a bit overrated. The 8th round (as the 8th was in the rematch) was sensational, but otherwise I thought Saad pretty much controlled it and it had nothing like the ebb and flow and "crackle" of the 1980 bout. Now the rematch of the Johnson fight was almost as good as the first bout. Another relatively forgotten treasure is the first Marvin Johnson- Leslie Stewart rumble. The first round of that fight was among the best rounds I've ever seen.
As a fight it's completely overrated IMO (notice I didn't have it on my list) but it's a pretty underrated jabbing display. One of Saad's few truly disciplined performances, bar the few tussles he gets himself into.
Good point. Saad had one of the hardest, most hurtful jabs I've ever seen. He could be pretty uneven as to when he put it to use, though....
Just noticed in my rush to omit Saad-Lopez I also forgot about their 2nd fight atsch Which is also right up there of course!
Some forgotten wars: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0zC24L_xTM&feature=player_embedded[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV5vBjpBbCc&feature=player_embedded[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWRggR2YiA4[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DDAU1d8CBY[/ame]
All the usual suspects, but the best fight I've ever seen that was not mainstream nor on TV was Jorge Luis Gonzalez vs. Josh Gormley in Bismarck ND in 1998 on a Virgil Hill undercard. Very entertaining scrap, and then Gonzalez came from behind on the cards to stop him via the 3 knockdown rule with 2 seconds left in the fight. Historically? Meant nothing. A hell of a lot of fun to watch from ringside though.
I saw Limon, Lopez, Cuevas and the others from that era many times. But one of my all time fav fights involved one of my fav fighters. They really had an excited crowd in Sacramento for the Pipino Cuevas defense against Pete Ranzany. Ranzany was an excellent fighter at the time and had kicked ass to get to the title shot. His fans that night were rabid in their support of him to beat Pipino and take the title. He did well in 1, then Cuevas exploded on him and beat that ass. It was thrilling to be in the crowd and see the reaction of the fans as he commenced drubbing Pete. One of my favorite nights in my life. Also, when the press built up Frankie Baltazar as a killer and he decided to take on Limon. From the moment Limon entered the ring, Baltazar looked scared shitless. We went wild in the stands as Bazooka preceed to squash Baltazar like a bug. Basically ending his career and confidence in his abilities right there and then. Another great day to live in California and be a boxing fan.