On the flip side: Barry McGuigan BEST DEFENSE Eusebio Pedroza: Lateral movement, spatial awareness, head movement, knew where you were, stepped back, stepped in, he could block. I think I caught him once with a good left hook to the body at the end of the fifth round. He was very hard to hit. He was brilliant on the inside, really good at riding a punch, blocking, slipping, rolling his head, pulling back, in and out. Very, very tasty on the inside, very sophisticated. SMARTEST Pedroza: Far better, just clever, smart, hold you, pull you back. I never stopped. I kept on coming. I put him under pressure. He was very smart, very clever, great spatial awareness. He was a master on the inside; he’d lean on you, shove you, just to create space. He was guilty of lots of misdemeanors. What he’d do is, he’d create enough space; he’d hook and hit you with his hook and forearm. He was clever and subtle. He’d put your head down and pull you into an uppercut. It’s a real skill. I’m not promoting it but his ability to fight on the inside was really tremendous. I couldn’t swallow properly for two or three days (after the fight). His boxing intelligence, that’s your DNA; it’s innate. He had that ability, miles better than anyone else I fought. Although I was young, I was a young hungry lion who put him under pressure. He didn’t start to fade until after the halfway stage. Taylor was more talented but not in the same league. BEST SKILLS Pedroza: Back to Pedroza, you can go around in circles and talk about how brilliant Bernard Taylor was but skill is about winning consistently, 19 successful title defenses, seven years as champion of the world, one of the longest reigning featherweights. He was a phenomenal fighter. I was privileged to fight someone that good. BEST OVERALL Pedroza: Without a doubt, he was one of the greatest fighters of all time. I pail compared to Eusebio Pedroza. He was one of the greatest featherweights of all time. I’m proud to share a ring with him.
From Pedroza's answers: "BEST PUNCHER – Orlando Amores – He was the only one who could knock me down three times." Now there's a guy who's been mostly forgotten. Some good wins (Luis Estaba, Enrique Pinder, a few others) and his losses were mostly to extremely tough competition (Oba, Zarate, Pedroza, Pintor).
I remember Amores, an explosive counter-puncher, much in the vein of Angel Espada and Esteban DeJesus. He also had Masao Ohba on the canvas. Still, I thought Pedroza would have given that category to Alfonso Zamora.
