Harry Greb over Gene Tunney. By all reports, he completely dominated a man that would never gain be defeated even though he moved up and challenged the heavyweight champion.
Of course he did. The actual Duran fight improved him for starters. It was a fantastic learning experience.
nice enough but lacy isn't more than maybe a 6/10 in terms of quality himself. calzaghe was great that night but lacy was so limited (despite his ranking at the time)
i was thinking that myself quality of opponent 9/10 offense 9/10 defense 9/10 dominance 11/10 extra: (jones didn't really need to overcome a stylistic advantage and physically he was superior to toney in most ways)
Locche-Cervantes I has to be up there. Nicolino swept all 15 rounds over a fellow legend and ATG on all three judges scorecards. Unanimous scores of 150-135, 150-135 and 150-135 under the modern ten point must system without the benefit of scoring a knockdown or stunning an opponent the caliber of Antonio is insane. A fading Pambele later took the first two rounds over Pryor. The 5'9" Cervantes with his 72 inch reach was 55-8-3 at the time, on a two year nine fight winning streak (during which he stopped Rodolfo Gonzalez in nine at the Olympic in LA) and was near his likely physical peak, turning 27 just a dozen days after his failed challenge of Locche (who stood a full three inches shorter than Cervantes). In 1976, Cervantes would famously be dethroned by Benitez in Wilfredo's home of San Juan, but only by split decision. Has a better competitor than Cervantes was in December 1971 ever been shut out on all three scorecards over the classic championship distance without sustaining a knockdown?
I won't cite stats other than how impressed I was with the second Pep-Saddler and Gonzalez-Carbajal fights. Both Pep and Chiquita completely outboxed opponents who had knocked them out in their previous encounters. I was so impressed with the paint jobs they performed that these two performances would be at the top of my list. Scartissue
If the entirety of Locche-Cervantes I exists, it needs to be on youtube. I watched all of their rematch, and there's no way it should have been stopped. Even if Pambele had pulled off the decision (and even with the cut stoppage as was), there absolutely should have been a third match between these two. Amazing to think, that while Pambele was about to turn 27 when they first squared off, El Intocable was already 32. During the 1980s, after Pryor-Arguello I & II had taken place, I read a few articles pairing the fighters of the decade in each weight division from the 1970s and 1980s against each other. (Locche was a unanimous choice as the '70s LWW representative, over the likes of Benitez and Pambele.) Every single fantasy pairing at 140 between Locche and Pryor had Nicolino the winner, again, astounding since Locche was already in his 30s when the decade began. (He would've driven the wild Hawk completely insane.)
agreed on all counts. A recent thread (I think pbf vs greb) discussed the greatest the defensive masters of all time. And while I know pep is the consensus, I'm starting to re-evaluate both locche and whitaker for that spot. locche had the single most effortless defense i've ever and it's dazzling. with the victory, the SHUTOUT, over cervantes he proved he could do it against the very best with the efficiently that he could against lesser opponents. only knock is what you addressed: no full fight footage
Because Ray Arcel rated Locche a greater defensive master than Pep, Benny Leonard, Benitez, Jimmy Young, Teddy Yaroz, or any other great he witnessed in his long life and career (don't forget that Arcel scouted Nicolino carefully for Ray's 1972 return to boxing, in shrewdly crafting Peppermint Frazer's successful challenge of Locche), I'd think the choice for you personally might come down to he and Whitaker. (My pick would clearly be Locche, who should have finished his 136 fight career with no stoppage wins, including six bouts over the championship distance. To me, Nicolino's ridiculous 103 decision win total with just 14 stoppage victories trumps Pea's 23 decision wins atop 17 knockouts. However, you know best your own criteria.)
i've hammered this point to death on other threads but part of what i love about sweet pea so much is his multi layered defense (term stolen from ring when i was a kid). locche had the best upper body movement i've ever seen and, with all due respect to benitez, was the true radar. he seemed to avoid his opponents attacks before they even realized they were going to throw a punch. his instincts, movement and anticipation are the best i've ever seen. however, how you do you rate his foot movement, parrying and offense-as-defense in comparison to sweet pea? I may be more aesthetically please with locche but pea MAY have had more tricks to rely on :think
Learning to be more professional, adopting gameplan based on opponents weaknesses choosing how to pick when to be aggressive and when to be defensive Great win none the less