Yeah Marquez did the business vs Austin :yep. What a fight him vs Sahaprom would've been. I mean I enjoyed the fights vs Mabuza and obviously the Vasquez trilogy won't ever be beaten (for me at least) but if he'd have fought Sahaprom instead of the likes of Pastrana, it'd have cemented Rafa's legendary status even more for me. That Derry fight was the first one I ever watched with my Dad. I'd been telling him all day how great he would be so I got a bit of a shock
Neither Rafa nor Sahaprom can be considered one of the greater bantams because they never fought each other. What kind of 'champion' never beats the no.1 or beats their no.2 'contender'. Same goes for 'Too Sharp' at flyweight.
I think Rafa lacked ring IQ anyway, in all honesty. As an all rounder he doesn't lose much compared to big bro, he punches harder and has a better jab, probably a better chin too. Defensively he's not quite as clever mind. But when he's hurt he's clueless and is just a sitting duck. It's almost as if he refuses to go down. Against Vazquez in the second fight he managed to get himself stopped, against Mijares he could have survived to the bell too.
Yes I agree with this unfortunately as I'm more a Rafa fan than JMM. His defence was always what held him back compared to his brother because offensively he was as good as they come. But saying that, the Vasquez fights wouldn't be as good if he was that way inclined.
You think he had a better chin then his brother? I'm not sure about that. Agreed on Rafa defensively he was always poor, such a shame really, he reminds of Khan when he's hurt..backing up in straight lines with his chin in the air instead of clinching and slipping shots. That said he was a warrior with tremendous offense, truly a pleasure to watch when letting his punches go, his brother gets all the plaudits for his combination punching, but Rafa was just as good IMO.
Juan Manuel definitely has the better chin. Rafa was stopped early on in his career as well and gets genuinely staggered and hurt. Juan has suffered more flash knockdowns but immediately regroups. Rafa's feet ain't all that and therefore he was unable to avoid and counter as his brother was. Not bad at it, but much more straightforward a target because of it IMO. Seemed a bigger puncher but he was a massive bantam. As Juan lost his legs he punched harder against bigger guys. Juan Manuel is essentially better at everything than Rafa IMO.
This will be a war, no doubt. I don't think Choi goes down easily, even at this stage. Far too late in the day though, unfortunately. Really hope Choi can pull it out of the fire, but obviously common sense has to say Yordan coming off a good win and much the younger man. You never know though, Choi punches harder than Caballero but its how effective he can be and for how long.
Now I've thought about it a bit more I'm not so sure, in respect of their chins. I think Rafa only really needed to hit the opponent with the right hand and they stayed hit.... whereas Juan tends to need more to hurt the opponent. Granted he fought better P4P fighters, probably tougher ones to boot. Yeah, I'd still maintain that Rafa is the better jabber of the two, but despite this isn't able to control range anywhere near as well. And he shares the same flaw of struggling a bit against boxers, but doesn't shred fighters the way that JM does.
The fact he genuinely does run to his training from where he lives sums the man up :yep. Trains himself as well mostly i heard, the lads just help him tick over and he pretty much does his thing. They add the odd tip here and there..