Eder Jofre: Why does he rate so highly with a lot of you?

I have Jofre high , I believe him to be the second best bantam ever (behind Zarate) , I understand your argument about the resume , but he did look good in the ring , though I havent seen too much . I have read though , that he was amazing all-round . He lost the 2 to Harada and then come back at 126 and beat good oposition and never lost again , in my opinion he was great of the highest order .
Plus , he did prove greatness in other ways , like getting up off the canvas to win - I know that doesnt necessarily make a guy great , but it certainly strenghtens his claim.

P.S. - I really like Vernon Forrest at the momnt , he is doing a sinilar thing , only lost 2 , to somewhat of a bogeyman for him , and now looks really good at a higher weight

 

Consistency, for starters.

A very Gene Tunney like record. Not really a case of "What ATG's did he beat?!?!" as opposed to "Who even remotely posed a challenge to him?".

He was a vegetarian too!

 

Obviously not! I just meant I have warmd to Forrest more lately because I really respect what he has done , lost twice to the same guy and it doesnt seem to have phazed him . And he's at the higher weight now aswell

 

Jose Legra and Vincente Saldivar aswell , Saldivar is a top win for Jofre , he moved up in weight and beat him

 

One reason is, as Russell suggested, his incredible consistency. He lost two fights in a 78 bout career and both fights were close losses to a fellow ATG (Fighting Harada ain't no Ricardo Mayorga, so let's stop the Vernon Forrest analogy right there.) He lost both fights at the tail end of his career when he struggled terribly to make weight. Hence he was not fighting at his best, and still both decisions were close calls in Harada's backyard.

As for his resume, he beat a lot of good fighters and often did so in devastating fashion. In just about every title defense he was having he was knocking his opponents out.

About looking good on film, Jofre does indeed look good on film. He looks good in the Harada bouts, even though he is not in top form, and he looks even better where he is fighting in top form, against Jose Medel. Before anyone draws too definitive a conclusion about Jofre they should see that bout.

Then of course there is the longevity and how he beat the likes of Jose Legra and Vicente Saldivar as an old man above his best weight. Both had seen better days themselves, but they were still impressive wins all things considered.

 

Good post, I wasnt comparing Mayorga to Harada though , that wasnt the point of the Forrest comment . Just meant I respect Forrest

 

And Jofre was, to those that saw him in his prime, considered almost a perfect fighter, with great skills. The Jose Medel bouts are the only fights that exist of Jofre in his prime and they do highlight his tremendous skill. He was like Arguello in that he could throw really straight punches and he had excellent punch variety as well. He also liked to use the element of surprise like Arguello, throwing in some punches that weren't so sharp and then setting traps where he'd unleash some thunderbolts. Hence he was a thinking man's fighter as well.

 

Fair enough. :good

 

He was definitely past his prime by the Harada fights. He retired immediately after the rematch and only came back as a featherweight three years later. What he did at featherweight was amazing, but no one would mistake that for being a prime Jofre.

 

To make it clearer: he was past his prime by the time of the Harada fights and he was being plagued by weight issues as well. By moving up in weight he got rid of the weight issues, but he was still past it when he moved to featherweight.