I saw a few mentions in a thread here that DeJesus would beat Chavez at 135 and am trying to piece together how that makes sense. Please understand, I'm not suggesting the guy couldn't fight. I just wonder how much mileage a fighter should be able to get for a win over a sub-par Duran (a lost that was avenged twice by stoppage). Who else is really on his ledger? Lampkin? Ishimatsu? Peppermint Frazer maybe, but how good was he? The other top-notch fighter(s) he faced handed him his azz. The Mamby defeat you can throw out, largely. That was his last fight, and he was pretty well cooked. I don't want to cut that much slack for the lopsided defeat at the hands of Cervantes, however. Just wondering if maybe we're overrating this guy a bit. I'm not seeing the resume that screams "greatness" here. Are we overreacting in calling him great, by virtue of what essentially amounts to one night's work? Thoughts?
Bump. I want to know more of DeJesus skills after all the talk this week. Seen the Duran bouts, not anything else.
because apart from one loss to world featherweight champion Antonio Gomez, in 63 fights he only lost to Duran, and also beat him, and lost twice, both above lightweight, both to then world champions. He beat a lot of good fighters including Duran, Ishimatsu, Lampkin twice, Vicente Saldivar, Edwin Viruet and Alfonso Fraser. Had a great style and was/is very good to watch, he was quick, had KO power, was tough and could box with the best of them.
Well ok, not THE Vicente Saldivar. but still a good fighter in the other Vicente Saldivar. If we discount the Mamby defeat he was also only KO'd by Duran, not to be sniffed at with his resume.
Just look at the problems De Jesus gave Duran, he beat him once and really brought the best out of him in their other fights. If it wasn't for Duran, De Jesus would have been the dominant lightweight champion of his era. He also had a lot of drug problems so you could argue that while he beat a sub-par Duran, Duran beat a sub-par De Jesus as well.
There is the eyetest. His ability is fairly obvious. Speed,power etc. In boxing I think a boxer's expiration date is very fluent. Not like baseball or tennis. A guy loses some games maybe loses some confidence but is usually able to comebackig if he is very good or great. In a nutshell when good or great fighter faces another great fighter they can take damage that not just shortens their career but diminishes them physically. Meldrick Taylor again Julio for example. Even the winner can be diminished. Ray Lampkin was a good fighter how did he do after losing one 1 fight to Duran? How did his career go post Duran? Can't discount the beatings he took against Duran and Cervantes. Duran was a roadblock at lightweight. Had he come along 10 years later he may be regarded as a top 10-12 lightweight all time.
Maybe. There are alot of belts. He left Panama in a wheelchair. He fought his ass off but he was lucky to live through that day. He never really recovered as a boxer.
In boxing especially i try to judge a fighter by how good they were at their peak. Whether it's Aaron Pryor, Joe Frazier, Sonny Liston. Not every boxer had 6 or 7 dominant years. It can be fleeting.
Eh...……..I don't know how much credit I'd give him for the two losses. He was very competitive (good on him) for the first four rounds against Duran in the rematch, then took a sustained beating the rest of the way. He was never in the rubber match. That was as comprehensive an azz-kicking as we've seen.
Chavez breaks down de jesus to the body and wears him out. I see Chavez being to strong and relentless for de jesus who wouldn't be able to keep Chavez off of him. De jesus took advantage of duran's fighting arrogance and overconfidence; the moment duran focused more on his skill, de jesus got overwhelmed. Chavez at lightweight was more systematic than duran, and wouldn't leave himself off balance the way duran did, allowing de jesus to catch him easily. Chavez would break down de jesus with constant work rate.
Thats possible. It's a reasonable prediction. Duran was also much quicker than Chavez. Julio had heavyhhands, he wasn't as explosive as Roberto. Duran set a faster pace than JCC. DeJesus had to fight Duran off of him as much as fight him. Against Julio, DeJesus would be able to set himself and time to get off those quick hands. Duran was arrogant his whole career yet he was the only guy that knocked him on his ass anywhere near his best. Even Ray Leonard who had a helluva left hand never got close to dropping Duran.
Was Benitez a great fighter? I saw him at his best. I believe he was. He happened to come along in an uncommon era. Look at his resume. Very good wins over Cervantes and Palomino. Then he barley escapes Bruce Curry, getting dropped 2 or 3 times. Loses to Leonard and Hearns where he was more or less dominated. Especially against Hearns. Then he gets stopped by Davey Moore? Matthew Hilton? He was shot by 26 or 27. Just based on resume he could be called into question. I saw him at his peak. I know he was great.
Duran was quicker and more athletic than Chavez, but not nearly as technical or precise. Chavez would apply technical pressure on DeJesus which will tire him just as much . DeJesus wouldn't be able to land easily on Chavez and would constantly be on the backfoot which would eventually tire him out. DeJesus will definitely have his moments, but Chavez will get to him eventually just like duran.
