Fulgencio Obelmejias and Hagler?

He was 30-0, with 28 wins by knockout. All his fights up to that point, had been in Venezuela. I hate saying that because I do not like it when people say that since it implies that there is no talent in said country. But the truth is the truth. This was in the pre-internet era when everyone, WBA and WBC officials included, had to either watch each of the individual's fights in person or by television (radio in some cases) or trust the words of others. There was also a man named Rafael Lovera who was given a shot by the WBC who believed that he was a seasoned pro when in fact he was making his debut in a world title fight! Like Joves de la Puz and another boxer I wrote about on Wikipedia, in the latter two cases by the IBF. In that world of 1981, Obelmejias seemed to be a viable contender and a hard hitting one.

In 1982, one day as i was 10 and very new into this boxing thing, I was watching HBO, hoping that magically a boxing fight would appear. Surprise, surprise! Taaaattaaa taaaattaaa taaaaaa! (HBO Boxing's opening musical theme sounded like that to me!) They were going to show a fight between a bald boxer named Hagler and a Venezuelan! I was happy that I was going to see two people hit each other, and to see who was going to win it. Hagler won by ko in round five. I later learned the entire history, how this was a rematch etc.... that came later.

Obelmejias did win a world championship eventually, the IBF world Super Middleweight title, which he promptly lost in his first defense.

He wasn't too bad and if Hagler had not been there, he'd been Middleweight champion before Tommy, Wilfred., Ray or Roberto got to him.

 

Never saw him. By the way Venezuela has a law the required men to retire at age 40 form boxing. Perhaps this stems from bull fighting? What I am I saying? I'm not here to talk about animal abuse or Venezuelan politics! Tell me more about Obelmejias? What is his style and who do you consider his top three wins?

 

Back in this era, if you were Venezuelan, South Korean, South African or Panamanian, you were almost guaranteed a title shot at a WBA champion. The WBA were completely in bed with these countries. Some of the most hapless challengers (Tae Jin Moon, Miguel Iriarte, Ulysseus Morales, etc., all as #1 contenders) stood in the opposite corner of the champion, who had no chance whatsoever. And everyone knew it. The moderately talented Fully Obel (as he was known) was also one of them. I recall how angered Hagler was when told he was once again his mandatory. I think Marv purposely went out and bludgeoned him and said after the fight, "I never want to see his ugly face again!"

 

That is all very true too. The WBA was based in Panama. I wonder if they and the WBC took money under the counter from those countries' governments. (World title fights=money, which=tourism sometimes, and that tourism=money in the country leader's pockets)

 

He did manage to win a world title later on......

 

They were going to give him as many title shots as it took to give him a title.

And it was the then-fledgling super middleweight title so there wasn’t a real list of top guys at that time and they just snuck him in there.

 

Pat, I laughed when you said they would give him as many shots as it took. I immediately thought of Lionel Hernandez, also of Venezuela. Man, he received 4 WBA title shots and even the WBC gave him a shot. I won’t say he wasn’t talented but it was just opportunity after opportunity.

 

With these guys it’s like the 1972 Olympic basketball final — just keep replaying the end til the USSR won and they got the result they wanted. Do-overs on a loop until their ‘right guy’ wins.

 

I think he's a little underrated as far as Hagler's title challengers are concerned.

He didn't have any major names when he was building his record in Venezuela, but there were some guys that he fought (Carlos Marks and Elisha Obed immediately come to mind) who might have been capable of tripping him up if he had been a complete fraud. His run between the Hagler fights featured wins over guys like Park and Cabrera-perfectly respectable names. I'm not certain if he was worthy of his number one ranking, but he certainly warranted a Top 10 ranking and I wouldn't have hated his chances against a lot of the other guys Hagler defended against.

 

Hamsho was actually an animal in fairness.

 

Interesting. Not a bad law to have unless a fighter starts late.

 

Atleast Hamsho showed a new layer of defense. Hagler was fed up with boxing politics and got him outta there!