Two highly underrated great fighters known for their tall skinny frame and were fine technicians. Both made multiple title defenses throughout their careers while holding the WBA and The Ring title in their respective weight class. Eusebio Pedroza: Featherweight champion, 19 title defenses, defeated fighters such as Ruben Olivares, Jorge Luján, Rocky Lockridge, Patrick Ford, Juan Laporte, Royal Kobayashi Antonio Cervantes: Light Welterweight champion, 16 title defenses, defeated Nicolino Locche, Esteban De Jesus, Alfonso Frazer, Hector Thompson, Saoul Mamby, Miguel Montilla
Pedroza slightly greater but Cervantes peaked higher. Cervantes' beat down of DeJesus surpasses any Pedroza performance. Both amazing fighters though.
Flo, gotta go with Cervantes here, my man. So dominant without Pedroza’s tagline of a dirty fighter. I also feel Cervantes level of talent that he was meeting was superior as well. You named some outstanding fighters he beat, but I would also add world champs Rodolfo Gonzalez, Pedro Adigue and top contender Carlos Gimenez (twice).
I just can't get over a couple of things regarding Eusebio. First Lockridge bout I thought he lost. Fight with Laporte there is absolutely no way he shouldn't have been disqualified. Those fouls were HORRIBLE. Fight with Bernard Taylor I thought he lost - true Bernard moved around too much but I thought Euesbio just followed him around too much.
Great mention of Gato Gonzalez, he was also another terrific fighter that Cervantes beat. The description of what happened during that fight makes me wish there was available footage. "Antonio Cervantes from Columbia ended the win streak of Rodolfo Gonzalez in an upset at the Olympic Auditorium. Referee Lee Grossman stopped the bout at the end of the 8th round with gore gushing out of a cut over Gonzalez' left eye. It was a free swinging affair with Gonzalez down in the first. Cervantes hit the deck in the 3rd, shortly after Rodolfo was cut."
Hi Scart. Pedro Adigue, that name brings back some memories, he fought all the good and the great, Barrientos, Gonzalez, Pruitt, Wajima, Arcari, Albarado, Perkins, Furuyama, Locche, Thompson, give Arcari a stiff test, Bruno was a fav of mine, so glad he came through. stay safe buddy, chat soon. Mike.
Antonio by a slight margin. I do wonder who would have gotten him out of the title if Aaron Pryor didn't.
While Eusebio fought a masterful fight against Patrick, I can’t see this as a supreme win. Ford put up a fine performance vs Salvador Sanchez, who had trouble, I think, with the challenger’s height and length, but that’s probably as much a ‘styles make fights’ thing as any indication that Patrick was a true world-beater. Patrick’s best win was over Eddie Ndukwu, who was a 14-1 guy coming off of being blasted out by Wilfredo Gomez (no shame there) and half of whom’s wins were against guys with two fights or fewer (he did beat a shopworn David Kotey, but that was post-Lopez II and Kotey was never a factor after those two losses). Ford retired with a 16-4 record with four straight defeats (starting with Sanchez), two by KO. He came back after two years off to add three meaningless wins vs novices in three years, which hardly enhances his resume. He was a difficult guy with height and reach and heart, but was thrown in the deep end after 16 wins and could keep his head above water for the most part but couldn’t actually swim with the big fish. As for the topic, I want to stew on it a bit longer. I lean Pedroza but it’s razor-close in comparing him to Pambele.