Is it fair to say Zarate was the naturally bigger man despite both being bantamweights for the majority of their careers? Who do you think was the greater fighter? Greater puncher? I would argue that Ruben Olivares achieved a lot more up in weight against the next generation of fighters after his own, with blowout wins over the likes of up and comers like Chacon & Ramirez. Some fun footage of El Puas for you guys while you mull. Enjoy! This content is protected
Olivares was the better fighter and faced better competition. The greatest ever bantamweight, even if he was inconsistent. As for who punched harder, I'd say Ruben had a two-fisted, more accumulative type of power, whereas Zarate was a big one-punch starch a man cold kind of guy. Both had bags of power and both were very accurate. I love the creativity of Olivares' punch selection and his ability to either find or create holes in his opponents guards, it's like he would punch through and around opponents, rather than simply punching at them. Two great Mexican warriors and a mouth-watering hypothetical match-up.
Great post! What do you reckon are Ruben's best few performances? How would he have done if 122 existed in his own time? Also, is it just me or is it absolutely crazy that little old Ruben blew out Ramirez in two rounds with a big body shot? That's some mythical **** looking at the entirety of Ramirez career.
I've not watched that much of Olivares honestly. I intend to watch his big fights when I get the time but I've been really busy recently. The Plimenthel fight was quite good, the knockdown in the sixth was hard and Olivares was just going at him and breaking him down. The Lionel Rose fight is of course a standout. The first 12 rounds with Arguello. Chacon and Chuco. I've seen a lot of highlights and read a fair bit about him but I do need to watch more of his full fights. I think a 122 division would have massively helped Ruben. The weight cut was taking a lot out of him at 118 whereas 126 was packed with talent, nearly all of whom were bigger than Ruben. Arguello would be a big featherweight even by today's standards. 122 would have helped because he'd be fighting guys closer to his size and would have a better weight cut without retaining as much as he did at 126, where he wasn't as lean or quick. The big bantams and the small feathers of the time would probably populate 122, meaning Olivares would have solid and well-ranked opponents to fight who had similar dimensions to him. Blasting out Jose Luis Ramirez in 2 when fighting above his best weight and past his prime is some serious ATG stuff from Ruben, I agree.
Yup, that's what his wiki tells me. He was 19 for the Olivares fight, but he was also a veteran of over forty fights and Mexicans have a tradition of starting young, he was fairly green I suppose and wasn't in his athletic prime yet but it's not like he was a sparkly eyed amateur still either. No other fighter in a 100+ fight career was able to stop Ramirez, not even Chavez at the peak of his powers could blast out Ramirez like Ruben did and had to settle for it being stopped on a cut. He sure was one tough SOB that JLR.
