School me on him... Did he reach his potential? How would he fare against today's comp? His best win/performance? What belts did he win?
He was the WBA junior-welter champ, and then, having retired after beating Arguello for the second time, annexed the IBF version of the title. Did he reach his potential? I dunno; probably not, all things considered. What does a fighter shoot for in the fight game? To make money and maybe some recognition on the side. He got a lot of each, though he could have had more had he not gone off the rails with drug addiction. I think his title-winning effort against Cervantes was sensational. Too much controversy surrounds the Arguello wins to make me want to call them magnificent victories, which they really should have been. I don't follow modern boxing, so I couldn't tell you whom is around these days or how they'd do.
Didn't reach his full potential due to drug use, but made pretty good use of it anyway. Missed out on some big fights that could have proven whether he was a true all-time great or not. In my view, he probably wasn't. He was far from flawless but I feel he would run through today's competition nonetheless. 38 year old Marquez at 135? Tim Bradley at 140? If he stepped up to 147 though, much like in his own era with Hearns, Duran and Leonard, he would find tougher competition in Mayweather and Pacquiao.
Really, really, really good. He probably could have done more if he wanted to, but I'm fine with saying he lived up to his potential. As far as ability goes, he certainly proved his quality. I'd pick Pacquiao over him in an epic battle at 140. Other than that, he'd take everyone at the weight and below with no problems.
