How the hell can you even try comparing that to rios alvarado??!!

I do agree with one thing you say about Max and Jim and even Roy Jones exagerrating fights, although in this one they called it well. They want to make fights the best ever so they are part of it, and that is understandable, and also they are there so they get into the excitement. I remember Emanuel Steward all excited about Gatti vs. Ward, but in that case there can be no exaggeration. Manny said this is one of greatest fight ever. He was right.
People are not going to be swayed by what those guys say in judging a fight anyway, if it is great people know it, yet they do try and influence how great the fight is just because they are there. When Hearns fought Hagler, who can forget Al Bernstein and Al Michaels calling the fight since that was the main footage which we all see on youtube, even though the HBO team of Merchant,Tompkins and Leoanrd called it for HBO. The Bernstein coverage was so much better with both Michaels and Bernstein saying "Hagler is hurt" at the same time at the beginning of round one, something HBO missed, although those two separate commentators were on different parts of the same side of the ring, so their view might have been different. But in those years they were not as aware of building fights as better, they just were great.

 

it is hard to judge the fights I admit, and I do think the fights at the end of the year have the advantage of being viewed as best fight of the year just because it is stronger in our memory than a fight in April.

 

Rewatched the fight it was good but not on a Rios vs Alvarado level that fight lived up to the hype which I thought wasn't poissible

 

It was a busy fast pace battle but it was foul filled and ugly fight but still entertaining enough to justify it as a good fight.

 

They spent about 40% of the fight hugging and wrestling. Yeah the other 60% was great, even amazing at times but its not even close to foty and definitely nowhere close to Rios vs Alvarado.