I am sad that Izzy Vazquez and Rafa Marquez are not in the HOF.

I am too...Rafa is one of my favorite fighters and I followed both of these 2 careers. And Rafa was better than his brother for the first 10 years... (sorry chrisHJ). But that's what I think. And thanks to Nacho getting them both as kids early on. Rafa and Izzy are my all time favorite rival fights( you just didn't know what was coming next with these 2 and literally anything could happen. ) . There was no predicting who would win or what was going to happen . Yes they were better than Gotti Ward, and you would probably have to go back to Pep Saddler to compare.. Rafa deserves to be in the hall. no questions asks for me. The problem with Rafa is that he missed Veeraphol Sahaprom .. It is the HUGE blemish in his career. Then he goes up in weight to face Vazquez. A fighter with as big a heart as SRL.. Just when you thought Vazquez might be done and losing .. His heart would change the fight around … He lost and eye over it, he was that big of a warrior... nothing, I mean nothing, gets better than these 2 fighting each other …. If you haven't seen these fights,,, You need to .. back to back Ring fights of the year

 

If the Gatti vs. Ward trilogy gets those guys in, this superior trilogy (ignore that fourth match, stricken from the record, shouldn't have been sanctioned!) ought to usher these superior fighters in.

 

**** the HOF. They don't have fighters like Ernesto Marcel in there either. Literally a popularity contest.

 

Tbf, given its name, it makes sense. Has lost a lot of credability tho

 

They will both make it. And deservedly. Everybody makes it. Mancini and Gatti are there. Ward will be there. Probably Sylvester Kennon and Bang Bang Bogner. Bobby Wildman Alexander.
To me the real crime is Alberto Davila not being there. He was the single greatest pinpoint combination puncher I think I ever saw at his best. The HOF I would like to see is the World Boxing HOF in California every yr.

 

Yes, I agree. I felt both or at least Marquez should have gone in last year whereas now with the 3 year rule they are destined to be forgotten IMO. I hope not.

Better fighters and fights than Gatti and Ward. Rafael was a legit p4p player in a very strong era and an exciting fighter with some very impressive wins. Vazquez perhaps didn’t have that same skill but he made up for it and scored important and exciting wins like Larios, Gonzalez and of course Marquez.

 

Not sure why Rafa or Izzy are not in yet. They're trilogy fights are on the same level as Barrera/Morales, Ali/Frazier, Holyfield/Bowe IMO. Both fighters are far more deserving to be in the HOF.

There needs to be some kind of change where they don't have to just induct only 3 fighters at a time. It makes it almost unfair that fighters of this era that have recently retired are already getting in automatically after their first year of eligibility over other legit fighters that are still waiting to get their dues.

 

As withe the baseball, football and all God's it all comes down to 1 word POPULARITY! Just like high school and all of life, popularity wins out every time. FLASH over substance has been life's rule from the beginning when Gror had a cooler pelt of body hair than Konk back in the cave. No different now.

 

I don't really watch modern boxing, but Izzy Vasquez is among my ten favorite fighters ever.

 

Is Ward in?

If he is the Hall is a complete travesty.

Exciting guy but even less HOF worthy than Gatti.

Edit: It does not appear he is in the IBHOF.

 

You're correct; they have Gatti, not Ward - but they are both equally unworthy compared with Izzy & Rafa.

 

This is going to sound very fangirlish of me but I have an autographed and framed picture of Magnifico that I bought from his manager several years back and it's in the same carefully packed box of personal effects in my storage unit as my diploma.