Nearly came off, Pimentel didn't fancy the Japanese trip supposedly. Thoughts? Style advantage for Jesus...
What exactly do you mean by not fancying the trip? Was he afraid of flying or some such? I can't imagine that someone who tangoed with a near prime Ruben Olivares was afraid to travel...?
Well, Jesus might not have been the fearless body some suggest. He had chances at Jofre and Harada in an era where such things generally came to pass, but he met neither. I haven't investigated in great detail, but the fight was supposed but never made. Either the champion (Harada) or the challenger (Poison) baulked.
It was Pimental's manager Harry Kabakoff that balked. Apparently, in order to get the fight, Kabakoff had to agree to giving the Japanese promoter options on Pimental's next 4 defenses in the event that he won. In retrospect, I'm sure they would have all made money, but Kabakoff refused.
I always wondered why a fighter with such a sensational looking record, knockouts especially, didn't have more match ups against the names of his own time.
Good info ^ as usual....as the old Ring & World Championship Boxing mags are brought out of the closet archives.
Like scar says, Kabakoff was over-protective. When Pimentel finally fought Olivares, didn't they have Rafa Herrera waiting in the wings on fight night in case Pimentel and his team bailed again? I think Harada probably circumnavigates some hairy moments to win wide on points, just a better fighter with a wider skill set. If he wasn't sitting on Pimentel suffocating his punching room with accurate flurries or lacing in hard counter rights, I think he'd be on his toes jabbing and moving to ride out any occasions where Pimentel might hurt or just to keep him guessing. That was the thing with Harada, he was unusually versatile for such an aggressive, wasp-like talent. Superb jab thrown in multiples and excellent footwork and counterpunching ability. He did it against Jofre on the occasions where Eder was beginning to get on top of him and hurt him, and that was against the best/greatest bantam in history. This was the post-Medel Harada though, for the most part - he was a bit rougher and more gung-ho prior and subsequently more prone to an upset. He was a lazy, undedicated sod anyway even at the best of times, I could definitely see him taking Pimentel lightly and getting stopped out of the blue if he wasn't careful.
