Jose Ribalta vs Jorge Luis Gonzalez

I have a feeling Jorge might be a little too much. Good match.

 

In the pros, it's Ribalta's to lose. Gonzalez was an awful pro. Sloppy technique, poor defence, strong but not particularly powerful and his chin let him down badly once Bowe had cracked it.

Ribalta isn't great but he is strong and durable and that really might be enough against the Gonzalez I saw. I see Jose still being there after five or six rounds and Jorge having an empty gas tank.

Ribalta by narrow decision as he comes on strong, a couple of knockdowns seal Jorge's fate but he hangs in there to the end. In a rematch, with confidence shattered and motivation gone, JLG presents a much less formidable target for Ribalta who stops him in a highlight reel assault with JLG defenceless and flailing like the amateur he was.

Comes down to who was the better pro fighter. That, to me, is Jose, not Jorge who is the Cuban Audley Harrison.

 

I went with Jorge Gonzalez. Not because he was any good but I don’t see Ribalta’s non aggressive style and limited power being able to overcome the physical advantages Gonzalez would have. At their pinnacle, both of these guys were fringe

 

Gonzalez pre Bowe beats Ribalta, who was too passive and usually found a way to lose against anyone who was above journeyman level - his best win was a KO 1 over a shot Leon Spinks. I wouldnt be shocked if JLG got a stoppage either

 

on the other hand, Ribalta gave Witherspoon a tough fight in 1990 whereas Spoon gave Gonzalez an ATG ass kicking about five years later.

Leon Spinks wasn’t his best win either.

 

true, 'Spoon mullered Gonzalez - a very impressive showing

What , in your opinion, was Ribaltas best win if not Spinks? Jeff Sims? Ribalta looked terrible in that fight........he looked so bad it ended any talk of a Tyson rematch

 

I'd shade toward him with no huge confidence.

 

I actually haven't watched many Ribalta fights. Spinks was so finished by then that it can't be his best win...so Sims should be it. But Ribalta hung tough with a lot of good fighters and took many of them to SD or MD despite losing.

Gonzalez, on the other hand, just got his ass beat when he stepped up against good fighters if not journeymen and gate keepers. The guy is an ATG wasted talent considering his am success, size and power. He never even progressed past square one of transitioning to the pros and never got in shape. The guy was shameless.

 

If you think Ribalta is garbage than you're wrong. His best win should've been James Smith (A bout which he was clearly robbed). He than was robbed by Tim Witherspoon which the older version would would beat Mercer and bust Gozales up.

Jose Ribalta is actually more talented than most people thought he was. Extremely durable, good footwork coupled with excellent handspeed.
According to Pierre Coetzer, he said Ribalta has the fastest hands out of every fighter he's ever faced (even dropping him THREE times in the process).

BEST HANDSPEED
JOSE RIBALTA: Their was a guy by the name of Jose Ribalta. I fought him in Biloxi [Mississippi] and he had great, great hands, very good handspeed.

Overall he's very good.. untill Tyson destroyed him

 

Jose ribalta took a lot of good hard shots from young Tyson. He wanted to carry on despite being dropped. I'll say he gets a decision.

 

Refused to listen to trainers too. Went through them at a rate of knots when he finally turned pro but was arrogant beyond belief, even by boxing standards, and wouldn't be told anything.

That attitude, his ridiculous black cowboy outfit, plus the way he conducted himself in beating a shot to pieces Renaldo Snipes, made him the perfect pantomime villain. Plus the stupid long socks and don't even get me started on that thing on the back of his head.

The trouble was, for all the Cowboy image, audiences pay to see a pantomime villain get beaten but unlike Clay/Ali, Camacho, Hamed and the like, Gonzalez was crap so there was no great denouement as he got his ass kicked. No audience will pay to see the bad guy lose if it's totally inevitable. Who'd pay to see fish getting shot in a barrel?

Mind you, at the time he fought Bowe, we didn't know just how rubbish he was so when Bowe went on to give him the kicking of a lifetime, it was wonderful. Even more satisfying than Barrera-Hamed as it was so utterly thorough.

 

1. Where did i say Ribalta was garbage? He was a gatekeeper/fringe contender who gave some good fighters rounds but NEVER managed to record a win against them.

2. I ask again, what was Ribalta's best recorded WIN. Not what fight do you think he was robbed in. Sounds like you have spent too much time tuned into Senor Ribalta's facebbook page

 

Sims, in all fairness, was pretty poor himself and had never beaten anyone of note (tho did floor Shavers before being stopped) and never won another fight after the loss to Ribalta. He was a crude slugger with a decent dig but not much else and was found out at anything above journeyman level. The shot version of Snipes that JLG beat was better than Sims.

And yes, JLG was a huge bust as a pro but i still feel he would force Ribalta into his shell and get the win. Jose was no ball of fire either and could be put into survival mode on occasion. Good match tho