Guys from Rose's era praised him to the hilt. They thought he was one of the best bantamweight ever, even after Olivares beat him around the ring. One the other hand, Nacho called Roman his most perfect fighter ever from a technical perspective.
I think Rose's size is the difference here. Roman is probably a little better but he'd be forced to lead against the bigger guy, and I think Rose would be more comfortable in a fight like that.
Yeah both were great. Excellent stylists but Román was about perfect size-wise at 115 whereas Rose was a big 118. I have to give that edge to Rose when all things are considered. He was perhaps slightly better in his peak too though Romans peak was a little longer.
Nice technical fight at first but I think Rose would be too big and too good even for a technical wizard like Roman. Rose's speed and footwork would put Roman at a disadvantage. Roman's only chance is to come forward and rough up Rose, which wasn't his style and didn't have the power to hurt Rose. Exquisite boxing display from both side but the bigger fighter always edges out the smaller man in a fight between 2 master boxers.
How much bigger was Rose, though, really? He fought in the same day weigh in era. On fight night would he really hold much of an advantage? He was taller, but he didn’t look as good against other boxers as he did guys that came to him, including smaller guys like Sakurai and Castillo. In fact he showed more of an issue there than Roman ever did.
Started his career at 19 years olds fighting at Featherweight. Was fighting for the title at 115 five years later. Not sure when the changeover came for everyone and how it affected him, though. That’s a thread in and of itself. Although nobody will ever be able to give a real answer, I’m sure. The “switch” from same day to next day weigh ins took place pretty recently by historical standards, and yet nobody can really divulge any info on it.