It occurred to me the other day that so many of this great fighters best wins were actually above the welter limit. I rate him very highly at welterweight but technically he fought more above the weight limit...and has some excellent wins. Carter x 2 Bahama Briscoe x 2 Rondon Mims Moyer Giambra Mundine Benton Among a ton of other contenders of the time. Gotta give him some credit even in losing to Benvenuti. Should we be counting these fights towards his middleweight ranking and if so does he have case for inside the best 25 at the weight?
Rodriquez was to have defended against Curtis Cokes if he had beaten Nino for the MW title. Lots of respect between Cokes and Luis.
Interesting point. As much as I've praised Luis' wins at 160, I never thought about a possible ranking for him there. You probably could make a very valid argument for a place in the top 25; at the very least, he should probably be in the top 40.
Might just give this a lil bump...wouldnt mind hearing some other opinions on it. By the way cheers My2 and Long for the replies.
Rate him where ever, but Luis was a definate yard stick for the era. He's a highly rated fighter in Oz, as deserved.. Belting Mundine whilst most patron's were still standing in line buying popcorn, has left a huge impact. Oddly enough, Charkey Ramon redeemed Mundine's loss in a round about kind of way, after bettering Donato Paduano...
Like Monzon, I feel Hagler would be ineffective at the higher weight, even against a short opponent like Braxton edit: wrong thread
I think a legit case could be made, or at least close to it. I'd rate him alongside Griffith at the weight, though probably a tad higher than Emile at Welterweight, where both are clear cut top 10's. I have Rodriguez glued in my top 30 fighters of all time.
Rodriguez was such a quality boxer, has many quality wins probably top 30 at middle and top 10 at welter.
His bouts with Griffith and Giambra are the best available on Youtube, but the best I've seen him look was against top Welterweight contender and uber-experienced veteran Luis Federico Thompson. Great bout with all of Rodriguez's skills on display. In it he shows the movement of a gazelle, great jab, slip and counter skills, and some of the most impressive body punching displays you'll ever see.
Another decent fighter he beat was Wilbert McClure (two times). At least as good a fighter as a Robert Allen...