Two highly entertaining contenders at 140 from the 90s and 2000s who didn't mind a good tear up. Interestingly there were talks of these two meeting in the ring but never came to fruition when Oliveira lost to Ben Tackie in a great fight just a few weeks after Ward's FOTY fight with Augustus in 2001. Would have been an excellent fight around that time.
This would have been another one of those great FNF on ESPN had it happened. I lean slightly towards Olivera who was the more versatile guy but then again, Ricky had a way of working his way back into fights against opponents that had more skill. I could see Ray getting an early lead only to start dropping rounds to Micky's pressure.
