Ranking the most skilled Mexican fighters

I can't rank them all in order it's far too hard for me and I haven't seen enough of everyone on that list but my top 5 would be in no order.

Canelo Alvarez
Salvador Sanchez
Ricardo Lopez
Juan Manuel Marquez
Miguel Canto

 

In no order, my top 10 would be:

Oliveres
Saldivar
Canton
Sanchez
Chavez
Roman
Lopez
J.M. Marquez
Morales
Barrera

Canelo would definitely not make my list. Other than being roided to the gills and having a good chin/defense, he is inferior to pretty much everyone on that list.

 

Genaro Hernandez!

 

The masterful Ocatavio Gomez moved all the water up to feather from his comfort zone of 112-115 and did the unthinkable in being the only man to ever out point Danny Lopez.

 

I don't think we can be friends.

 

Not a fan of his but he is very skillful arguably one of the best defenses for an aggressive fighter.

 

It's kind of a big list, but the standouts are probably........

Canto
Olivares
Sanchez
Roman
Chavez

The thing is, one is tempted to start listing pure boxers, as that's just where our minds seem to go when we think of "technician." That's not necessarily true though. Chavez was an expert technician in the way of attacking; cutting the ring, deflecting on the way in, mixing up punches and always throwing the right punch in the right situation. It reeks of technique, just a different kind than Canto or a Saldivar showed.

 

Mexico's had so many technically skilled, well-schooled fighters that it's easy to forget a bunch, but just off the top of my head...Rodolfo Gato Gonzalez, Rafael Herrera, Raul "Jibaro" Perez, Guty Espadas and Efren Torres should definitely be on there, imo.

Overall, It's Miguel Canto. I see no argument for anyone else above him...the guy was a true midget at a physical disadvantage in almost every fight,no power, little versatility, but rose to all-time greatness by pure technical boxing skill alone. He's not necessarily the most formidable overall pfp because of those limitations, but he is certainly the most skilled boxer.

If we're trying to look at things from a purely technical perspective...so evening out the athletic ability, durability, mental intangibles, power (which can't be fully seperated like the others obviously)...the stuff that put distance between some of the best and the rest, then I think there's a lot of fighters on a pretty similar level that would need close inspection/rewatching to fully differentiate. Canto and Roman are the two that I see excelling the most in that situation...

 

Not that different than Saldivar imo. Both have quite similar approaches of controlled technical aggression with no wasted punches or movement.

I agree though, Chavez is one of the best from an overall technically sound perspective.

 

I don't really see how it's arguable that guys like Ricardo Lopez and Gilberto Roman are so skilled that they are just of a different class to Canelo Alvarez despite both being less accomplished (respectfully). Canelo has an excellent understanding of the sport of boxing and is incredibly skilled. He's not the most textbook fighter out there but he fights the way he does for a reason. Take his jab for example. Canelo rarely uses his jab, but he does this because it incentivises his opponent to lead and offers him countering opportunities. Against Berlanga he threw his jab from different angles, rhythms, and postures to make it harder to time and defend against. After he had established his jab he used the memory of the jab to feint Berlanga's hands out of position to set up his left hook. An educated jab and a frequent jab are not one and the same despite them often being conflated. Canelo moves with the rear foot first often to mask how close he gets and to give himself more time to see the shots coming as well as, again, incentivising his opponent to throw. Everybody knows that breaking stance is a sin when it comes to fundamental boxing and should be punished, so everyone wants to open up when they see it. Canelo also has a habit of drilling certain combinations onto opponents which allows him to break the rhythm he establishes and instead turn a right cross into a right uppercut to catch his opponent off-guard. He did this repeatedly to Callum Smith for example and it's how he scored his KDs over Charlo and Berlanga if you want very clear examples of this. Canelo's defence, combination punching, feint game, punch selection, understanding of rhythm, ability to cut off the ring, and his aptitude as a counter-puncher are all tremendous and his skills can rival that of any fellow great. Just because Canelo's style isn't as pretty doesn't make him any less skilled.

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Skill also needs to be adjusted relative to weightclass, just like power.

 

Alberto Jimenez was a very skilled Mexican.