THis would be a great fight but i think Gonzalez takes this by close decision, he was really good at LW and was super tough he would be able to withstand any heat Mancini would bring. He also had underrated boxing abliity, Id say he takes this by close decision. Gonzalez had problems with Speed demons and Mancini didnt fit that bill. Gonzalez ud close but convincing decision.
Gonzalez was decent, he gets overlooked pretty often. He won the WBC LW Title and beat the likes of Darryl Tyson W12, Hector Lopez W12, Jean-Baptiste Mendy KO5, Leavander Johnson KO8, Calvin Grove KO6, and Marty Jakubowski W12 before struggling with Lamar Murphy (LMD12). He got the win vs. Murphy but many felt he should have lost this fight. He never fought Murphy again. Gonzalez moved up to JWW and lost convincingly to DeLaHoya (L12). He drew with Julio C. Chavez in Chavez' 103rd pro fight (in between the two DeLaHoya vs. Chavez fights). He was broke down and stopped in the 10th round by K. Tszyu (WBC JWW Title). He went 8-3 after Tszyu including a one sided loss to Cory Spinks (IBF,WBA,WBC, Ring WW Title) and an 8th round stoppage loss to Luis Collazo (WBA WW Title). 51-5-1 (40) overall and was only stopped twice. Mancini fought one of the best ever in his 21st pro fight, he was 20 years old and his only notable win was W12 Jose L. Ramirez. Mancini fought very well vs. a prime Alexis Arguello but was stopped in the 14th round. His loss to Arguello is better than many fighter's best wins... it's a hell of a lot better than Gonzalez' win over Lamar Murphy! Mancini went on to win the WBA LW World Title and he made 1 successful defense before his fatal fight with Deuk Koo Kim (KO14). At 25-1 and age 21 things changed dramatically for Mancini. He wasn't the same after the Kim fight. So, the same Mancini that fought Kim vs. Gonzalez (circa '93-'94)? I'll take Mancini by decision.
Right, valiantly losing against a slow starting fighter lowering the boom on you late in a fight = all the credit in the world.
...not really, but there is no shame in the way that Mancini lost to Arguello. Mancini had just one big fight going in and was only 20 years old, Arguello was at his best. I think Mancini would get better... just like Azumah Nelson got better after losing to Sanchez. A slightly better Mancini vs. the same Arguello? I'll take Arguello to win again but maybe Mancini goes the distance in a close fight? Getting a gift decision vs. a non-great fighter (Lamar Murphy) doesn't mean much to me. Mancini gave Arguello a few problems and was only down a few points after 13 rounds. I'd also like to add that Mancini's losses to Camacho and the rematch with Bramble were questionable.
Gonzalez was good but far from great IMO. His record is good but he has few quality wins vs. top fighters. Calvin Grove was 137 years old when he fought Gonzalez. So, what is his best win? W12 D. Tyson or W12 H. Lopez? Pretty good wins no doubt. Mancini's wins over Ramirez, Kim, a slightly past prime Chacon, a disputed loss to Bramble in their 2nd fight, and a disputed loss to a prime Camacho (with no tune-ups after a 4 year layoff) mean more to me.
If you'd like to discredit a single loss against a single devestating loss in a fight where Mancini never looked better, feel free. I feel like you' have rose tinted glasses on, but your opinion is your opinion. Also, what world class fighter wasn't up on the cards against Arguello? That was the norm against Arguello, one of the premiere 15 round fighters ever.
