took him almost 8 years of defending against ho hums that he finally fought 2 guys with another belt...one he destroyed, the other guy rosendo alvarez beat him up pretty good both times....
Well, I don't think Porpaoin and Vorapin were in any hurry to face Finito, either. And Don King wasn't about to allow one of his favored under card fighters travel to Thailand in order to face them (which is the only way those fights would have happened back then). As for Rosendo, he was a good fighter; who would likely give a lot of good fighters around the weight trouble when he was in shape and focused (which he was for his fights with Lopez). He probably would have been even better had he not fallen prey to the alcohol related issues.
It all comes down to quality of opposition that's why Morales and Barrera will always be ranked higher compared to Lopez
very limited variation in sizes and styles at the minimum weight class so you can't say his style is as effective as morales, barrera, and marquez
And for the record, I agree with that assessment. MAB and EM would rank above Finito on an all time great list any day of the week, simply because they fought better opposition throughout their career.
Just like some people can look really stupid for ranking Dempsey or Lennox or Tyson as a top 3 HW ever, I guess I am not afraid to look stupid to the masses and rank Lopez as a top 3 Mexican fighter ever.
yet lopez managed to fight a load of stiffs without ever having to unify. awesome stuff. has anyone from lopez' opponent list made the hall of fame?
For all intents and purposes he did unify, though. He beat the WBC, WBA and WBO straps by the time he moved up. The fact that he didn't hold those belts simultaneously has more to do with the sanctioning bodies than with Lopez.
Agreed. If Finito fights and defeats the likes of Carbajal and Gonzalez, this discussion becomes less clear cut...But he didn't, so there's not much question who ranks higher all time.