Rigodeaux v.s Willie Pep

Rigs got 500K to fight the Japanese guy. 750K for Donaire, and he signed a contract with Roc Nation. You should probably look at the financial details of that, before speaking on what you don't know about.

 

Everybody knows what he got for Donaire. He was fortunate enough to be the B-side to a guy at a lower weight who could draw like that.

Source for the Japanese dude and his other fights? What did he get for the irrepressible Jazza Dickens?

Anyone who thinks 500k is way off base for a guy who ONCE got 750k but usually gets way less than that needs to give their head a shake.

Has Rigo ever given a number for that fight as to what it'd take?

Rigo fans would look a lot more sensible if they'd just admit he bottled it when offered a fight with Loma.

 

Stop being a whackbar!

 

Pep Ko inside of 3

 

The Saddler fights all came after Pep had survived a plane crash. Fractured leg and broken back. He was told he could never fight again but that didn't stop him. Was koed in the 4th in the first fight. Won a decision in the second. 3rd fight lost because of a shoulder injury and the last fight was called due to a bad cut/swelling on his eye.
I wouldnt say Saddler handled him. They were both great fighters. Saddler was good at cutting the ring and had alot of dirty tricks. Like missing an uppercut but landing the elbow.
Would have loved to see those fights take place before the plane crash.

As for the thread topic.... Pep by decision.

 

The word you're looking for is aesthetically pleasing. Pep would be #1 in his weightclass if he fought today

 

@Todd498 must think more highly of Rigo if he's talking about how he'd fare in a hypothetical match with someone who rates Top 3 all time at 126lbs (bare minimum).

Pep faced a lot of really good/great fighters during his run, but I'm not sure how many of them came close to emulating the style of Rigo. A southpaw sharpshooter with really good D is bound to give any fighter problems, no matter how great they are.

Then again, Rigo likely hasn't faced anyone in the pros with the same skill-set as Pep. Willie's workrate was superior, too. Ultimately, quantity probably winds up shading many of the rounds in this match-up and ensures that Pep walks away with a clear but competitive decision.

 

Pep might be THE GOAT. Picking Rigo over him..okay.

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And yes after his first 100 fights, Pep was nearly killed in a plane crash and while still great, wasn't the same afterwards.

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Yeah, that's possible, since Pep packed a bit more pop than advertised. He could certainly drop Rigo, I think. But if he gets too aggressive, then there's a chance he gets hurt and dropped for his trouble (happened more than once in his career). Given that they both recover well when hurt and likely had enough speed and pop to hurt one another, we're probably looking at a distance fight- and that's a fight that favors the Will 'O The Wisp, I think.

 

Saddler probably has his number anyway, though. He always represented a horrible style match up for Pep.

 

Pep was a really great fighter. He was known obviously for his defense but he was technically brilliant offensively, had a great jab, good handspeed and obviously some of the best footwork in boxing history regardless of era. His movement in the ring was timeless and would absolutely be effective in any era.

I will say though I don't think this would be some type of one sided demolition for Willie. Rigo is a helluva fighter and should be commended for how great of an all around boxer he is. He's very underrated offensively, has a very good jab, great counterpunching ability and deceptive power.

He never fought at 126 lbs, so the notion of him beating the greatest FW in the history of the sport is hard to digest. But Pep doesn't really hold a huge physical advantage in this matchup as he was only an inch taller than Rigo and they both have the same exact reach (68".)

Obviously I'd pick Pep but Rigo could give him one helluva fight. It could easily be a stinker though with 2 guys throwing a low amount of punches and feinting each other to death in the ring.

On a side note, someone mentioned he fought tomato cans. He cleaned up the FW division and had more fights there than anyone else. Obviously not everyone was a top 5 contender, but he did clean out the very best of the division (sans Saddler.) He never tried his luck at LW though, and you can't really blame him because at his peak he probably would've been demolished by Ike Williams at 135.