Went to the BHOF this weekend. And it was awesome to actually meet the truly legendary Ruben Olivares ! Great smile,great guy what a class act he is. Now THIS was a guy who was a true KO bomber... Still has all his faculties and his hair! What an amazing record he had, all those KO`s against the best of the best. It was great for me because the first boxing magazing I ever bought, think it was `73`,had Olivares on the cover. To walk onto the grounds and see him,and he was gracious with everyone. Same goes for Chavez, who signed, gloves, trunks,pics and everything that was placed in front of him . The Mexican fighters were truly well represented this weekend, and did themselves proud !
He was one of the best at 118lbs...he made Duran look like a sissy with his party ethic and that is hard to do. I wonder how great he would have been had he toned down the party mode.
I've always wondered about that too...i suspect he would have been considerably greater..and would have remained a force at 118..instead of losing so sporadically as he did vs Castillo and Herrera. I won't even talk about his forays into the higher weight divisions and losing to guys like Hafey and Kotey...Alexis Arguello was something else though. Maybe if he had dedicated himself better to his sport he would have remained at his ideal weight of 118 and would have shown the form he displayed vs Rudkin and Rose more often. A simply great fighter.
Waynegrade, your Olivares thread brings to mind a short interview I did with him in a bar, where he raised a few with friends. One of his English-speaking buds interpreted. "Olivares is more like a super middleweight now. A man with the look of somebody enjoying what he was deprived of during his fighting years. His hair's still black and full and spiky-straight and his Indian features are even more pronounced when he smiles, which he does easily and often, revealing a gleaming gold frame for his right front tooth. Q: Ruben, tell me about your two losses to Rafael Herrera. RO: The first time Rafael took the title away from me, I had trouble making weight, and the second time, he just beat me, fair and square. Q: After your first loss to Bobby Chacon, what did you learn that allowed you to win the next two? RO: Good preparation, because we went 15 rounds in those days. I studied Bobby Chacon's tapes. All three fights were very tough. Bobby Chacon is very brave... Q: You're one of the hardest punchers that's ever stepped in the ring, how did he manage to take those? RO: Chacon hit very hard also...He was very, very BRAVE... And he seemed to be struggling to find an even stronger word. I volunteered, "cahones," and he rocked back with laughter, nodding his agreement. "You speak my language," he said, tapping me on the shoulder. Q: Did you experience any dirty tactics from Pedroza? RO: Yes, he would hit me with elbows. He was thumbing me in the eyes. Q: Do you still have a bar? And is it going OK? RO: I have a bar/restaurant and gym on the same lot, and I'm working with all the young kids from Tijuana. Q: What do you think of the changes in the rules since you quit, and the new training methods? RO: There's a lot of intermediate weight classes now. They fight 12 rounds. They make more money now. They fight 12 rounds but they get tired right away. They're missing the inner strength. Q: How would you do against the fighters they have now? RO: I respect them but I would handle them."
The first time I met Ruben it was about 9:30 in the morning and he was already putting a decent dent in a bottle of crown royal.
Quality thread, id love to go to one of these hall of fame weekends and will probly do so when Marco gets inducted, how easy is it to interact with the fighters, how many people attend them
He was awesome ! He was at the bar Graziano`s, and he was having just a couple, hanging with some friends. My wife who is 30 was dancing near him and then they were dancing . He was having a good old time and he was a gentleman but also a good time party guy. He seemed genuinely pleased that me and my friends approached him. Dark hair still intact, a real happy guy. I love his honest comment of `I respect them, but I`d handle them` And I believe he would, imagine if he wasn`t such a good time guy, maybe evem more KO`s and titles ! Scary thought !
