Rodrigo Valdez vs John The Beast Mugabi

Obviously Valdez ends him eventually, but I do think Mugabi gets sold a bit short on here sometimes as an overall offensive operator. He was easy to hit and didn't have the best chin - the Hagler fight ruined him and although he never really beat any elite fighters as such, I actually like his punching technique and range/variety of his attack, he was very well-schooled in that sense with an added unpredictable edge.

 

This is it in a nutshell. Valdez is fantastic against straight forward operators but against slicker guys that can turn him he is a different proposition altogether. There are loads of middleweights who would outpoint him but not many at all that would outfight him.

I take Valdez by ko here.

 

I think this is a great match-up. I can't see it going the distance.

Valdes to me is more skilled, hits harder and is himself a fair bit tougher than Mugabi. As the fight heats up (fairly early on, I'd suspect), I think Valdes would overcome an initially confident Mugabi challenge, to stop the Ugandan in the mid-rounds.

 

Valdez by 8th round kayo, but he is going to have a couple of tense moments before then.

 

Valdez smashes. Definitely one for the fans.
Side note, Briscoe would win also.

 

Did Valdez face a KO artist like Mugabi? I'm hard pressed.

 

Mugabi never beat a top 5 fighter. Light hitting James Green with an inch less reach and heaps less height wasn't far from turning the trick at 12.30 -

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He was a great fighter...100% ru! Valdez flattens Mugabi when he catches him....same vs Hearns, Dooran and Leonard. Rocky was the real deal.

 

If anybody at middleweight was capable of koing Hagler...it would be Valdez.

 

SRL v Hearns at time of stoppage:

1981-09-16 : Ray Leonard 146 lbs beat Thomas Hearns 145 lbs by TKO at 1:45 in round 14 of 15

• Location: Caesars Palace, Outdoor Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• Referee: Davey Pearl
• Judge: Lou Tabat 122-125
• Judge: Chuck Minker 121-125
• Judge: Duane Ford 122-124

 

Great question, but I'd say that he would have been more dangerous at middleweight if he never had that kind of damaging fight with Hagler.