Rodrigo Valdez vs. Thomas Hearns - 154lbs

Hearns' left jab was as wicked as it gets south of Larry Holmes in the early to middle 1980s...... In 1984, at 154 pounds, Hearns at age 25 / 26, beats all mo-fo's whoever fought between 149 to 154 pounds, in a time machine...... Peace...

MR.BILL

 

You will have to illustrate them for me.
At under 155lbs ,
Hearns beat
Shields
Cuevas
Singletary
Geraldo
Benitez
Minchillo
Duran
Hutchins
Thats three Champs,two of whom are ATG's,and six contenders.
Who did Valdez beat at the weight?
At 160lbs I go for Valdez,but that was not the question.

 

That's my problem with this matchup. Valdez never fought in these newly created classes (which IMHO have ruined boxing) Why not just talk a Rodrigo-Tommy Middleweight scrap?

 

Well. thats a valid point ,three fine victories but he didn't weigh 154lbs when he acheived them .
I am no doubt obtuse and looking at this from the wrong angle.
Are you taking Valdez at his best ,and then boiling 6 lbs off him ?
If you are, do you feel he wil be as strong ?
I was looking at what he and Hearns acheived respectively at under 156lbs.
My take on Briscoe is that he was a very good fighter for a long time a police man of the division,if you like, but he lost to Griffith and Rodriguez , two ex welters,albeit great ones.
Is three wins over Briscoe enough to make him favourite here?
I suppose that is what I am mulling over,because if you take Briscoe off his record it doesn't look that special imo.
I am not looking to disagree for the sake of it,its more like I am thinking out loud.

 

The Hearns who parked James Shuler in March of '86 was peaked at 160, and he was recovering from another busted knuckle incident too......... For the record, Hearns popped his knuckle on his right paw twice before against the heads of "Benitez & Hagler."

Hearns then dropped back to 154 to TKO Mark Medal in the summer of '86 in a dreadful showing on PPV......... Once again, Hearns said he his hand was tender and brittle in that fight.......

I'm not trying to make excuses for Hearns, but I do believe Manny Steward saying that Hearns had sore and somewhat damaged knuckles in his right paw for several key fights in the mid-to-late 80s.......

Steward said he took Hearns to a specialist in the early 1990s prior to them reuniting as a team and a doctor found that Hearns did indeed have a small bone that was improperly healed which cause discomfort and pain....... Upon being fixed, Hearns came back and score several quick KO's over decent fighters........... Andrew Maynard being one victim of note............

A healthy Tommy Hearns is / was too much for Roddy Valdez between 154 to 160 pounds, in my book......

MR.BILL

 

I think the injury incurred in the Benitez fight was caused by his fist landing on Wilfred's elbow,which can be clearly seen in the fight , also his comment when he comes back to his corner is clearly audible .

 

Its possible.... I do have the fight on tape from '82............ A long, kinda' boring and tactical 15 rounder, but I was rooting for Hearns.....

I recall Hearns tagged Benitez in around the 6th round and Benitez stumbled for a second......... I noticed after that Hearns became a pure boxer mere jabbing like hell............

MR.BILL

 

If Tommy strictly boxes and doesn`t look to engage he can win, but there is always the threat of the fight coming to an end with a single, sudden fight ending blow by Rodrigo who has the power to do so with both fists.

But as mcvey pointed out Valdez had trouble against movers and both Ralph Palladin and Pete Toro, both fights which I have on film, outboxed him comfortably and Valdez didn`t land much of anything against either man, and Tommy was superior in every respect to both of those guys.

The one thing here that I can see getting Tommy in trouble is his fighting pride, he may get a bit too overzealous at times and admire his work a bit too much as well, he can`t do that against Valdez without risking getting kayoed. I reckon Tommy will be well aware he has to play it safe against a foe like Valdez and would have outboxed him although he would probably endure a scare or two along the way.

 

Valdez pushed Monzon to the limit..twice...he would have been far too lethal, far too much to handle, even for Hearns, who was hurt and decked by far less serious customers than Rocky Valdez.

 

Hearns was only parked like a Cadillac at 160 pounds by "Hagler & Barkley" in 1985 and '88.................. No shame there......... Both of them dudes had power to KO middleweights..........

Tommy Hearns was also dropped by James Kinchen in 1988, but by then both Hearns and Kinchen weighed a solid 165 and 166 pounds...... Again, No shame in getting decked by the right-cross, left-hook combo that Hearns ate in round 4...... Hearns got up and held Kinchen for dear life......

So, I can see Hearns at a solid 160 pounds with much better skill and technique snapping and ripping up Valdez' face from long range and crossing over with numbing rights to Roddy's jaw to win this match.......

Hearns had TWO major drawbacks...... 1.) A glass-jaw....... 2.) A brittle right hand after 1982.......

However, if you cannot get to Hearns' jaw in a fight and his right paw is healed up, Hearns is therefore very lethal.........

MR.BILL