Should any of the following Bantamweights be inducted into the HOF?

Lionel Rose
Rafael Herrera
Chucho Castillo
Jose Medel
Lupe Pintor
Orlando Canizales
Alfonso Zamora
Alberto Davilla
Rodolfo Martinez

 

Rose, Castillo, Pintor, Canizales (the 1 i'd feel most strongly about), possibly Zamora but that only depends on what the standard of the HOF is, so maybe not,

Maybe im being too kind? Like i say though, it depends on the standard

 

You know how I feel about Medel, and I also think Rose is a good shout for the Hall. Other possibilities include Pintor, Castillo, and Canizales. For different reasons. I'll give it a little research on someone like Rodolfo Martinez, who I only vaguely know of.

 

I actually dont know how you feel on Medel Pea (sorry!), enlighten me if you like, im not vastly educated on the guy, i know he was one of the top bantams of his time.

 

I think he is definitely HOF caliber. I was saying that to S_S because we had been arguing with the *******s all day long in the General Forum about Harada's opposition, and I listed the fighters I felt deserved HOF placements, Medel being one of them.

 

Oh! He was top class in his time i believe.

 

All of those guys deserve induction save for Zamora who`s resume pales in comparison to the other fighters listed. Rafael Herrera is one guy who definately ought to get more acclaim today than he does as he was the second best bantamweight of the era right behind Olivares in my opinion which was no mean feat with Pimental, Castillo, Martinez, Anaya, Lara, Gomez and Guerrero knocking about. Herrera was a very, very good fighter who had a beautiful boxer-puncher style that I enjoy watching.

He had Rubens number too as he was a compact fighter that threw straight punches and shortened his shots up extremely well...something Olivares did not do. Olivares didn't seem to have much answer defensively to him. Of course Ruben was partying more than training at this point and didn't look at his best... I expect weight making was a big issue for him but even at his peak at bantie Ruben would always have had a tough time with Rafael stylictically speaking for the reasons I outlined above.

As for Medel this man fought a literal who`s who of the bantamweight divsion for 16 years and more than held his own with some of the toughest and greatest bantamweights of the 20th century. Medel was a hero in Mexico second only to the JCC of his day in terms of popularity in Jose Beccera. In fact, so esteemed was Jose Medel that he won National Fighter Of The Year, three times running. In Mexico that’s the equivalent of being named MVP in the NFL, NBA or MLB.

Medel’s long career was unlucky because despite fighting through three era’s of the bantamweight division he never won the title he so coveted. Among the plenitude of world champions he faced, were bantamweight legends like Jose Becerra, Eder Jofre, Fighting Harada & Ruben Olivares among others. By ‘58 Medel was already a contender and that year he fought & lost a close decision to Becerra & knocked out the storied & very tough, Dwight Hawkins, in seven.

The next year he won the Mexican bantamweight championship and his career took off from that point. Medel was a real road warrior and he had no fear of traveling abroad to his opponents hometown if necessary. He found some success in Japan for a time culminating with his win over a young Harada in six. He lost the return to Harada for the title in a fight which displayed Masahiko`s versatility as he was respectful of Jose`s power and proceeded to outbox him instead of trying to swarm all over him like he did in their first fight.

Either way one looks at it, all those guys save for Zamora ought to be in the HOF as they were great fighters in what was in my opinion and those of several other knowledgable people the greatest era for bantamweights before or since. Their win/loss columns ought not to be held against them in any way, because considering the caliber of opponent these men were fighting on a consistent basis it was inevitable that they would lose some now and then.

Unfortunately I doubt that any of them will make it into the Hall anytime soon, as most of the voters couldn`t tell their assholes from their earholes, let alone tell the difference between a good fighter and a great one and who ought to be inducted and who shouldn`t.

 

..........Of this list: Rose definitely. Pintor belongs I think, as does Canizales for sure. The rest, no.

 

Very good post RB!

 

Beautifully said :good

The 15 year stretch from about 1958 to 1973 saw a ridiculously stacked bantamweight class full of evenly matched fighters who on their day could do great things. To have only 3 fighters representing that class in the HOF (Jofre, Harada & Olivares) is quite an injustice.

And I agree with you RB, it doesn't promise to be rectified anytime soon in this boxrec-centered boxing culture. I dare say the extent of most voters' knowledge of these guys would be a quick scan of their records at boxrec before turning away in scorn and looking at bantamweights with "superior" glittering records from periods not 1/5 as stacked.

 

i would deffinetely put herrera and canizales in the hall, its a shame that herrera was not in years ago.

 

I would say Rose, Canizales, and probably Pintor and Medel.

 

Rafael Herrera, who so masterfully took a near peak Olivares out on an 8th round ko, beat him in a rematch by decision, knocking him down on the way and won a version of the crown back. I think he deserves it more than a lot of guys who are in there, and at at least as much as some others.

 

Raul "Raton" Macias also deserves induction in the HOF in my opinion, he was a very good fighter and one of the most popular boxers ever to come out of Mexico. Strangely enough though he wasn`t even Mexican... his parents were from Cuba originally. I have some footage of Macias and he is impressive on film and would have given most batamweights a hard nights work to say the least. I would say more about the man but I am simply too lazy (and tipsy) to take the time to do so at the moment.

 

Thats a sweet avater is that Dempsey and Foster?