No. Rocky was a good fighter, never beat an elite fighter in top form. Was robbed against a faded Gomez and gave Pedroza a good 1st fight and maybe with a different ref could have won iF points deducted for alleged low blows. Eusebio won the return more comfortably, Laporte destroyed him. Chavez won without too many problems, believe he had a sore hand. Beat good fighters like Roger Mayweather, Boza Edwards, Barry Micheal and Harold Knight. Not enough for IBOF
Poor Barry Michael. Looked a shell of himself. Even at his best Lockridge probably would win but Rocky would have had to go the full route. His victory over the younger, faster and harder punching Lester Ellis (classic) over 15 rounds is just incredible. He hadn´t campaigned in that division in over 30 fights! How he made the weight and still had the stamina to dominate the last rounds of 15 rounder at the pace they fought. Amazing. Check out Barry Michael´s fights vs Lester Ellis (including the brilliant documentary), Al Carter+2 world title defenses vs Choi and Fernandez. All action fighter.
On paper, two reigns with two defenses in a single division places him squarely not in the Yay or Nay but in the "Maybe - Additional Context Needed" bucket. In his case, the sum opp quality in his world championship bout victories (Mayweather, Moon, Ali, Michael, De La Rosa, Knight) is good but not great. Mamba's cherry is a nice prize to be sure, but that being arguably your greatest achievement is probably not enough to punch a ticket into Canastota.
