Standouts fighters you wish were tested in other eras/divisions.

Not quite the same, but I wish Dmitry Pirog didn’t blow his back out… The guy looked to have it all.

 

Lopez just needed to be bigger and younger at the time he was in light flyweight.

 

Ike Williams
Napoles
McCallum
Toney
RJJ
Dempsey
Calzaghe
Wilde
Usyk

 

I'd have loved to see Benn amongst Hagler, Hearns et al. Sure they were a different class but I'd not rule out a surprise knock out here and there....

 

Benn would have a realistic punchers chance vs Hearns, even though I'd favour Tommy to get to him first, peak for peak at MW.

The chances of Benn KO'ing a prime Hagler are remote in the extreme, imo.

 

Oh sure, he's not denting Hagler but Crikey it would be a war while it lasted. He could KO Hearns or maybe Duran, and then you have fights with Barkley when he was a better Barkley than Benn beat and Mugabe...

 

Agreed.

Have you seen the footage of him sparring with an old Duran?

 

No I have not, I'll go find that, cheers

 

Here you go -

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I'm a big believer in not reading to much into sparring and won't break from that belief here.

All I'll say is, for a much older guy, Duran handles himself well and looks sharp.

Obviously, I'm not suggesting for one second Benn was going full tilt.

 

If he hasn't been mentioned, Carlos Monzon. I think he would flourish any era.

Gene Tunney in an era where he had to fight... a greater variety of opponents, shall we say.

Mike Gibbons who I think would do well in any era but would get more notoriety.

 

Joy to watch, love Benns body/head attacks and the way he sets up short hooks with his shoulder and head...bending the rules very effectively. He also had a reqlly nice step off/step around.

 

Would have been bad for both of them. I could see Sal winning a piece of the 130 pound pie. But a lot of those guys would be hard to deal with for him.

 

My answer is now, & will always be, Ricardo López.

 

Different era or division?

I'm guessing the former, as even at Fly he'd have been small, above Fly he'd have been tiny.

You thinking different era vs Calderon at Minimumweight or Chang at Light Fly?

Or just moving up to Light Fly earlier and catching Gonzalez and/or Carabajal in the real timeline?

I can't see him winning any of those tbh.

 

Different era moreso, yes.