Victor Galindez vs Mike Rossman I & II

Man, I loved those two fights..not a rivalry for the ages perhaps but it was fun at the time...Rossman did what Victor's last few challengers never had the gumption to do..reach out a actually pluck the title away...and that and national rejection at home fueled Victor to come up with one more peach of a fight in the rematch.

 

Nobody gave Rossman much of a chance going into that first bout. Galindez was such a tough hombre and knew how to win fights.

Rossman rose to the occasion and really did a super job in there. The big surprise was Galindez coming back to get the win in the rematch. Everyone pretty much thought Victor was done and all those tough fights had caught up with him. Still a strange ending to the fight though.

 

rossman is one of the poorest champs at any weight i have seen.galindez must have trained for about 5 minutes for the 1st fight.

 

Rossman picked the right night to catch Galindez no doubt, but I still liked what Mike did. He was in disciplined control and his style worked to a T that night for him, I just wish he had been able to duplicate it in the rematch but he wasn't the same mentally or physically.

 

Nobodys mentioning Galindez spent 24 hrs prior to the opening bell cooking off 14llbs in a turkish bath!!!

If ever you gave a victory an * !!!!!

 

Galindez did the same thing prior to his wins over Gregory (Mustafa) and Lopez (second fight). Galindez had been slipping since putting on his peak performance against Richie Kates, in the first fight in 1976.

 

Rossman was definitely stale for the rematch. That is clear from reading the reports of newspapermen who observed his training in New Orleans. Check out the archived articles of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans for details.

As I understand it, Rossman had been training non-stop for a year prior to Galindez II. No vacation. He was pushed to his limits physically, and he wasn't getting the big TV money he thought he'd get. He was also demoralized about his collapsing relationship with father/manager Jimmy DiPiano. So, the Rossman for Galindez II was not the same guy who won the first fight.

Rossman's broken hand didn't help matters either.

Still, credit to Galindez for getting into top shape and putting on a peak performance. The word is that Galindez was in his best physical shape in years for the Rossman rematch. After this fight, Galindez was never able to regain that same form again. Jerry Celestine, Galindez's sparring partner for the Rossman fights and the Marvin Johnson bout, can attest to this. Celestine says that against Johnson, Galindez was only 50% as good as he had been for the Rossman rematch.

 

Don't forget that Rossman got "screwed" by the WBA when they allowed Galindez to not even come out from his dressing room over a referee dispute in the first attempt for a Rossman - Galindez rematch, then forced Rossman to fight Galindez in New Orleans.

I think Rossman said f*ck the WBA and didn't really care if he won the rematch because he knew the deck of cards was stacked against him.

 

What nonsense.

 

Rossman was actually a very good fighter..he was deserving of his shot at Galindez..he was a fairly good boxer with good though not great power. He executed the perfect strategy in beating Victor in that 1st fight, and credit should go to him for snatching the title from a stale Galindez..and Galindez was stale for a few years up to that time, with all those razor thin decisions going his way. As for the rematch, well Galindez was rejected and spurned by his Argentinian countrymen..he was disgraced for losing the title to Rossman..for getting stopped and looking so bad in the process. This all served to fire him up for a reprise performance in the rematch..and man...I was really taken at the time and in seeing the video of that venom for Rossman that he displayed while Rossman was sitting on his stool..Victor was almost "Duran-like" in his rage...he called Rossman a "chicken" and a "coward" and said that "a chicken dosen't deserve a rematch"..

 

If you watch the end of the first match, you'll see that Rossman screams in Galindez's face as the bout is stopped. I don't know what Rossman said, but it may have been vindictive. This may explain why Galindez was so spiteful to Rossman in the ring after the end of their rematch.

Odds for the rematch favored Rossman, 8 to 5. That's close enough that experts felt either guy could win, although they leaned slightly toward Rossman. So, the Galindez victory wasn't a huge surprise.

 

Yeah, there was some real bad blood between them...and add to that Rossman's stupid younger brother running at and trying to scrap with Galaindez after the bell end the 4th or 6th in the rematch...Victor probably hated the whole Rossman clan by then.

 

Agree completely. I haven't seen the rematch, I might fire that one up tomight if I have time.

Rossman, despite whatever else might have been going on with Galindez in the first fight, was very good. Highly disciplined, kept that telephone pole jab in his face, picked his spots to punch, always careful not to be suckered into any of Galindez's traps, yet applying pressure at the same time. Highly professional performance, I thought.

 

Rossman beat Mike Quarry up twice, but lost that fight against the near champion Yaqui Lopez.

Rossman had the tools to beat Galindez in the first fight.