Was Chavez past his prime vs. Whitaker?

Well Chavez had one of his career best performances at 140 vs Greg Haugen, yes he was at his best at Super Featherweight/Lightweight. But he was still very good at 140.

Mayweather was also moving up in weight aswell, maybe the extra weight helped Mayweather a bit with durability ? He did seem to suffer less stoppages if I remember rightly. But Mayweather certainly looked better in the rematch.

And to be honest I can't blame them for not picking Chavez, Whitaker was still too green to fight an experienced champion like Chavez. It would of been quite an ask to fight Chavez in your first championship fight.

As I said in the end Whitaker getting robbed by Ramirez, was probably a blessing in disguise. Because had he fought Chavez right after he would of lost. He needed that extra year and half 2 years to be ready for Chavez.

But in the end they ended up fighting in 1993, which was probably year or two too late and one weightclass too high.

 

No, it was a matter of styles that Julio could not solve

and I suspect, few others except the best of the best, like Camacho, would have truly vanquished him

JC went downhill after the second fight with F. Randall

 

He was certainly past his peak. Too heavy of a division, too partied out, a bit slower and more than a bit entitled.

 

That's a very harsh take. Whitaker had 15 fights under his belt, Camacho 26 fightsand it could easily be argued this was Camacho's peak performance, in fact it's almost a given. He started struggling a couple of fights later. He burned bright and early where as Whitaker kept on burning and had so much more substance. Most cards I've seen are around 9-3 for Whitaker. That's a solid win at the 15 fight mark.

Three fights later in the rematch, with Whitaker now at the 19 fight mark, Whitaker pitched a shutout.

Completely agree Camacho too pitched a shutout and was simply brilliant. Whitaker was very good in their first fight and superb in their second and he was still improving. Ramirez was as good as it ever got for Camacho.

 

Prime is such a fickle mistress with plenty of wriggle room. Lets say both were past peak when they met and both were well north of their greatest weight.

Tho he wasn't there long i am inclined to suspect Chavez may have peaked at 135 with Rosario tho an argument for 130 might exist. At any rate he was on the downside from his best when he moved permanently to 140. Still a helluva fighter tho. He was at the end of his prime by the time he fought Whitaker but still operating very effectively. 147 wasn't his weight just like it wasn't Whitakers. He was definitely a lot better fighter at a much more suited weight division when he fought Rosario.

Whitaker i would say was peak when he left 135. By my opinion we are looking at a 4 year difference in their peaks. Both were away from their best weights but Whitaker was closer to his peak.

Best for best at 135 I'd take Whitaker but i wouldn't waste too many words debating against a choice of Chavez. I think the same blueprint and strengths as in their actual fight would win him a competitive decision.

 

Jesus, sorry. Whitaker.

Even missed the whole Chavez name

 

Top stuff. I think Hector from the Ramirez fight would have been a lot of trouble for virtually any lightweight ever. He'd beat a heckuva lot too i think.