What fighters did SRR beat that were better than Burley, C. Kid and H. Williams?

Kid Gavilan was better than all except Burley IMO.

The Cocoa Kid was great, but apart from his clear edge in the Williams series, He didn't do much more than LaMotta.

 

Obviously Mr Henry Jackson on a P4P scale, though it's far to say he was past his best at this point. I don't think he beat any fighter I would rate more highly than Burley. I'm not educated enough on Holman Williams and Cocoa Kid. I would say possibly Sammy Angott. LaMotta and Fullmer rank close aswell. Kid Gavilan aswell has too be close to those guys.

 

Gavilan was as good or better than all of them in my book, at WW anyway.

 

How though, considering Williams's success against Burley and Gavilan's overall success and ability? I just don't see how Burley can be considered so highly aside from the fact that people like to assume this and that were he not ducked so often. I think Williams clearly proved himself in Burley's class, while I can't see a reasonable distance between Gavilan and any other WW aside from maybe Robinson, though even they were clearly not leagues apart.

 

Burley may have moved up in weight better but it doesn't mean he's automatically going to whip Gavilan at Welter.It's a tough fight for both of them most likely.

Gavilan was one of those fighters like Wilfredo Gomez that were awesome in their comfort zone.Wouldn't matter if he was fighting someone like Pac who drains himself and jumps around five hundred weight classes..he'd go in with a Gomez at 122 and get butchered.

Gavilan i tend to think is like that.Immensely difficult for anyone at Welter.

 

Exactly. I don't agree with that kind of logic at all, it's been disproven too many times, recently with a guy like James Toney. Certain fighters are just better able to suit their styles and frames to higher weights. Doesn't mean they're more effective at lower weights as well.

 

What was Burley's reach? Gavilan had very long arms himself and held a height advantage over Burley. I don't understand the speed advantage claim, as I considered Gavilan to be very fast and explosive at his best. Burley may have had better defensive reflexes and movements, but I doubt he had better overall speed. And very few if any WW's are handling Gavilan in close with raw strength. I doubt Burley would.