Chavez would rank higher on a pound for pound greatness scale. As to who was actually better/more effective in the ring at their best, I'd say it's a toss up. I rate Frazier extremely highly in that regard. He's among the quintessential swarmers irrespective of weight class, and his left hook was of the same caliber.
Not according to the scorecards which were closer than you are making out. Taylor was winning because with his greater handspeed he was landing more punches but Chavez was landing the stronger shots. There was no danger of Chavez losing his ears.
Chavez had a more even attack with good power in both hands and just about every punch in the book.The right hand was his stronger hand but his left hook to the body is like the benchmark for all Mexican fighters in attacking the body.
Thanks for posting, Mark. This was quite interesting. It made me go re-watch Frazier-Foreman 1 to see why the defense didn't work well in that fight. The answer is pretty simple. George Foreman hit really hard. You can see Frazier employing the same defense but once he got caught the first time nothing else really mattered.
Completely, Duran was far more skilled than Ray on the inside, feinted him into oblivion and used his jab better at times, Duran was more skilled than Frazier and Chavez.
For more commonly accepted examples of out boxing someone look to Kalambay - McCallum 1, Hearns - Benitez, Hearns - Hill, Leonard - Benitez, Benitez - Duran, Whitaker - Nelson, a lot of 60's Clay/Ali etc.
tough things to rate since both had such great qualities.. Joe beat Ali and Chavez doesn't have that kind of name in his win column. To me that beats out Chavez. Some might say Ali was not yet sharp from his years off.