Chiquita Gonzalez would have to be in contention. I’m going to go out on a limb and say most of the people answering this post will pick Chang (and by quite a clear margin). I’m pre-emptively going against the grain and picking Gonzalez. 1. Gonzalez 2. Chang 3. Carbajal
Tim Kellard! 8th grade. Rock of Angels Catholic School, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Class of 1966. One tough mother, let me tell you. NOONE beats Tim at that weight. Ever.
Gonzalez was a great fighter but his greatness was spread across the weights. I personally don't think he has as strong a case as Chiquita at no. 2 or even Carbajal for that matter (achievement and resume-wise, I mean).
Guess it depends on how well you regard the Estrada win. I'm guessing @George Crowcroft regards it highly?
Gonzalez had a solid reign at 108, with the exception of the stand out win with Estrada, which looks better in retrospect. I'd have to agree with Jel here. Chiquita, Yuh and maybe Carbajal are all above achievement wise IMO.
H2H I can certainly see a case for Roman over any of them, even Chang. But I don't rate H2H personally.
In my case, probably not so much! But I just remember the hype around Carbajal-Gonzalez at the time and that there'd never really been a fight of that magnitude in the division's history (the first million dollar light-flyweight contest if I remember correctly) so whoever won that had a very special place in the division's history and had to be in contention for the number 1 spot. In fact, I think Ring magazine had Carbajal no. 1 all time in the division at the time after that fight, which wasn't outrageous because he was undefeated at that point too. With hindsight, his all-time rating slips because he lost 2 out of 3 to Chiquita.
Top 10 definitely; top 5? Quite probably (in contention with Gushiken and Yuh); top 3? Not quite in my view.
