Yaqui Lopez vs Mike Rossman

I thought it was Rossman's step-father/manager who said that after the first Galindez fight. :huh

 

But Rossman is ethnically Jewish. Jewish-Italian.

 

Maybe you are correct. I based my statement on Internet innuendo.

 

He was lower top ten in his era at best ... below Saad, Mustafa, Johnson, Galindez, Conteh, Qwai , Lopez, Spinks, Davis and Scott without question ... granted that was a terrific era .. I don't see him competing ith Tarvers, Johnson, Jones at 175 either ...

 

Johnson

 

For the most part I agree: Rossman was lower top ten at his peak. What's interesting about that era is that most of the guys ranked in the second echelon-- 11th through 20th worldwide -- were good enough to be top ten fighters themselves. The division was stacked.

My assessment of Rossman's ability is that he was lower-level world-class at best, and just an advanced clubfighter at worst. Rossman tended to fluctuate in the quality of performances.

 

I don't see Rossman having any difficulty competing with the likes of Tarver, Johnson, or the current crop. He wasn't a physical specimen, but his textbook approach and right hand power would've held their own with any second-rate fighter (I mean that in the nicest possible way).

 

Based on what victories? Take away the one Galindez fight and who did he beat ? A faded Mike uarry ?

He was crushed by Lopez, Ranquello (who was basically a club fighter), stopped by an old Galindez who was not stopping anyone and embarrassed and stopped by Qwai ... Rossman was a gutsy guy but his skill set was limited and he goty hit way too much ...

 

I remember watching the fight and wanting Yaqui to win convincingly and he did. I don't care what Yaqui said because Rossman, his family, and handlers were all afoul of the law at some point with reputed mob connections. Not sure how involved Mike was but a close family member went to jail for either killing someone or beating them up severely and stuffing them in a car truck.
Plus Rossman was such a cocky loudmouth; not as good as he thought he was.
my $0.02

 

I take the opposite view here.

Quarry was not faded when Rossman beat him. In fact, Quarry was probably at his peak. Quarry was just 26 years old and a veteran of almost 70 fights when Rossman beat him in 1976 and 1977. Quarry was on a winning streak going into those fights -- having just beaten top contender Tom Bethea-- and was world ranked by the WBA, WBC, and the magazines. Only after losing to Rossman did Quarry lose his edge (Quarry admits becomes a cokehead after losing these fights).

Lopez wrecked Rossman, but there's no shame in that. Lopez was excellent. Galindez fought his last great fight in 1979 when he beat Rossman. For that fight, Galindez was in the best shape he'd been in for years. Getting kayoed by Qawi is no knock on Rossman either.

As for the Ranquello fight, Rossman was way off key that night. The result was a fluke, due mostly to Rossman's chaotic management/training situation.

I agree that Rossman wasn't one of the top echelon LH's of his day, but even being a second echelon talent in those days was one hell of an accomplishment.

 

I never read that a family member killed someone. I think you're referring to the 1979 incident when Rossman's father and brother got into a beef with a cab driver at an airport. I read that they punched the cabbie out and locked him in his trunk. I don't know if they were charged for that, but whatever the case, nothing came of it. I remember it was reported in the news.

 

Why take away the Galindez fight? He fought an excellent fight there. Held his own at every juncture and did what he had to do. He also beat Quarry (who wasn't faded, don't know where you get off saying he was) 2 out of 3, and stopped Lonnie Bennett in the second round directly after losing to Lopez.

It's not so much who he beat of note that makes me think he could compete with them, it's not having a high enough view of them in the first place to believe a comparison is unjustifiable. Tarver was nothing special himself, nor was Johnson. Not saying Rossman was, just that he'd have no trouble competing with them on his night. Lopez and Qawi would run right through them as well.

 

If it means anything, Mike Katz once said that Rossman "was better than most of the stiffs Roy Jones beats up on." Katz wasn't talking about Jones's better opponents, obviously. Still, it's an interesting observation.

 

Rossman beat the same level of Galindez...the same version, that is, that was squeaking by getting decisions over Lopez, Kates (II), Kosie Smith and even Eddie Gregory...except that he happened to have fought a career high, excellent fight, even if his coach turned soon afterwards into a pumpkin..and that was because he caused Galindez to be humilated and disgraced before his Argentine countrymen, and inspired him to turn back the clock a few years for revenge and redemption. In his title winning fight with Galindez, he did everything that Victor's previous challengers since that first Kates fight failed to do...he went out and executed the perfect game plan over a lazy and complacent Galindez and snatched the title from him...battering the Argentine with accurate, effective shots to Victor's well battle-scarred eyes and gave him angles..attacking intelligently and keeping his poise...he wasn't shy about fighting Victor like Gregory/Mustafa was and he took command effectively, unlike Lopez in both encounters he had with Galindez. It's said that Galindez wasn't prepared for this fight, but I find that rather odd and contradictory if you were to have seen the "up close and personal" segment of Howard Cosell featuring Galindez's rather strenuous and demanding training regimen for the fight..I saw it before the actual telecast of the fight, but there's a You Tube vid of it that you can see for yourself. Mike Rossman paid for his audacity in whipping Galindez in the rematch when a fiery Duran-like Galindez successfully redeemed himself in the eyes of Argentina and himself by turning back the clock...but it's not like he beat the **** out of Rossman even then..the damned fight was stopped because of Rossman suffering a broken hand and probably a broken spirit as well. Rossman was for sure 2nd tier as a lightheavy titlist..and he may have peaked in that 1st fight with Galindez, but he showed perhaps even better form as a puncher as well as a fighter as a middleweight..while on his way up to lightheavy