Young Pipino Cuevas destroys Angel Espada

Cuevas was a horrific puncher.

A very good operator is what is required to beat him on his best night. Because getting brushed by him was painful enough, let alone getting clobbered by him.

A fighter with obvious deficiencies, and not a true ATG by any means, but what power.

 

I think Espada's biggest problem was his lack of real punching power. In the rematch with Cuavas, he had no trouble finding Cuevas with right hands, but couldn't stop Cuevas from coming in.

 

Cuevas made him horizontal.

 

When the big left hook landed.....as they say in Deep East Texas:
...."That's all she wrote".

 

That referee was a sadist

 

I can see your point certainly but the fact of the matter is, Pipino rebounded to a frightening peak. So much so that Ray leonard himself, perhaps the second best welter ever, did not dare to step in the ring to face him.

So many crushed challengers, so many broken bones, broken jaws, battered spirits. Batter the body and you batter the spirit. Ray leonard found that out in the Norris fight and while Cuevas didnt have the sheer breathtaking speed of TN, he did connect and opponents weren't laughing.

His left hook was irresistable like the hammer of Thor. I am of the belief that if you have physical gifts like Cuevas or Jones you can be at a disadvantage skillwise and still batter your opponent into submission

 

I remember reading about this fight in the back pages of Sports Illustrated. I was shocked and stunned; I had never even heard of Cuevas. I found it all the more bizarre that Cuevas was only 18 years old. A year later, Cuevas did the same thing to tough veteran Clyde Gray. That's when I knew Cuevas was for real.

 

Concerning the YouTube link -- which is great -- it underscores my belief that Cuevas was an underrated boxer. He could do more than just punch: he feints, he moves, he slips punches, he jabs, and he's fast. Fascinating fighter.

 

Of course not, it would've distracted him from fighting superior opponents like Benitez and Duran. :deal

 

In more recent years:

Foreman-Moorer
Hopkins-Tarver

 

Always find an oppurtunity to diss Sugar Ray or talk up Norris eh!

 

Whats this guys problem with leonard? We could be discussing quantum physics and he would somehow shoehorn leonard into it

 

Oh no sir, no you have me all wrong. Leonard is my #8 ranked welter of all time. His victory over Thomas Hearns (The Hitman) was just tremendous, the saga of our lifetime and I'm sure that by 1981, leonard could have safely handled Cuevas. But not the Cuevas you see here; he simply cannot handle this kind of power.

I also felt that the Norris-Leonard bout proved my point nicely. That is, batter the body and the spirit will die which was also evident in the showdown with Camacho coming out for round five. And we all know that Cuevas was even more unrelenting than Camacho

 

Oops... :yep