JLC was a pressure fighter of epic proportions. SRR lost to LaMotta who was similar in style to JLC. Translation: SRR loses a survival mode decision.
It's possible. Besides LaMotta, SRR also lost to Gene Fullmer and Basilio, neither of whom were as technically sound as Chavez. And Chavez was less susceptible to cuts than those three fighters were. I'd say to doubt Chavez's chances in this fight is to ignore history. Now, if you were to ask what Chavez's chances were to win at least three out of five against Robinson? I'd say he had very little.
can you offer anything in the way of a intelligent argument against my stance that p4p Chavez would certainly have had a chance at beating SRR?
Well, I hate to say it, but JLC was in fact more technically sound than Fullmer, just as durable as Basilio, and hit harder than LaMotta. Fact is, SRR fought good fighters, all the time. And exceptional fighters frequently. This, of course, sets him apart from nearly every top fighter we've seen in the last 30 years. And unlike those fighters, in doing so, he proved beyond any shadow of a doubt how great he was. But in the process, he exposed what so many fighters today are too arrogant and afraid to show - that he is human. And that as a human, he's bound to lose a fight here and there. Now, in fairness to current fighters, fans today are complete idiots compared to years gone by and jump at the chance to write a fighter off who's lost even a single fight (doesn't fit the super-hero fantasies of their unending childhoods). And so in part, you have to figure fighters today are playing by today's fans' childish rules which is: you lose, you suck. HBO, of course, is partially to blame for this attitude, figuring that above all, it was Tyson's aura of invincibility that captured the imaginations of fans, and wanting to replicate at all cost that aura in its fighters since Tyson. Of course, this approach fails to recognize boxing as a sport, and thus, what we have today: something much less than a sport. Anyway, point is, if fighters like SRL, PBF and RJJ fought as many top opponents as consistently as SRR did, they'd not have lasted half the time SRR did, and would've lost double the number of fights. And so while SRR was better than those guys, and has the wins to prove it, having those wins meant being a true competitor, which meant necessarily that he would have to fight opponents he didn't have months ponder, and under circumstances that weren't perfectly in his favor. And this of course meant exposing to us that indeed he was human, and that in fact, though it would not have been the case more often than not, he could've lost, p4p, even to the likes of JLC. And there you have it. I've simultaneously explained why SRR has proven himself better than the likes of PBF and RJJ, and why at the same time he's not invincible even against the likes of JLC, p4p of course.
Robinson stomps Castillo, completely stomps him p4p matchups are fucking queer, have them fight at 140 and Castillo gets his face ripped off
Castillo wouldn't have fought at 140 in the era of same-day weigh-ins. This wouldn't even have to be a P4P matchup.
poor castillo. he wouldve been a legend if he were born 50 years earlier, or hell even 20 years earlier.
Castillo was a very good fighter and probably gets shit on because of a certain fan around these parts. However the point of same day weigh-ins is important. If Castillo was able to drain and actually be larger in the ring against Robinson he'd probably have moderate success. This is not really a P4P matchup though. Castillo without any draining advantage would get slaughtered by Robinson.
