I don't think there's a point in asking 140. Chavez clearly carried junior welter a lot better than Arguello did. But at 130 & 135 it's a terrific matchup. This is a matchup where divisions really matters, because I'd take Arguello at 130 and Chavez at 135.
I’d take Chavez both weights but they’d be great fights ... I think you need more speed than what Alexis had to beat Chavez
Arguello at 130...Chavez at 135 both by decision...12 or 15 rounds...but at the end I think Arguello would look like he took the worse of it...
Didn’t everyone? Mel Taylor fought his ass off and was probably up 7-4 and he looked like he’d been repeatedly hit with a bat
Agree... as wonderful as the fight is, I hate the end of the first Pryor fight because that’s just not supposed to happen to Alexis
By the way, I too would pick Arguello to beat Chavez at 130. Chavez's had some closes fights at 130. And he didn't fave anyone there as good as Arguello.
Nah, Arguello would take out Rosario. Alexis was just a better fighter, and much tougher, both chin wise and mentally a lot tougher. Rosario might hurt Arguello, but once the opposite happens the fight would be over. Arguello was one of the best finishers in history, and Chapo wasn't too good at surviving. Arguello KO 6 in a war.
I still feel bad about that bout's outcome. Taylor was so close to slap Chavez with his first official defeat...
Nah, Arguello stops Rosario sooner than Ramirez did. The problem with Rosario was that he was always an arrogant prick drug addict. I met him personally while he was in rehab at the hospital I used to work and he was a total cunt. I even regretted having idolize him at certain point in my life.
Rosario doesn’t have the heart to beat Arguello... I could see him putting him down early but he ain’t keeping him there and Arguello starts hurting him back and eventually takes him out
Rosario may have been a cunt but he seemed to have a lot of heart. Just consider the beating he took from Chavez and he never quit.
That was a rare example from him but he basically spent the last 6 rounds or so getting worked over he was not a guy that would come back to win ... fast starter and then he’d fade if the other guy refused to go away... if that first Ramirez fight had been a 15 rounder, there’s not a doubt in my mind Rosario was getting knocked out by round 14 Alexis was one of the best second half fighters around... there’s just no way Rosario can stop the inevitable even if he starts off hot (which probably would)
Yeah, no lightweight in history is stopping Arguello early, and early would be Chapo's only chance. I will say though, that based on styles, I think Rosario handles Mancini easier than Arguello did. I think Rosario would have stopped Mancini inside of 6
Yeah, I'm not saying I'd take Chapo 10/10 against Mancini. But probably 7/10. Rosario was a bigger puncher than Arguello at 135.
He used anything he could grab: from alcohol to heroine, crack-cocaine, he was a total junkie. It was a miracle he could still box while having that addiction. Even Hector Camacho once said that after their fight he tried to hand an olive branch and be friendly with Rosario when they coincided at a hotel in Las Vegas, but Chapo was so wasted he could barely stood on his feet and was shouting insults at Hector.
gotta go with chavez. He can handle the occassional thin man bomb, and eventually his pressure get to Alexis
Do you know that people in Nicaragua have never bought the official story that Alexis killed himself? They still believe loyalist Sandinista government goons did him since he was very outspoken against Daniel Ortega during the time he was in exile and afterwards. Keep in mind that a few months before his suicide he was elected as the mayor of Managua, the country's capital. He died of a gunshot to the heart with a rifle...because that is the easiest way to commit suicide, right?
I have always hated this mythical match-up, mainly because I am a big fan of Arguello's and I can't see him winning it. He was just hoo hittable up close and his equalizer punch wouldn't turn it around
I've always liked Arguello over Chavez in hypothetical matchups. Arguello is an incredibly difficult fighter to beat with a pure pressure attack. Yes, he can be hit, and even smothered and outworked at times, but fighters who do so pay a TERRIBLE price for it. If you're lucky and/or tough enough to get past those long arms, you still have to worry about his vicious hooks and body shots at close quarters (something you wouldn't normally expect from such a lanky fellow). And to top it all off, he could put you to sleep at any moment, even all the way into the 13th round. Chavez also wasn't without tough fights and some apparent weaknesses as well, even prior to the Taylor fight. Down at 130, Juan LaPorte was able to tee off on him with a number of looping right hands and forced Chavez to fight a bit more defensively than usual. Arguello's combined physical advantages and firepower would present a kind of challenge I don't think Chavez ever had to overcome in his prime.
Rosario might be able to slip inside and land a bomb that drops Arguello, but I think Arguello gradually picks him apart with his punch variety and stops him. Howard Davis was able to stagger Rosario (despite being an infamously light puncher) and then keep him at the end of his jab for much of their fight, and both fights with Ramirez badly exposed Rosario's lack of stamina and recuperative powers. In short, I think Rosario had far too many weaknesses to overcome a fighter of Arguello's caliber.
