The Jofre-Harada fights

The most underappreciated rivalry in boxing history.

Both fast-paced fights fought a high skill level between two of the truly elite bantamweights of all time.

Harada was the best pressure fighter in history WITHOUT a big punch. If he had KO power, then my God, we might be looking at a top 10 atg.

Enjoy them:



Rematch:

 

Interesting note about Harada: It was him, and not Pac, who should have been the first Flyweight champion to win the featherweight title.

The first time he challenged Johnny Famechon for the featherweight title, he was blatantly robbed. Had he gotten a just decision, he would have been a three division champion.

Then Famechon dominated and stopped him in the rematch.

Fighting Harada should be talked about more.

 

No interest for the b&w era on Fightbeat anymore?

Times like this I miss guys like McDogg and Broadwayjoe.

 

I have seen both fights some years ago but I admit I have little to include to the discussion. Harada was a super-energetic swarmer and Jofre extremely stylish but I don't know what else to add. Intriguing clash of styles

 

Must say that I no longer have any interest in old fights. When I was younger, I liked watchingthem, but now, it's all about the current matchups

 

At least you're honest.

 

who wants to watch ezzard charles when you can watch adonis stevenson?

 

I would add that Harada wasn't just a swarmer. He was highly skilled and had one of the best jabs ever for a pressure fighter, and it's his great jab which was an issue for Jofre.

On top of the fact that unlike say, Frazier, Harada wasn't strictly pressure. He could go into swarming mode one minute then step back outside and pop you with the jab from the outside.

He remains Japan's greatest fighter.

Inoue may surpass him by time his career is over, but on resume he ain't there yet.

 

Have always enjoyed watching Jofre. I remember shelling out $50 dollars at a time to get his fights on tape. Thank God for Youtube - such a blessing for us fight fans.

I mean, since it's free, I can afford now not only to go back and watch the greats (like Jofre), I can also check out some lesser known fights. Like I would not pay $30 or even $10 to watch Toney vs. Hembrick. But if it's free? Yeah. I will check it out! Or Izon vs. Savarese? I can check out these fights I missed.

 

I had Izon-Savarese on VHS once upon a time.

Well, still do have it - buried in boxes in my basement.

 

The only full fight that exists of PEAK Jofre is the Medel fight - that fight took place at The Forum in LA. The reason for that I mentioned before - the network in Brazil that owned virtually all of Jofre's full fights burned down in the 80s.

If not for that, we'd have all his prime fights on YouTube right now.

Sucks. But the Medel fight is enough to see that the man was amazing.

His full fight with Jose Legra to win the featherweight title is on YouTube, and that in itself is impressive because Jofre was an old man, undersized, yet still outboxed Legra, who was an EXCELLENT fighter.

 

Get with the time. Adonis is no longer fighting hombre

 

What do you consider "old fights?"

Cause Jofre-Harada took place in 1965 - we aren't talking about 1918 here.

Does that mean you wouldn't watch any Cassius Clay fights?

 

Not anymore. Watched a lot of older fights in my younger years, but as i said, i no longer have any interest for that. Might watch a round or two but thats it

 

You have something in common with doub. He also has … things buried in his basement.

 

Medal fight is the one I bought. But could've sworn there were others.

 

To my knowledge there's no other full fight of prime Jofre besides Medel.

There's highlights of others.

 

You know what was a good fight I hadn't seen before? Aaron Davis vs. JL Lopez.

I remember buying some lesser known Genaro Hernandez fights too. Some Pintor fights too. Remember being so excited when my orders would arrive in the mail.

 

I'll upload JL Lopez vs Aaron Davis to YouTube sometime this month. That's an excellent fight.

Note: Nevernind. Ironbar Boxing (really cool guy runs that channel, I talk to him sometimes) already uploaded Lopez-Davis.

I'm gonna rewatch it tomorrow.

 

Yeah! Ironbar is awesome! New fights everyday.

 

Yeah, he's dedicated. Extremely nice guy too. I've emailed him back and forth before.

 

Superman Davis vs breland is even better. That vagrant wilder probably watching it on repeat lately

 

Breland-Davis is a brutal war, but I find it kinda sloppy. It's not a fight I rewatch often.

Lopez-Davis is more a tidy war, with Lopez throwing really sharp, accurate combos.

Fuckin waste of talent that pothead was.

 

Upload it anyway and talk through the whole thing and pause the vid randomly. Go off on tangents barely related to the fight ala Teddy Atlas.

Id like to see the comments section.

 

BTW, last fight I uploaded was last night. One of Howard Davis' better performances:



Go ahead and subscribe. Looks like I'm only 4 subs away from 100.

 

Are you going to have a 100 subscriber deluxe special bonanza?

 

What are other good sites? Mosley Boxing is one.

 

IMO, the first fight was a good one (and has an important place in boxing history as Jofre's first loss), but I felt it got a bit sloppy at times. I don't think either fighter looked at his absolute best for that one - Jofre had a lot of trouble making weight, and maybe Harada wasn't fully acclimated to 118 yet.

The rematch was a better fight IMO - both fighters seemed in better shape and fought at a faster pace. The rematch may be Harada's best career performance IMO.